Page 27 of Artful Deceit
“What made you move back here?”
“In the end, city life wasn’t for me. I need tranquillity to create. I get that here.”
“Absolutely,” Lily said, looking pointedly out of the window.
“Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve looked at my collection online…”
“I had a little look.”
“My personal favourites are the ones of the local landscapes.” He began poring through the paintings. “Somewhere here I have one of the view from Porthcressa Beach which might take your fancy given it’s your neck of the woods.”
Lily actually wouldn’t mind a nice seascape, despite the fact that she only needed to look out of the window for the real thing.
“Here we go.” He pulled out a large square canvas with several thick swaths of yellow and some chaotic blue and black squiggles.
Tilting her head, she wondered which way up you were supposed to look at it to see the view from Porthcressa Beach. Maybe it was like those magic eye pictures where you had to squint a certain way.
“My interpretation of the view, of course.”
“Hmmm.” She fought for words. “Fascinating,” she murmured.
“Thank you.”
“Could you show me some more?”
“Yes, yes.” His eyes sparkled, and she felt a pang of guilt for making him think he had a chance of a sale.
As he showed her more of the same in varying colours, she nodded and murmured appreciative words.
“It’s hard to choose,” she said eventually. Moving to the window, she tried to give the air of pondering, but her eyes drifted to the door among the bookshelves, and she was suddenly desperate to get into his private rooms. “I wonder if you have anything else,” she said, as an idea hit her.
“How do you mean?”
“I saw all these pictures on your website. And while they really are special, I wonder if you have anything that you don’t put on general display.” She wrinkled her nose. “Those pieces artists create purely for themselves and keep hidden away.”
He hesitated long enough for Lily to think she’d taken the wrong tack.
“Maybe there is something.” A muscle in his cheek twitched as he withdrew a single bronze key from his pocket. “Wait here and I’ll have a look.”
“I can come with you,” Lily insisted, hot on his heels as he unlocked the door.
“No.” His voice was commanding, and he turned and pulled himself to his full height – a head taller than Lily. “Please wait here. I’ll just be a moment.”
With the door being closed in her face, Lily wanted to get inside even more badly. Surely people with nothing to hide didn’t slam doors in people’s faces. Or even just shut doors firmly after politely requesting people wait.
Lily wasn’t great at waiting. Or at doing as she was told.
Not when she was investigating, anyway.
After a couple of minutes, she pushed the handle and stepped inside. Confused by what she saw, she didn’t get very far.
In contrast with the other rooms in the house, there was noneatness and order. Books and magazines were stacked against every wall in the small hallway. She spotted two vacuum cleaners and a toolbox amid assorted furniture that had no business being in the hall.
“I said wait out there.” Gideon appeared with a couple of small frames under his arm and ushered her back the way she’d come. He sounded more embarrassed than anything. “It’s a mess, I know. I’ll get to it eventually, but for now I just keep the door locked so no one has to see it.”
“That’s a lot of stuff.” Her mind tried to untangle things. That could have been his horde from any number of burglaries, but somehow she got the feeling it was more like a lifetime’s worth of accumulated junk.
“When I converted the place for the retreats, I shoved all my personal items up here out of the way, to keep a minimal vibe for the retreat. But there’s too much for the space, and I know it looks like junk, but a lot of it holds sentimental value, and I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.”
