Milton pats his arm, sympathetic. ‘It will stay between us.’
‘Boston-born millionaire Donie Culver passed away this afternoon in his bunker villa on the East side of Ustica island, where he lived secluded. Aged 72, Culver had been diagnosed with stage 3 bladder cancer in June and refused to undergo invasive treatment. The nursing team who kept him comfortable gave notice of his death to local authorities.
Culver had cut ties with his family, including daughter Enrica Bianchi, theatre director in Florence. Nonetheless, as Culver’s lone descendant, Bianchi should inherit his fortune as well as the villa, rumoured to contain an art collection worth over 600 million euros.
Among dozens of pieces, Culver owned one of Amedeo Modigliani’sHeadsculptures, a Leonardo Da Vinci sketch and a painting from Pavel Olwinski’s seriesThe Lands of Wonders. Legends around Culver’s secret collection have become fanciful around Ustica island over the years. Many residents believe that the long-lost Caravaggio painting,Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence, stolen in Palermo in 1969, is in the villa.
Bianchi has asked for privacy and hasn’t addressed the future of her father’s collection, but it’s already raising a lot of questions around Sicily and will soon become a bone of contention in art circles around the world.’
The most famous photo of the villa completes the article. A photo that was pinned on the ‘C&F Missions’ cork board hung in Fred’s bedroom, back when they were planning a heist to stealKaunas. They gave up after they found out Culver had three Dobermanns.
‘What does that mean?’ Charles asks, feeling indeed psyched and awful for it. ‘Do we know anything about the daughter? Will she keepeverything hidden in the villa? Or is she an Aunt Edith kind of nutcase who’ll try to cash in the collection?’
‘Unnecessary, Charles.’
‘Yes… It was, I’m sorry.’
‘Although that would be convenient if she were. We will find out soon enough. My contacts in Palermo will notify me of any whispers aboutKaunas.’
‘So we can be the first to go and see it?’
‘So we can be the first to bid for it in case it is auctioned.’
Charles drops the apple again. ‘We’re buyingKaunas?!’
‘We will take a measured decision once all contingencies are—’
‘Kaunascould be ours?’ Charles starts hopping, his hands flat on his cheeks. ‘Kaunasmight live here? Here, in— No!Sofiawill move downstairs if her sister joins us. They’ll live downstairs in a special room! The best room. What’s our best room? The library is great!’
‘You are getting carried away.’
‘Yes, I am! I’ll slow down…’ Charles clenches the back of the chair, but his heart keeps on bouncing. ‘Can you please send me the link? And can you imagine if— I know, I said I’d slow down, but imagine!SofiaandKaunas, reunited at our place and completing each other, just like they’re meant to.’
‘All theLandscomplete each other. Alas, such a reunion will never happen.’
‘Yes, but those two especially. Pavel made it clear in his obscure and unclear ways. Matthew also pointed it out.’
‘Matthew?’
‘Matthew Burton. You know, his… friend. Pavel wrote about their conversations.’
‘This man’s opinion was not relevant enough to change mine. Pick up your fruit before it stains the carpet.’
Charles jumps at this opportunity to hide his sudden malaise. He pretends to look for the apple for a few seconds, then blows on its brown flesh, fiddling with his pendant. Milton is back on Google, searching for new Culver-related articles. The perfect cue for Charles to flee.
But a bout of frustration glues him where he stands.
‘Matthew’s opinion is relevant. He knew the secrets of theLands, because he knew Pavel better than anyone else. They were together. They were… life partners…’
Milton spins his chair to face him. ‘Since when do you attach importance to the tissue of lies published by that greedy family?’
‘They weren’t lies. And I’m not talking about the letters. Pavel’s romantic feelings for Matthew are hinted at inTheMind of—’
‘Spare me this nonsense.’
Charles only catches a glimpse of his father’s deprecating expression before he returns to his computer screen, but it’s enough to transform the frustration into proper exasperation.
‘It’s real. It’s there in the book for us to understand—’
