Penelope pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, I know you care for Lucia in your own…combative way, and you’ve been through quite the ordeal, but I doubt Lucia would appreciate all these accusations you’re flinging my way.”
“Of course not. Lucia rarely knows what’s good for her.”
“But you do?”
Skye ducked her head. “Didn’t say that.”
Penelope remained silent.
“She’s also way too forgiving.”
“Hmm, yes. She’s that. But it seems like you’ve benefited from that quite a bit, no?”
Skye narrowed her eyes. “Don’t… Just don’t play her, OK?”
“I’m not playing her, and I won’t.”
~ ~ ~
At work, Penelope was called in to answer questions from the auditors. Her head was still stuck on Lucia—the image of her in that hospital bed seared into her brain. She wasn’t in the headspace for this, but there was no choice.
She entered the conference room, where a man and a woman sat at the head of the table, going over their notes.
The man looked up first. “You must be Dr.Blackwell. This is Ms.Ida Young, and I’m Martin Sterne. We’ve been tasked with the audit of the Meridian’s acquisitions and inventory records and have a few questions. Please, sit.”
“Nice to meet you.” Penelope sat down across from them. “Go ahead. I’m all yours.”
Young’s lips twitched. “When did you first notice irregularities in theMadonna in Red’s provenance documents?”
“Several months ago, but as for the exact date, I’d have to check my notes.”
“We didn’t see a report filed through the proper channels,” Sterne said. “Can you explain why that step was skipped?”
Penelope let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh. “I suppose I got ahead of myself. I wanted to solve this mystery on my own.”
“Bored with your usual responsibilities?” Young asked.
“No. Just…maybe I’ve been reading too many Agatha Christie novels recently.” Penelope groaned internally in disbelief that she was using Valentina’s line to defend herself.
Sterne adjusted his glasses. “You suspected some form of criminal activity?”
“Not exactly. I was just curious.” She shifted. “It felt like a puzzle, and I wanted to see if I could piece it together myself.” Penelope forced herself to remain impassive, though inside she was screaming. What did they know? Did they know about Francesca? Doubtful.
“Are you familiar with the owner of theMadonna?” Young asked.
Penelope’s fingers dug into her thigh. “Not personally. I’ve exchanged emails with Ms.Varnelli about theMadonnaloan and other paintings.”
Sterne tapped his pen on his notepad. “And you’ve had no other contact with Ms.Varnelli or her representatives?”
“Not that I know of,” Penelope lied, hoping there was no way to disprove that.
Once they dismissed her, Penelope had to refrain from running back to her office. She shivered as the AC cycled on.
She should have forwarded her findings. This, combined with her push to take theMadonnadown before the ball, might read—on paper at least—as a coordinated act of sabotage. She wasn’t sure which was worse: the thought of them suspecting her, or that they were right, at least in part.
~ ~ ~
After Penelope’s workday concluded, she headed to the hospital to visit Lucia again. According to Skye, the doctors expected Lucia to stay there for a few more days, and Jules had texted her earlier that Lucia had been pretty lucid today, along with an update that she’d found no further information on the current audit besides all Penelope already knew: an anonymous call raising provenance questions about theMadonna. Yet all that seemed trivial compared to her fretting about Lucia.
