Murder at the National Gallery by Margaret Truman Read Free Book Online Page B

later, Sensi broke out in a broad grin that exposed yellow teeth with gaps. It was the first time Mason had seen the old man smile. Ordinarily, when someone smiles, it gives comfort and assurance. But this did not. Mason turned away.
    “Okay?” Giliberti asked.
    “Yes. Okay,” said Mason.
    “It is a deal, Signor Sensi,” said Giliberti.
    “I would like to leave now,” Mason said, taking quick steps out of the barn and toward the car.
    Giliberti ran and caught up with him. “Do not offend him, Luther. He has been most gracious. You must thank him properly.”
    Mason stopped and looked at his friend. “And how do I do that?”
    “By expressing your appreciation for allowing you to come here. For the pleasure of having dinner with him last night. For honoring you with his trust in this business deal.”
    When Mason turned to do so, he saw only the back of the old man entering his house. “You thank him for me the next time you see him,” he said.
    It wasn’t until they were almost back in Rome and heading for the airport that Giliberti once again brought up Mason’s lack of courtesy. “You are much too nervous, my friend,” he said. “But if you continue to act with such animosity toward your benefactor, I cannot guarantee what will happen.”
    “Benefactor? He is an old, ugly mafioso who steals and plunders and murders.”
    Giliberti let the comment go until he pulled up in front of the Alitalia terminal. As Mason got out and removed his luggage from the rear, Giliberti leaned across the seat. “Remember one thing, my friend,” he said. “Signor Sensi may be old and ugly. He may murder and steal. But he is a man of honor. And you have chosen to do business with him. I suggest you become a man of honor yourself.”
    Mason didn’t know how to respond.
    Giliberti laughed. “Don’t take me so seriously, Luther. And relax. Everything will be fine.”
    “You’ve made all the arrangements for the painting to go to Paris?” Mason asked.
    “Of course. It will be there in the morning. By special courier.”
    “And you will be there to see that it is handled properly?”
    “Again, my friend, I say not to worry. I have taken care of every detail. Go. Catch your plane. Safe trip. I will be back myself in a few days and we will have dinner. To celebrate. At my house. My wife will cook a fine meal. She asks for you often.”

6
THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART—WASHINGTON, D.C .
    Did Caravaggio know in gouache heaven that the art he created three hundred years ago would spawn so many meetings in a city that didn’t even exist in his time?
    George Kublinski, chief of design and exhibition, gathered a group around him in an empty room in the East Building of the National Gallery to demonstrate a fiber-optic lighting system he’d designed especially for the Caravaggio exhibition to avoid potentially damaging heat. Kublinski was acknowledged throughout the international museum world as the preeminent expert on new lighting techniques. It was no surprise that he worked for “America’s Museum,” affectionately so-called despite technically being a gallery. Its reputation for excellence in art conservation and restoration, scientific testing, packing, shipping, and, because of George Kublinski, lighting, was without peer.
    The group surrounding Kublinski included interested employees, and design and exhibition experts from elsewhere who’d traveled to Washington to learn more about fiber optics.
    As Kublinski conducted his demonstration, several meetings were taking place within the institution.
    Agents from private insurance companies, and Gallery attorneys, met with representatives of the federal government to finalize details of insuring the Caravaggio paintings while in the Gallery’s possession. Because most of the works wouldcome from other nations, the federal government would indemnify the bulk of the exhibition through the Federal Council on the Arts, administered by the National Endowment for the Arts and