“The one with the two boys playing with their sailing boats?”
“That’s the one. Did you hang it somewhere else or store it in the attic?”
“No. After I cataloged each painting, I left them in the same place I found them. The only paintings that Claire and I moved were already in the attic.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. What happened to the painting?”
“It’s disappeared.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, ‘disappeared’?”
“I don’t know if it was moved or stolen. It was definitely on the wall on Christmas Eve. It went missing sometime on Christmas day.”
“No one at the ranch would have stolen it,” she said with certainty. “And there was no reason for anyone to move it. If someone else came into the house and took it, we would have seen them.”
“I don’t know what’s happened to it.”
“Hang on. I’ll ask Claire if she saw it.” Hannah rushed into the hallway and gently knocked on her sister’s door. “Are you awake?”
A thump came from inside Claire’s bedroom. If she wasn’t awake before, she was now.
Hannah pushed opened the door. “It’s me. I need to ask you a question.”
“Can’t it wait until the morning?” Claire muttered.
“It’s important. Brett has lost one of the paintings at Pat’s house.”
Claire turned on her bedside lamp. “What do you mean? Where did he put it?”
“He hasn’t put it anywhere. Did you move the Winslow Homer painting on the upstairs landing?”
“That’s the one that’s missing?”
“It’s not on the wall.”
Claire rubbed her eyes. “It was there when we left on Thursday. He doesn’t think that we—”
“Of course not,” Hannah said quickly.
Claire yawned. “The only paintings I moved were the ones we wrapped in tissue paper. Has he asked Pat?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find out and tell you in the morning. Goodnight.”
“You don’t need to tiptoe,” Claire mumbled.
She smiled and left her sister’s room. As soon as Hannah was in the hallway, she held the phone to her ear. “Did you hear that?”
“I did.” He sighed. “I’ll ask Pat and Mrs. Bennett about the painting in the morning.”
Hannah knew he was worried. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think anyone would have stolen the painting. If I were a burglar, I’d take a piece of art that’s a lot closer to the entranceway.”
“All the paintings downstairs are huge. The painting that’s disappeared could easily be hidden in something else.”
Hannah sat on the end of her bed. “Will you call the police?”
“Not at the moment. There isn’t a lot they can do until the morning. Besides, the last thing Dave or his family needs is to be woken by the police.”
