The Lover's Portrait by Jennifer S. Alderson

Author:Jennifer S. Alderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: wwii, fiction historical, historical mystery, female protagonist, amsterdam, nazi era europe, nazi art theft, homosexual characters, cultural heritage, art history mystery
Publisher: Jennifer S. Alderson

TWENTY-SIX

“Look out!”

Zelda, lost in thought, registered the warning only seconds before a tiny winged thing buzzed alongside her head, practically scratching her cheek with its miniscule blades. “Damn it, Friedrich! You know I hate it when you do that,” she shouted, swatting at her friend’s latest acquisition with her backpack.

“Hey, stop that!” he yelled, landing his plane before she could knock it out of the sky. “I really didn’t mean to get that close to your head. I guess I still haven’t gotten the controls synced up right,” Friedrich admitted sheepishly while cradling his remote-controlled craft like a newborn. Zelda scowled at him before doing a double-take. His new toy was definitely not like any of his other planes. Its six-inch-long hull was shaped like a helicopter, but instead of having one rotor on top, thin blades were mounted on four arms extending out from its base, forming a deadly square when airborne.

“What is that?” she asked incredulously.

“An AR.Drone 2.0 quadrocopter,” Friedrich responded proudly. “I finally splurged and bought one. They maneuver better than any of my other helicopters, or should once I get the hang of it.”

“Cool.” She stretched out on the lush grass, happy he was willing to meet in Vondelpark today instead of Museumplein. He’d already set himself up towards the back of a small open field, his backpack resting against Pablo Picasso’s Figure découpée l’Oiseau. To Zelda the six-foot tall concrete statue – donated to the city by the great artist himself in 1965 and nicknamed ‘the fish’ by locals – looked like a large bird about to land on the same grass she was now sitting on, not any aquatic creature she’d ever seen.

The ground around them was littered with winged samara nuts that twirled to the earth like whirligigs when a strong wind blew through a small grove of maple trees growing a few feet behind them. From their position, Friedrich had thirty feet of open airspace to fly around in. All he had to do was watch out for the picnickers and barbeques spread out on the grass below.

She smiled as she watched tourists and locals throwing Frisbees, kicking balls and roasting meat while basking in the sunshine. Plumes of grey smoke and the smell of marinade filled the air. On sunny days like today, she could easily believe Vondelpark received ten million visitors a year, as Amsterdam’s tourist office asserted. The hundred and twenty acre park was always busy. Another reason why Friedrich preferred the relative quiet of Museumplein to fly his remote-controlled planes, less chance of hitting someone.

“How are you doing today?” he cautiously probed.

“I don’t know to be honest. I’m glad Karen’s going to have to go through the whole claims process. But I don’t think either Bernice or Huub are going to give Rita’s claim a second glance, especially with Gerard in the picture.” Zelda knew she should be satisfied knowing she’d thwarted Karen’s hopes of quickly claiming Irises, but she still couldn’t get Rita Brouwer out of her mind.

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