The Case of the Missing Botticelli by Marilyn Baron
Author:Marilyn Baron [Baron, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery; Florence; Venice; Stolen Nazi Art; Botticelli; Birth of Venus; Marilyn Baron
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2021-10-21T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Fourteen
Hadley and Ingrid snagged a prime outdoor table at St. Markâs Square. It was a touristy establishment and the pigeons were out in force, but it was a beautiful day, and they were enjoying the ambience only Venice can offer. And you could hardly get a bad meal in Italy. Hadley ordered an amaretto sour, and Ingrid was sipping a Bellini. It was a little early in the afternoon to be drinking, but Hadley felt sheâd already lived a lifetime in a day, and she was still steaming over Lucaâs behavior.
âIâm sorry I lied to you and pretended I was a museum curator,â Ingrid said. âBut it was the only way I could get the help I needed. I had exhausted the court system. I didnât have enough evidence.â
Hadley knew a thing or two about lying, so how could she not accept Ingridâs apology?
âI was certain you were going to be my pathway to a job at the Uffizi.â
âIs that what you want out of life?â Ingrid asked. She seemed really interested.
âSure, why not?â What she really wanted was Luca, but that vaporetto had already left the lagoon. âIf youâre not a museum curator, then what are you?â
âA math teacher.â
Hadley laughed. âAbout as far away from art history as possible.â
âBut I love art. Paintings were prized in my family.â
âCan you tell me the story?â Hadley prompted, âIf youâre ready?â
The server placed a large order of fritto misto and two Caprese salads at the table and then refilled their water glasses. Apparently, the two women had more in common than art. They had the same taste in food. If they had met under different circumstances, quite by chance, Hadley thought they could be good friends.
âIf you tell me whatâs going on between you and that hot cop of yours.â The tension in the air was as thick as molasses.
âHeâs not mine, not anymore. We were dating, and then along came Isabella, and it was love at first sight.â
âHe wasnât looking at her the way he was looking at you,â Ingrid observed.
âWell, then I think you need to have your eyes checked.â
âI can see whatâs right in front of me. Iâm quite sure heâs yours, if you want him.â
Hadley was eager to change the subject. âIâd rather not talk about it.â
As they ate their lunch, which was delicious, Ingrid told her story despite the fact that thousands of tourists swarmed the square around them.
âMy grandfather came from a long line of wealthy bankers. They lived in a big house in Berlin, and he was an avid art collector. Unfortunately, he used the same Swiss art dealer as Hermann Göring, and thatâs where the trouble started.
âIt was way before they enacted the racist and antisemitic Nuremberg laws, and before Kristallnacht. They had just opened Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, in 1933 in southern Germany. At the beginning, it was a camp for political prisoners, Communists and Marxists, before it became a death camp. Ostensibly, the inmates would be implementing land cultivation projects.
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