Dark Exhibit by Rick Homan

Author:Rick Homan [Homan, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

“I hate to say this, Nicole—I really do—but the issue must be faced.” Greta shook her head as she said this. She was looking relatively sedate today in an orange jacket with a pink blouse over an olive-green skirt.

The four members of the Gallery Advisory Committee were again gathered in the seminar room which was already feeling claustrophobic. “What issue is that, Greta?”

“Have we put the gallery and maybe the college in jeopardy by bringing this artist to campus?”

“I don’t see how.”

“Well, that’s why we’re here,” said Greta, nodding to our colleagues, Millard Haflin and Matt Dunkle. “To advise you on these issues.”

Millard gazed at the wall opposite him as if beholding realms beyond our mundane existence. Matt looked as confused as I felt.

“You see,” said Greta, “all this could have been prevented.”

Obviously, that was not true, but I knew better than to argue with a crazy person. I decided to let her blow herself out before replying.

Greta opened the file folder in front of her and refreshed her memory from a written outline. “To begin with, this Edgar Yount was obviously an unstable individual. You only had to look at his paintings to see that.”

I had to clench my teeth to keep from yelling at her when she said that. I was more than prepared to bring down the full wrath of my expertise in art history to demolish not only the idea that anyone can diagnose an artist’s mental health by looking at their work but also that there was anything “unstable” about Edgar’s paintings. But I remembered that I had to conserve my energy.

“The members of this committee will recall . . .” Here she paused to look around the table, making it clear she was addressing all three of us. “. . . that I proposed several other artists whose outlook is, shall we say, more cheerful. At that time, the committee decided not to consider them and of course it had every right to do that.”

I doubted she believed we had that right since her left eyelid developed a tic while she said it.

“Now, however, we must deal with the repercussions of that decision.”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Greta, what exactly is this issue you’re concerned about?”

“We brought a murderer to the campus.”

This again. “No. We talked about this. Just because the sheriff questioned Edgar does not mean he was under suspicion and certainly does not mean he is guilty.”

“But now it’s obvious.”

“What are you talking about? What is obvious?”

“He killed this poor woman and then out of remorse took his own life.”

“Nothing you just said is a fact.” For someone whose discipline, biology, was based on empirical method, Greta was awfully quick to assume. “Why will you not wait until the sheriff has concluded his investigation before drawing conclusions?”

“With these latest developments, I’m afraid that’s a luxury we don’t have.”

Once again, I was stunned into silence.

Having regained the upper hand, she pressed on. “I very much doubt that the family of this murdered woman will wait before filing a lawsuit against the college.

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