Page 12 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Helle,’ he said, drawing himself up. ‘The very person I hoped to see tonight. I have here the researcher I was telling you about, Darcy Cotterell. Darcy, this is Helle Foss – COO at the Madsen Foundation.’

‘A pleasure,’ Darcy said quickly, shaking hands with a diminutive woman in grey silk and pearls.

There was a pause before Helle Foss replied, ‘You’re very young.’

‘Lively brain, Helle,’ Otto said smoothly. ‘She makes connections quickly, researches thoroughly. Certainly one of the best minds I’ve come across.’

Darcy tried to mask her surprise. If that was true, it was the first she’d heard of it from him.

‘Indeed. Well, there’s a lot resting on your lively brain, Ms Cotterell.’

Margit and the Sallings were deep in conversation about the Venice Biennale, but Darcy saw Margit’s head turn ever so slightly in their direction and knew she wasn’t oblivious to the exchange.

Darcy smiled. ‘I feel honoured to have been tasked with such a great responsibility. I’m taking it very seriously.’

‘As you should. You’re English?’

She was taken aback by the older woman’s aloof manner. ‘Yes.’

‘You speak Danish very well.’ Helle Foss blinked slowly, scrutinizing her through beady eyes. Darcy couldn’t tell whether the woman didn’t like her because she was foreign or because she was dressed up. Did it undermine her professional credentials to look attractive too? Should she have covered her shoulders? Worn a longer skirt?

‘Thank you. My mother’s from here so we grew up bilingual, and of course it meant I was exposed to Danish art and culture from a very young age. It’s why I chose to pursue my PhD here.’

‘I see. Well, it’s reassuring to know that you have some emotional investment in the project.’

‘I do.’

‘And can you do it? Can you identify her?’

‘Yes, if I have access to the archives I need. Johan Trier is the key figure to investigate at this stage.’

‘Then the Madsen Foundation is entirely at your disposal. Have you met Viggo?’

‘Not ye—’

‘Rask!’ Foss tossed the call over her shoulder, and a man standing in the next group along turned. He was Darcy’s height, five foot six, with a thick grey beard, and unlike almost every other person in the room, he had genuinely friendly eyes.

Instinctively, Darcy smiled, but as Rask shuffled towards them, her gaze caught on another man who had been standing beside him. He was close to her own age – far closer than anyone else here – and so handsome, it came as a shock. Her smile died on her lips as their eyes locked.

Was that...?

‘Good evening,’ said Viggo Rask, coming to a stop in front of Darcy and drawing her attention away. He had a slight stoop, and was looking at her with open curiosity.

‘Viggo, this is the young academic who will be leading the research into the identity of the woman in the Trier portrait,’ Helle Foss said.

‘Darcy Cotterell,’ Darcy said, holding out her hand. She was acutely aware of the younger man’s gaze still upon her.

‘A pleasure to meet you, Professor.’

‘Oh, I’m not a professor – not yet,’ she said quickly, her eyes flitting in Otto’s direction. He didn’t stir.

‘Otto called me earlier. I understand we’re going to be seeing quite a lot of one another, you and I, in the coming weeks.’

‘Yes, it appears so.’

‘Viggo was the apprentice to the archivist who personally catalogued all our artefacts when the Foundation was establishedin 1961,’ Foss said. ‘Whatever you are looking for, he can find it for you.’

Darcy smiled and nodded. She just wished she knew what she was looking for. ‘Brilliant, thank you. I thought I’d make a start with you tomorrow?’

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