Authors: Warren Slingsby
Someone shouted Nicolay’s name and something in Russian. He excused himself momentarily. When he came back, the other boats were sailing off. The sound of motors accompanied the initial momentum of the boats. The yacht that had been on their right was heading out to sea with three pale blue sails at half mast. It looked majestic and tranquil. The other one sailing east towards Italy. She wondered what works of stolen art were on those boats? This boat contained a stolen Rembrandt; so perhaps a yacht was the perfect hiding place. It made total sense. With a house, there was always a chance, someone could get in or that an authority figure could see the piece of art. But not out at sea. Who ever went on one of these yachts apart from the fortunate few? She remembered reading about a lot of other paintings that had also been stolen on the night when the Rembrandt was taken. At least another ten paintings or more including Manet, Degas, Vermeer and a second Rembrandt. Were they all just floating about out here at sea viewed only by those on the inner circles of their privileged owners? They had to be somewhere and if you could afford to buy one of them, even on the black market, they’d still cost a hell of a lot, so it’s likely they’d all be in the hands of the super rich.
Nicolay suggested that that they could take some comfier seats at the rear deck now that the other boats had left. He made coffee for the three of them and effortlessly pulled together a buffet breakfast of granola, chopped bananas, honey and yoghurt. He grabbed a very well stocked fruit bowl from another table and brought it over.
“We can at least have a healthy breakfast after all the bad things we put in our bodies last night.” and he winked at Janet. He winked a lot she noticed. It put her very much at ease. Much more so than she should have been to say that she shouldn’t really be here in the first place. She had blagged her way into this position, she was not here because she knew anyone. Not really at least. She kind of knew Alva and now she kind of knew Nicolay. Both would be short lived friendships she thought. Especially if they knew why she was on board.
“What plans do you have today ladies?” He asked the pair of them. “You’re both more than welcome to stay aboard, but equally I can get you back to Nice if you wish?”
“Well I was supposed to fly back home to Sweden. Malmo. But I stayed to keep my friend company, but I seem to have lost her somewhere along the way. So I currently don’t have any plans.” She looked expectantly toward Janet.
Janet pulled an expression that said ‘thinking’ for literally a second, then blurted out. “Don’t have any plans. Staying on board would be good.” she paused, then added, “If I could freshen up.” She wasn’t thinking about sunbathing. She was thinking about Nicolay and her attraction. She smiled at the chatter but felt annoyed on the inside with herself. With her shallowness. Her predictable-ness. She couldn’t even just enjoy this for what it was. A day on a beautiful yacht in an amazing setting.
“We have everything you could possibly need to shower, sunbathe… freshen up. You are my guest now, you can do as you please. What is mine is yours.” He spread his arms out to show he meant everything on the boat.
“Lovely, thanks.” said Alva.
“Very sweet of you.” added Janet whilst thinking slyly that she intended to take him at his word. Although, how she was actually going to take such a big painting off this yacht was yet to be figured out. Could she take it out of the frame and roll it? Could you roll a Rembrandt? Probably not, it would be canvas stretched on a wooden frame. She would need something large enough to put it in like a suitcase. Would that be big enough? She couldn't remember now that she was away from it whether it was huge or tiny. All she could see was Rembrandt’s calm face staring out. Staring out of the painting at her. At Janet. ‘Get me out of this Janet. Free me from this place.’
“I’m going to grab a shower if that’s ok?” said Janet.
“Of course, it’s okay. As I said I want you to make yourself at home. There is a guest bathroom straight down.” Nicolay said motioning through to the living area to the corridor beyond. “Third door on the left. There should be everything you need in there. If there isn’t, let me know what you need.”
Half an hour later, feeling refreshed and wide awake now, even with no sleep whatsoever. She opened the door to the bathroom and looked back down the corridor to the back deck. She could see the two of them sat at the table still chatting and laughing. Across the gangway from her was the study door. The door was askew. She had another look to make sure they were still chatting and flew across the narrow corridor and into the study. She still hadn’t figured out what her plan of action was. She just wanted another look at the painting. See how big it was. See how it was attached to the wall. She pulled on the book that unlatched the book shelf and manoeuvred it all back to allow a gap into the inner study. It was big. In fact it was huge. It was way too big for her to do anything with. It probably weighed a ton too. She held onto the sides of the picture and lifted it slightly. It moved up the wall remarkably easily. She had thought the frame might be gold but it wasn’t. It must be wood with gold leaf. She lifted it a little further and felt it unhook from the wall. She would certainly be able to carry it, but it was just so big. She tried to hook it back to the wall but now couldn’t find the hook.
“So he was right, you are up to no good.”
She jumped back from the wall. She was literally caught red handed. The painting in her hands. She stood there holding the painting in front of her. She placed it down on the floor and leaned it slightly against the wall. Her heart was popping out from her chest.
“Have you seen this?” Janet asked Alva in a whispered tone. “This is a stolen Rembrandt you know?”
“Yes, I know.”
“You know?” Janet asked incredulously. “How do you know?”
“Yes, it’s called the Storm on the sea of Galilee. It was painted in 1633. It depicts Jesus calming the storm with the disciples all around him.”
Janet’s face contorted as she was at first confused and then she started to realise what might be happening.
“You’ll need to wait here for Nicolay.” Alva said and with that, she smiled and pushed the door back into place and it sealed with a click.
“What have you done?” She looked around frantically for some kind of release for the false wall but there was nothing on this side that she could see. There had to be some way of getting out though she told herself. She scanned the room. Nothing jumped out at her. There were no books on the inside of the wall.
Then a few moments later she heard a conversation taking place on the other side of the door. It was muffled so she couldn’t quite make out anything of meaning. Then the door clicked as the latch unlocked. It moved outwards once again and there stood Alva with Nicolay.
Nicolay smiled at Janet and beckoned her to follow him. She stood for a second without moving and he turned back and once more beckoned her. He nodded his head as if to say ‘it’s ok’. But it wasn’t ok. She knew that it was about as far from ok as it was possible to get. She walked out of the study with a heavy heart. In the inside living area, Nicolay asked her take a seat on the low slung sofa.
“Alva knew it as soon as she saw you last night.” Nicolay said to Janet.
“It was a bit of a giveaway when you were wearing all my clothes AND my shoes.”
Janet felt her face go hot and red. “So you work for Nicolay or you fuck him or both?” Janet asked looking at Alva.
“I work for Nicolay.”
“And you didn’t have a friend who went off with a guy last night did you?”
Alva shook her head and sniggered slightly.
“I want to thank you Janet.” Nicolay said prompting what must have been a very surprised look on Janet’s face. “No, really. This has been very useful to me in terms of security. I now know for example that my contact Matthew Weiss has a very big mouth and cannot be trusted. And that I will have to deal with him in due course. You see, I cannot have people know about this painting. It’s too precious to me. I mean, do you know how difficult it is to get hold of a Rembrandt? It’s almost impossible. Not one like this anyway. I was offered some sketches but who wants sketches. Would you want sketches? I wanted a real Rembrandt. A Rembrandt painting of Jesus no less.”
Janet figured that MPW, the writer of the letter must be Matthew Weiss. Her mind was whirring.
“I mentioned this in passing once to Matthew and wasn’t sure if he would take the bait, but he obviously did. What I’m not sure about is how you came by this information from him?”
“What does it matter?” Janet asked indignantly.
“I suppose it doesn’t really. Matthew will be dealt with accordingly. Unfortunately my dear, this does not bode well for you.” he said with a regretful tone.
“Really? Why’s that?”
“Well, I just can’t have people around who know about this. It would be hurtful to my… profile. The media hate me as it is. It’s tough to be this successful. It’s frowned upon by the media. I may as well be a murderer as be a rich and successful business man for all the papers care. But if this information that I was in possession of this ‘lost’ Rembrandt came out, then I fear they would turn on me completely. It would be ugly and I don’t like ugliness.” He shook his head. “I like beauty.”
“I don’t want the painting Nicolay and I don’t want to tell anyone about it. Who would believe me? Who would I tell?”
“Then what was all this about?” Alva asked, “Please, enlighten us.”
Janet focussed her attention on Nicolay. As dire as her situation was, she felt a terrible, coldness toward Alva right now. She didn’t like being taken for a fool. “It was about putting a theory to the test. Seeing if I could solve a puzzle.” Nicolay motioned for her to expand on this. “I found a letter from Weiss to someone I knew once. It had a coded message about the painting. I solved it. That’s all. That’s all I wanted to see. If I could solve the puzzle. Nothing more.”
“Then why were you seeing if you could lift it off the wall darling?” Alva asked indignantly.
Before she could answer, Nicolay cut back in. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I made the mistake of thinking it was secure. It wasn’t. It isn’t. I will sort that out with my team. But whether you were trying to steal it or not. I can’t have you walk off this ship with this knowledge. Unfortunately for you darling, I do not know how to wipe your mind. So…” he paused, “the only thing I can do is not allow you back on dry land. Ever.” he said with finality. He didn’t look saddened by this news. “I have had to call my colleague. Dimitri will come and deal with you. I cannot promise you that things will be pain free. Or quick, but who knows. Be nice to him.”
He walked to the door to the corridor, pulled it shut and locked it. The key went in his trouser pocket.
“We are going to go and await Dimitri and then we’ll leave you with him.” Nicolay said. Janet couldn’t think of anything to say to this news. The pair of them left the living room toward the back deck. Nicolay took the key from the inside lock, pulled the door closed behind them and then locked it from the outside leaving the key in the door. He didn’t make eye contact with her. They went around the side of the yacht and she could hear their footsteps going downwards toward the back of the yacht.
“Fuck.” she put her hands over her eyes as if to hide from this news. “Brilliant you idiot. Bitch!”
She got up and looked at the lock and wondered briefly if she could break the glass in the door, but it looked extremely sturdy. She looked around the front room. It was minimalist. She wasn’t sure if this was how it always was or if it was like this for the party. There were a few tables with drawers, she looked through them but there was nothing that could help her situation. Perhaps, she could learn to play herself a lament on the piano. She continued to pace the room like a beautiful caged leopard. Running through escape plans and scenarios in her head. It was no good. She was too upset at being taken for a ride by Alva to think straight. She sat back into the sofa and rubbed her head all over like this might somehow help. She stared into space. She wasn’t sure for how long.
A deep burbling grew from the side of the boat and a black speed boat pulled up at the low rear deck. Janet guessed this was Dimitri. He was tall, dark, unshaven. He made eye contact with her momentarily through the glass doors. She shivered. There was nothing behind his eyes. No emotion. No feeling. They could have been the dead eyes of a corpse hanging on the end of a rope. He strained to lift what looked like some type of anchor out of the speedboat and placed it onto the rear deck. The anchor was the size of a coffee table. Attached to the anchor was a chain and on the end of the chain was a pair of hand cuffs. He climbed on board and moved the anchor slightly to examine the decking. He wiped a spot away as if he had scratched the varnish.
He walked across the deck and sat down at the table on the rear decking area and checked his watch. After a few moments, Nicolay and treacherous Alva appeared and they all spoke for a minute. The double glazed pane of the doors meant she heard nothing of the conversation. All that came across was the grimness of their faces. Then the pair walked to the rear of the yacht, got onto the speed boat together and sped off back in the direction of Nice. Nicolay drove. Alva looked back briefly and smiled but it was a smile filled with pity. In a way, Alva’s smile was much more worrying than Dimitri and his anchor. Clearly, Janet thought, they didn’t want to be on board when Dimitri did whatever he was going to do.
Dimitri unlocked her cage and slid the double doors apart slightly.
“Janet. Hello. We are to have a little chat.” he said and walked in to the living area pulling the doors closed behind him. He didn’t lock them back up. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Janet did as requested with a fair amount of trepidation.
“I’m Dimitri. An acquaintance of your host. I’m on your host’s inner circle.” he said with just the slightest hint of Russian inflection at the back of his throat. “You, Janet are not on his inner circle. But, you have some information which only those on the inner circle should know about. This information concerns a painting in the private study.” he smiled with some crooked teeth. “Does this make sense so far Janet?”