Gauguin Connection, The by Estelle Ryan Read Free Book Online

weapons.”
    “Maybe because the data was only entered in a local database. Or maybe these weapons weren’t Eurocorps’.”
    “Oh, they were. Of that I’m convinced.”
    “Genevieve, how can you be so convinced of your theory when most of it is conjecture?”
    “It is not conjecture.” How dare he insult me like that? “I would never form a theory without the relevant information.”
    “That’s just it. You don’t have enough information to make this a viable theory.”
    “How can you not see it?” The censure in my voice caused Phillip to lift his eyebrows in a warning. Even though he was the only person totally accepting of who I was, I still couldn’t expect him to accept my intolerance of being challenged by those of lesser intellect. I took a deep breath and modulated my tone. “How can I explain this to you? I’ve gathered all these pieces of a puzzle. Putting it together can do no other than form this specific picture.”
    “A picture that includes numerous murders on the continent with Eurocorps weapons. Manny will be so pleased.”
    “Why would he be pleased? I would think he would be outraged at this.” It only took a look at Phillip’s face for realisation to dawn. “Oh, you were being sarcastic. I’m sure that Manny will not be pleased with this information either, but he did ask us to look into this.”
    “Actually he asked us to find the connection between the girl and the painting.”
    “And the connection between that, the Russian murderer and the EDA weapons.” I could recall every conversation verbatim, to most people’s utter frustration.
    “Let’s assume that the girl is an artist. How does that connect her to the Gauguin painting?”
    “I don’t know that yet.”
    “And let’s assume the girl and the artefact are connected. How does that connect her to the poets?”
    “Apart from the fact that it was the poet who discovered this artwork?” I gave it a moment’s thought to remember which connection I had not explained yet. “I didn’t mention the fact that there were poets and discoveries in the same areas as where three of the five unsolved murders took place, did I?”
    Phillip only looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
    “Going through all those local newspapers’ archives proved to be very enlightening. I discovered all sorts of interesting things. Did you know that in 2005 a hundred and twenty-one people died in a plane crash in Greece?”
    “Does this have anything to do with the case?”
    “No, it doesn’t.” I sighed at my own digression before going on with the determination to stay on point. “A month before the second Greek murder, William Strode, the archaeologist, discovered a long-lost Van Gogh.” I took a moment to locate the specific article on one of the monitors and zoomed in on it. “This is one of the cases where he declared it to be a forgery. In one of the French cases, another poet declared the artwork to be a forgery and it was soon followed by a murder. I couldn’t find any connection with him and the three other unsolved murders. What I do know is that this poet-man is somehow involved. To say that he’s involved in the murders would indeed be conjecture, but the fact that he’s the one discovering these pieces and then exposing the forgeries makes me wonder how he fits into all of this. There are simply too many threads connecting him to call it any kind of coincidence.”
    “Not that you would ever call anything coincidence.” Phillip sat back in the chair, pinching his chin. I gave him time to process all the information I had bombarded him with. I had a lot of respect for how his mind worked. When it came to business and people, he far outranked me in natural skill. I could see patterns and make connections like the ones I had just made. Phillip would add the human element that I, even with my extensive training, sometimes missed. The silence stretched on. Just when I once again became aware of my embarrassing dishevelled