Nocturne in Black and Gold

Chapter 21: Tough Love

Henry returned that evening as promised with Indian takeout. His appetite was evidently healthier than his shoulder. He brought a feast of lamb vindaloo, naan, dhal, raita, and samosas. He also supplied several bottles of Indian beer to replenish Neal's stash in the fridge. A front had passed through, making it cool enough to sit outside. As the sun dipped low in the west, the sky cloaked itself in a Turner sunset of soft coral and azure.

Before digging into the food, Neal asked Henry how much trouble he was in.

Henry shrugged as he popped the top off his beer bottle. "My injury may have been a good thing. The sympathy card worked well with Joe at first, and it tempered Mom's response. The grandfathers were a mixture of anger and envy. But after the initial storm passed, they realized that the information I'd acquired was valuable enough to make it worth the risk. I knew it would be a gamble and there might be severe repercussions, but it was all on me. No one else was exposed to harm."

Neal nodded. "I knew that was why you handled it that way. Who will lead the effort to find Adler?"

"Radha is in charge of that," Henry said, reaching for a samosa. "He and Jones have developed a good working relationship. I'm off the travel circuit for a while and will focus on New York projects."

"Has Mozzie grilled you about Hitler clones yet?"

"He called me yesterday. Is our paranoid friend sleeping here and should I be worried about that?"

"Yes and no. He slept here last night, but I convinced him to stay in one of June's guest rooms from now on. You don't have to be concerned about him stuffing my head with Nazi invasion theories." Neal tapped his temple. "The inn is already filled with conspiracies. There's no room for his, too. Besides, his humming was waking me up."

Henry gave him one of Peter's no-nonsense looks. "Are you sure it was his humming?"

Henry knew him too well to attempt deflecting. "I'm making progress. The nightmares are getting better. Now when I see Klaus's face, I try to picture those silver puzzle pieces instead."

"Not a bad strategy." He helped himself to another samosa. "What was the music you had on when I arrived? I thought at first I was listening to Springsteen's 'Incident on 57th Street' but the introduction went on forever."

"Springsteen? That's a stretch. That was a Schubert piano sonata."

Henry frowned. "You told me Klaus played Schubert. Is this another instance of him messing with your head?"

"I don't think so. It helps me focus on the forgery. I want this painting to be perfect. The Woman in Blue was the best forgery I'd ever made. I associate Vermeer now with Schubert, and yeah, I guess Klaus. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm preparing this forgery to thwart his plan. Keeping my focus on the objective is good, right?"

Henry didn't look convinced. Neal busied himself with eating so Henry wouldn't ask him more about it. When he focused on painting, he didn't think about the memories and that was healthy, even if Schubert wasn't.

Henry had never seen Neal prepare a forgery and appeared genuinely curious about how he approached it. After they demolished the food, they went inside. Henry declared he wanted to study the painting with fresh eyes.

Neal went into the kitchen to refill his wine glass. The painting was calling to him like The Woman in Blue used to. He often conducted conversations with his paintings. Generally they were women's voices, but this time it was a man. The astronomer was believed to be Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a seventeenth-century scientist. For Neal, the scientist now represented Azathoth.

The team had known of Azathoth's interest in astronomy since they discovered his forgery of the Galileo manuscript. This painting by Vermeer could easily represent the embodiment of Azathoth to Rolf and Klaus as well. Vermeer and Galileo were from the same period. The figure in the painting was studying the celestial globe as if he were Azathoth planning his next move. A brass astrolabe lay below the globe. It reminded Neal of the armillary spheres Azathoth had used to set a trap. How much inspiration had the brothers derived from this painting?