Page 56 of Viktor

“It’s not just extra paint,” Greyson said.

“I just don’t understand why someone would do this to this painting.” She leaned in closer, examining it with a lens up to her eye. “It could be anything. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to hide something in a painting, or maybe they tried to fix it, and it clumped. It happens. People don’t know how valuable a painting is, so they attempt to repair it. They use glue. Extra paint. Here. The paint is a slightly different hue of blue. It’s a very good job. Just a subtle difference, but it’s not the same color. If we had time, I could date it exactly.”

“Time is something we don’t have,” Viktor said. “We’re protected in my house, but we can’t stay holed up here forever.”

“I don’t have all the proper tools,” she explained. “I just wish I’d already done an x-ray. For all we know there could be another layer of paint underneath this one. It’s not uncommon. Just a few years ago they discovered another painting under a Picasso.”

Rafe approached the painting, sidling up next to Waverly. Viktor watched intently as he sniffed the air. He leaned toward the painting, hovering his nose over its surface.

“I smell blood,” he told them.

“What?” Waverly asked, panic in her voice.

“There’s no blood on the painting,” Greyson insisted.

Viktor leaned toward the painting and sniffed, concentrating. He detected the faint scent of old blood. “He’s right. I don’t know where it’s coming from, but I definitely smell it.”

“You should open it up,” Rafe urged. “I’ve got a penknife.”

“Open it up?” Waverly’s cheeks reddened. “No. No way. You can’t just slice into my painting.”

“But it’s not your painting,” Viktor countered.

“Are you sure you want to take a blade to it?” Greyson plowed his fingers through his hair. “I mean that seems a little extreme. I did mention I knew the very nun who painted this. Everything about it looks familiar. Like I said, I’m fairly sure it’s an original.”

“If it was repaired then someone else already broke it. Y’all might be able to do a better job,” Rafe interjected.

“No. Stop. We can’t just slice it open. I just can’t…” Waverly’s words trailed off into silence.

“What other choice do we have? There might be something in here that can help us. I know it’s an original.” Viktor looked to Greyson. “But this one has already been tampered with. It’s like you’re fixing it. A restoration, if you will.”

“Home edition.” Rafe nodded.

“I think we should do it,” Greyson conceded.

“What?” Waverly exclaimed. “No.”

“While I agree with you that this painting is rare, you must know that the nun painted others. The church owns many. Others are kept in private collections.” Greyson gave Waverly a sympathetic look. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You can do this,” Viktor encouraged. “The painting is going to need repair anyway.”

“Well technically she’s not repairing,” Rafe began.

Viktor shot him a silencing stare. Restraining his anger, he continued. “Consider this the beginning of a repair.”

“But we don’t have permission. This painting. I don’t know the owner.”

“Exactly. You say that it’s an anonymous donor who sent you a painting. But we all know there’s something not right about this one. We don’t know if they are trying to help with something or implicate you in something, but we have to find out what this bump is. There’s something in here the demon in the detective wanted. And we need to find out exactly what it is.”

Waverly sighed. “In 2015. There was this painting. Flowers. A kid accidentally put his hand through it. Right there in the exhibit. It happens. So sometimes they do get repaired. Okay, okay, I can do this.”

“Yes, there we go, pet. You’ve got this.”

“Did anyone take pictures? I mean, we’ve got to document this,” Greyson suggested.

“On it. Video and pics. Got it all. You know. Just in case. It’s one of the first things I did,” Waverly told them. “I don’t have a straight edge. I’m going to need a knife or something. A razor would work best. Do you have one?”

“Razors are in the case in the bathroom,” Viktor told Rafe, noting Waverly’s look of surprise. “What? I may be a vampire, but I don’t always bite.”