Dorian Mystery - Art of Murder

Chapter VIII

'So, you've finally decided to visit me, Dorian.' Carmen greeted me with a smile on her face when I entered the museum and I just remembered our last encounter when she gave me her visit card of the museum. That's where I saw Grand Museum name.

'Hi, Carmen. I heard there's a nice opening of a new painting from Dali. How does it feel like?'

She looked like me in a serious manner and simply said:

'Honestly, this is just a normal day at work for me, except that now it's a bunch of rich people that want to prove they love art, but they don't even know how to make a difference between a bush and a dumpster.'

Hearing this from her made me laugh for real. I hadn't felt this in a long time. I think ever since the FBI agents visited me. Resolving the case always had a priority for me, but today I felt like a normal person. On the other hand Carmen seemed to be enjoying her joke as she was watching me laugh and offered to introduce me to some people that Junior had helped in the past. I've met several rich people dressed like they were at Oscar Galas or ready to sell something under their sleeve, but none of them drawn my attention.

'In couple of minutes we will make the official exposure.' She whispered me while pointing her finger to a covered up painting.

'What's so special about it?'

Carmen just looked at me and kept on whispering that for starters this painting is incredibly rare as it's part of a very private collection. People can only find the painting through online and the year when it was painted, but there are extremely few records in books or anywhere about the time this was actually painted and why.

'As you might've noticed from this thing mentioned earlier, this painting is drawing attention because Dali is revealing the new world from his point of view after the Apocalypse by John is over and the Final Judgment is over. As the Book of Revelations said "Then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and first Earth had passed away."' She explained to me a little bit way too enthusiast.

'Interesting.' I replied without showing that much of an interest in art. Don't get me wrong, I love art, but not that much like she does.

Carmen grabbed my hand and rushed to the place where they are about to uncover this piece of art. The glimpse in her eyes full of joy, somehow moved me. Well at least until the curtain fell of the painting.

After the long boring speech the curator gave about the painting's history and rarity, he thrown the curtain away to reveal the painting. It was beautiful, I have to agree with that that the end of something is always the beginning of something else, but more disturbing and the actual reason that the people were shocked was the message written with blood – hopefully – on the portrait.

The message had just two words, but the look of the tool used to write it was hard to comprehend. It simply said "Guess Who?"

This guy keeps toying with me and it's already too much. Right now I have in my mind not one, but at most three suspects and they might all be working with him. I don't have time to think about it right now, but I will notate their look in my mind for later on.

The crowd was terrified seeing that message and started to panic. The curator tried to cover it back, but without success so he was sitting with his hands raised and with the curtain in his hands trying to cover this grim dark message.

'We need to evacuate everyone and fast.' I said while seeing people looking at each other and the fear on their faces grew the more they were staying there.

Carmen agreed and she ran to a certain spot behind a museum pillar and pressed on the fire alarm. The museum started all of a sudden to ring the evacuation bell and everyone was rushing out to escape safely. I asked the curator to leave the room too and to inform everyone about the drill, while I was checking the painting the message was written with. My thought was not wrong. It smelled like blood, fresh blood actually that was starting to dry out on the painting. His messages always had a meaning, that's something I've learned long ago so now he wants me to find his latest victim, but this doesn't match his pattern at all. Last night or few nights ago was not full moon. Last full moon was when Junior died. Maybe he murdered someone else back then and just waited for this opportunity?

In ten minutes the forensics were already at the crime scene and took samples and photos of the blood and the painting. Carmen was just talking with another police officer, giving her statement when a reporter rushed to me, in the middle of the possible crime scene and started to talk.

'How would you comment this treacherous act?' He asked me all of a sudden.

The reporter looked around his 40s, blonde gray hair, no wrinkles and his eyes and face expression was flowing with curiosity. He was holding in his hand a tape recorder to try to catch any useful information from me.

'I...'

'You think that The Artist killed someone again or is it someone else?' He interrupted me without letting me finish.

'Well...'

'You think the victims are killed randomly or he selects them based on a criteria?' He interrupted me again.

'Uhhm...'

'Would you be able to catch the killer in the near future?'

Before trying to respond to this question another police officer came and escorted him out. That was a very weird guy to be honest. Nevertheless, I have more important things to attend to right now and that would be to figure out who was killed and how was it possible for him to use the blood on the painting in such a fast manner and speaking of fast, I need to double check something else: since we were mourning Junior's death, we hadn't tried to find out how comes a whole pharmacy staff was replaced by mannequins and no actual person was living there. So how comes that such a public place became the house of the puppets and the scene of our trap?

I picked up the phone and called Shrevenport, asking him to handle me all the recent records in regards to this particular place, including the personnel.

'I'm on it.' He answered promptly and with the same calm as he had when we've first met.

'Thanks.'

'How you feeling? I can tell you've been a mess since Junior passed away.'

Passed away. I liked the sound of it. It was a beautiful way to say he died. But truth to be told, Junior's death will not remain in vain. I checked through his parents criminal files and the killer was smart. I checked the date when they were murdered and weird thing: It seems that it was a full moon then too. So the killer of his parents was also the Artist. Were they his very first victims? Or were there other people even before them? If it was the same person as it was 20 years ago then he must've have at least over 40 years old right now. So I had a small detail that can help me out narrowing the list a little bit. If he is a master when it comes of murder, why has he spared Junior? Did he had some emotional connection with him or was another secret behind it?

'Dorian?'

So many questions, so few answers obtained. I was waiting for Shrevenport now to give me the records of that pharmaceutical building to check anything unusual, I was also waiting for the forensics to give me some more information about the blood samples from the painting. In the meantime I had nothing to do at this point.

'Dorian, are you alright?' Shrevenport asked me again very concerned this time.

'Yes, I... I'm ok. Just a little bit tired, I guess.'

'Well get some rest. You definitely need it.' He replied and hung up.

Maybe Shrevenport is right. I need some rest to think through the whole situation with a clear mind. I was heading outside when I heard someone calling my name. I looked back and saw how Carmen was looking for me.

'Hey, since this whole opening was a mess, let's grab that coffee, shall we?

I looked at her surprised of this invitation, but it was expected somehow. I simply smiled and walked out with her towards this Café.