Was he talking about the treasure hunt? Or her relationship?
When Ryan let go of Beth’s hand, she closed the cab door and gave a small wave, struck by his words and their possible meaning. Suddenly she wondered if she had been right all along last night in the park at the fountain.
Is that what he was trying to tell her?
Feeling in a daze as she made her way back to her building, Beth checked the time. She had been at brunch for only a couple of hours, and had the distinct feeling that, once again, her world had shifted on its axis.
Walking into the lobby, she immediately noticed that Billy was working again. He must be pulling overtime. Giving him a tentative smile when he looked up at her from behind his desk, she took a pre-emptive approach to the conversation. ‘You’re here; I must have missed you earlier.’
Billy snorted. ‘Likely wished it, no doubt. What did you do? Sneak in last night and out this morning?’
She shook her head. ‘There was no sneaking involved this time. I went out earlier; you just weren’t at your post.’
‘In any case, after sneaking a few shots of Johnnie Walker last night, let me assure you that my nerves are now calm. Never ever put me up against your friend again, though. That’s just cruel.’
Beth laughed. ‘I’m so sorry.’ Then her tone changed. ‘Danny hasn’t come home, by chance, has he?’ she asked. ‘I think he ended up staying at the office last night.’
‘Aye, I know, I saw him come in last night and leave just as quick. But no, not a sign of him this morning.’
Beth breathed a bit deeper, not sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved that he wouldn’t be there when she got home. ‘OK, well thanks, and again, sorry about Jodi.’
She prepared to head up to her apartment when Billy suddenly called her back. ‘Ah, hold on just a sec. A package came for you earlier. It must have been while you were out.’ The doorman turned round and headed towards a storage room just off the lobby where he typically left residents’ deliveries.
‘A package, you say?’ Beth repeated suspiciously.
Billy emerged from the storage room with a brown paper-covered bundle about two by three feet across and rectangular in shape. ‘Yes. Here you go. And funnily enough, it was delivered by that same bike messenger from the other day – the one that I was a bit cagey about.’
Beth’s radar went up. ‘The same bike messenger from the other day?’ The young guy who had made the delivery to her at Carlisle’s. And the same one (supposedly) responsible for delivering the anonymous tickets to the boat exhibition…
‘The very fella,’ Billy confirmed, his face not giving anything away.
Beth reached for the package. It must have been delivered after she had left to meet Ryan. Had this all been co-ordinated? Had Ryan perhaps wanted to get her out of the apartment for when the messenger showed up?
Or had the parcel been delivered by a messenger at all?
Beth’s pulse quickened and she had to resist the urge to tear the parcel open there and then. Instead, she bid Billy goodbye and calmly made her way up to the twenty-eighth floor. By the time she reached her apartment her heart felt as if it might explode.
Fumbling to put her key in the lock, she finally was able to get through her front door, throw her handbag on the ground and place the parcel on her dining-room table. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Beth clenched her shaking hands for a second before reaching forward and ripping open the paper.
When she was finished unwrapping her treasure, she stared at her discovery and her breath caught in her throat.
It was the young artist’s painting she had admired yesterday, the rendition of Monet’sSan Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk.
Right then Beth knew for sure that she had been right. Shehadsolved the clue last night. And this was how her secret admirer wanted to make sure she knew she was on the right track.
She smiled triumphantly as she considered her latest reward.
Ryan was right. Follow the signs. There were no coincidences.
***
The Thomas Crown Affair.Beth thought hard about the latest movie riddle the painting’s arrival had presented.
It was obviously a reference to the 1999 remake – not the original with Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen, but the one with Rene Russo playing savvy Catherine Banning and Beth’s fellow countryman Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown. The two films, while of the same name, were vastly different.
The original had portrayed Thomas Crown as a common bank robber, but in the 1999 version the character was played as a rich, cultured art thief. As well as a very slippery and smart art thief. Beth considered the painting. She put her right index finger on the canvas and felt the paint that had been used by the young Italian artist bubble up.
His work was very good for an imposter of sorts, she thought, while, of course, it was easy to see that this wasn’t a real Monet. But Beth couldn’t understand why she suddenly felt so internally discombobulated.
