Harlequin's Shadow

Chapter 28: Looking Ahead

"On September 12, 2005, at 7:35 p.m. Vincent Adler and Kate Moreau were taken into custody." Peter paused. He wouldn't have time to finish the report, but that was one line he couldn't wait to document. Marcel had assembled a crack team of French agents to assist in the takedown. The five guards, Kate, and Adler had all been captured without a shot being fired and there were no serious injuries.

Peter didn't have much time to tease Neal about looking like Orlando Bloom. He'd stripped off his wig before they finished reading Adler his rights. As for Peter, the mustache was gone as soon as they crossed the border into France.

Neal reported that Adler had used a couple of drugs on him but claimed not to be suffering any adverse side effects. Since he appeared to be okay, Peter didn't press.

Mozzie took off in the Volkswagen shortly after the cave had been emptied, muttering to Peter he'd meet them later in town. The rest of the team rode with Marcel in a police van to Besançon where they'd process the suspects and the art. As they entered the ancient city, Marcel pointed out the Citadel, an eighteenth-century fortress. During the war, it had been turned into a garrison by the Nazis and was the site of numerous executions of Resistance fighters.

The crates were taken to a secure room within police headquarters. Marcel had brought along Odette Paquin, an art specialist who served as liaison to the French museum association. She was an unfamiliar face but she'd worked with Marcel on the theft of The Astronomer. She'd proved her trustworthiness on the Vermeer. Peter would need to rely on her and Marcel's discretion once more.

Neal and Odette unpacked the paintings while Marcel and Peter documented the discoveries and Travis recorded the proceedings. No one else was in the room. That was at Peter's request. The second phase of the op had already begun.

Peter couldn't follow Odette and Neal's running conversion, but judging by their looks of excitement and happiness, the long period of concealment hadn't damaged the art in any significant way. Some restoration work would be necessary, but the cave was dry and the paintings had been carefully packed. By the time all the crates were emptied, fourteen works were propped against the walls. They included all the art listed on the shipping manifest: Murillo's St. Justa, Pissarro's Rue de Village, Harlequin and Columbine, Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man, along with works by Matisse, Van Gogh, and Renoir. Peter was particularly satisfied to see a work by Georges Braque—Violin and Candlestick—also displayed against a wall. Somehow Mozzie had spirited it into a crate with a Degas when the suspects were being processed.

When it was over, Neal gave a small nod to Peter, his face a mixture of exhaustion and triumph. He wasn't alone. They'd been able to experience the once-in-a-lifetime exhilaration of being modern Monuments Men. The satisfaction of recovering the art along with capturing Adler ... Peter wished he could bottle up the feeling to share with El and the other members of the team. He could only imagine the joy Neal must be feeling as an artist. He and Odette were drifting from one painting to the other as if trying to imprint each one indelibly into their memory.

But time was short, and there were vital details to be ironed out.

"Are you ready to discuss that plan you've been working on?" Marcel asked Peter, casting him a shrewd glance.

"Yes, I'd like you to hold off releasing news about two of the paintings—the Raphael self-portrait and the Renoir of a woman reading a book."

"How long do we need to delay?" Marcel asked.

"No more than two months. You've already agreed to delay the disclosure of the theft of The Astronomer. If we're successful, you'll be able to announce its recovery along with these two paintings by December. There will be no risk to the works. You can continue to safeguard them."