The Search For Mystery Girl

The Painting

Grace
I have shown Ray and Carla the painting in my house of who I thought was Anna Smith and it turns out that Anna is Anastasia and the painting was done by a boy from the place she had disappeared from. He is still running the gallery and has a lot of works of art and is very good at sketching, painting and graphic arts and photography and various arts.

Ray
I look at the painting and compared it to the photos in my phone of Anastasia when she was six. It almost exact, so I check the artist name and look him up. I do a back ground check and he went to the same school as she did. I decide to find out everything I can about him. Grace says that she thinks Anastasia was a patient of hers and told me what she recalls of the child. She is sure that it was Anastasia. Anastasia still can't recall that time before she came out of the coma. I need to see this guy and insist he not use my daughter in any of his works again. Something about the painting bothers me. As her father I don't see it as an innocent painting of a young girl. Something in the way he has her positioned is bothering me. Grace has decided to let me have it after I got so upset.

Carla
I don't think it looks bad, but there is something about it that upsets Ray and I look at it further and there it is, I finally saw what bothers him so much. What looks like a young girl sitting cross legged now looks like a slightly pornographic painting. Clearly defining the section between her legs. You have to look very closely to see it, but it is there. Grace took out her magnifying glass and she turned blood red and took the painting down. Ray has very sharp eyes and noticed immediately. Grace gave it to us and Ray is going to have a word with the guy. I am going with him. Grace should ask for her money back and I tell her to come with us. Carrick hears us and tells us to step carefully. He will go with us.

Jose
I can't believe the lady brought back the painting of Anastasia and the point out why they brought it back to me. I give mrs Grey a refund and I tell Mr Grey that I won't use Anastasia as my model any longer. He says it could harm her career if those kind of pictures got out with her in them. Ray Steele tells me there had better not be any more of her out there in the world. Plus it is sick to paint her like that he asks who paints a six year old like that? I show him exactly what I mean.  Carrick Grey an attorney interjects and tells me to take all images of Anastasia down immediately. I see that mr Steele and his wife and the other lady have spotted a few of them and asked that they be given to them. I am looking at them like they are crazy I looked at the painting and realize they are right about what could be child pornography. I didn't paint the painting like that. I look over at the other pieces and I look at them closely. I am not always here and am not the only painter. So I go through everything and I see where my original painting has been added to. I take them all down and I show them what I had sketched out and then painted. I am going to fire the person who did this to my works. But I have to take down all the Anastasia pieces. He actually signed his initials under my name and I hadn't noticed it until now. Austin Stanley has been working here and painting his own things and he has sold a few and did restorative work on damaged art that came in. I go get my paint and smock and paint over what needed painted and assured it was modest and I painted over his signature. I went around to the others he had done this to and painted it them and painted over his signatures. I asked if that would satisfy them? When they said it still looks like Anastasia I changed her face by a bit of shading and it suddenly looked nothing like her. The girl was still beautiful but now she is different looking with a few brush strokes. Mr Grey said that would make the legal issue go away for the ones now, but the other sold ones could be an issue. I explain that I will tell anyone who asks it is not Anastasia Steele. I agreed to sign an agreement to that affect.

Carrick
We finally leave with the original painting and the agreement we wrote up on the spot. We discovered that he went started sketching as soon as he could hold a pencil and pad. He started sketching Anastasia as soon as he met her in school. He actually thought what everyone else thought, was that she was killed by her kidnappers. We got him to agree not to use her image again. I remind him that he signed an agreement that included that as well.

Austin Stanley
Jose texted me not to come into the gallery until he gives me the okay to come in. He says there is an issue we need to discuss. I watch as four people walk out with a painting I recognize as one we sold a long time ago. I can't hear what is being said, but I notice the painting has been changed and covered up the area I painted it now has a skirt covering it and flowers covering my signature. They drive off and I get a call from Jose to come in. He looks at me and tells me to stop painting Anastasia and especially not showing her private parts any longer. I look at him and he tells me to concentrate on the others because he's got someone who wants them.

Jose
Elena has clients who is asking for special orders and I know Austin will paint anything for a buck. So after I show him what I had to do to certain paintings he gets it. He goes t work on the latest ones that he got photos of personally. He won't let any more of his works get on the floor again. Elena walks in and we take her back to see the private room with the paintings she asked for. She apparently is opening a club and wants these paintings for it. I don't use my name on these paintings. I told Austin to stop signing his names as well. She might pay us well but she definitely is a sick person and we aren't any better than her for painting them for her.