by Alec Peche
Now Nicole spoke up for the first time, "When we met with Nick, he asked us many questions about stolen Nazi loot - where it was found, etc. Most art that has been already recovered came from Germany and Austria which are obvious locations. Presently, there is known stolen art in most of the major museums of the world and different plans are being worked out to return the pieces or their monetary value to the descendants of the original owners. At this point major works are hidden from the public view in private collections or in locations deserted shortly after World War II. Do any of the islands fit either description? Perhaps he had a lead to an island in Scotland and then spent a couple of trips searching those islands."
The screen had continued playing the before and after pictures to the painting, while they were in the room. Now Craig was clearly taken in by the photos knowing like the other two that he'd seen the location at some time.
"Ms. Quint, can you stop the loop of pictures? I want to study those pictures."
Jill did as he requested and they all watched him flip the pictures at his own speed.
"Sir, I think it has to be Loch Lomond or the Firth as Campbell and I have both seen the painting, and we both think it was in our childhoods. Those are the only two water locations I went to as a young child."
"Perhaps we can enlarge the wall behind the painting and tell if it is concrete or wood, that might narrow the choices," Campbell suggested.
What did you say the value of the painting was?" Craig asked.
"Perhaps nine to ten million Euros," Michael replied.
"Do you have any security camera footage of the roads to Loch Lomond and the Firth to see if Mr. LeRoux or Nick is spotted on them?" Jill asked.
"We have about two hundred cameras stationed around Edinburgh, but as you can imagine that creates a lot of footage and therefore we only store for thirty-one days. Do you think they visited any of these islands in the last thirty-one days?"
Jill nodded, "The dates on Mr. LeRoux's camera are within those dates, and I can't imagine they would just sit on an expensive piece of art for months."
"Because the two men in question are deceased, we won't need a court order to look at the footage, but it could take us days to get back the results as we're looking at nearly one hundred-fifty thousand hours of footage," Craig warned.
Jill saw other holes in this approach such as Nick's or Girard's faces being clear to a CCTV camera. Indeed if they drove there in the dark, their faces wouldn't be visible.
"Perhaps my friend Nathan, Michael, Nicole, and I could just have Scotland's permission to visit all seven locations today. I return to the U.S. tomorrow and the search can continue without me beyond that."
"Just a minute," said DCS Craig as he indicated for Murray and Campbell to precede him from the room.
"We'll need to rent a boat in both locations; this Loch Lomond and the fifth," Michael suggested.
"It's Firth, not fifth though I admit that it's hard to hear sometimes with their accents," Jill said. "Let's see what they come back with. I have a feeling we're going to get some help. I just want to get a move on. I'm going to call Nathan and see if he wants to join us."
Jill reached Nathan and was pleased to hear he was about to take a cab to her location, ready to join the trip to some Scottish islands.
The door opened, and the DCS and one of his detectives returned.
"Campbell is making arrangements for a boat at Loch Lomond and Firth. You'll have a van and two of my detectives to find the painting today. If you don't find it, the case will likely be re-assigned to our cold case division, and you are not to search for it on your own. If you do find it and it's on private property, then the detectives will confiscate it while we get a court order after one of your two art experts verifies it's the original stolen piece of art. Can you do that?"
"No," said Michael. "I can verify that it is the Canaletto that is on the missing art list. But I'll need to test the canvas' age, x-ray the picture, and do an analysis of the pigments to verify its authenticity."
"Well, maybe I'll contact the National Museum of Scotland to see if they can lend a hand. I'll worry about that if you find it," Craig said. "Good luck," he muttered then shook their hands and left the room.
"We're going to find it today," Nicole said. "I can just feel that we're on the verge of a big discovery."
"We'll see," Jill said. "I'm glad I have the right shoes on to clamber over islands today, and the weather report said it will remain dry today! It'll be a unique twist on tourism."
Michael and Nicole offered her a small smile as Nathan was shown into the room. Smart man that he was, he arrived carrying a heavier jacket for Jill. As being out in the open water was likely a colder climate then downtown Edinburgh.
Jill provided Nathan with an update on their island tour showing him and the two Germans, a general map of where they were going. From what Jill understood of the islands of Loch Lomond, they would be a faster search than those of the firth given their distance from shore and the limited buildings that might house a painting. Jill could see spending less than ten minutes on some islands.
Murray and Campbell returned to the room indicating they'd made the boat and car plans and they should join them in heading down to the car park. Minutes later with Murray at the wheel and Jill in the front passenger seat they were negotiating mid-morning Edinburgh traffic.
Chapter 37
Not wanting to distract her driver, Jill kept the small talk to a minimum. They were out of the normal heavy traffic of the city and heading toward Glasgow and then on to Loch Lomond. Jill had checked, and it would be about an hour and a half to the southern part of the Loch. Fortunately, all the islands were in the southern part of the Loch. Jill hoped they had a speedboat at the Loch. With the Firth, she didn't know enough about speedboats versus cars to know which was faster to some of the islands on her list, but she guessed it was a car. When they arrived at the Duck Bay Marina, they had a local officer from West Dunbartonshire that was already at the motor of what looked to be a powerful patrol boat.
Once Campbell helped them push off from the dock, the three officers stood near the wheel chatting. Nathan and Jill had their cameras out ready to capture something new, while Michael and Nicole viewed the upcoming island with anticipation. The southernmost island was the biggest with the most structures on it. Fortunately, it was closed for the season which allowed them unfettered access to all of the buildings. The painting was about two feet by three feet, so a quick look in all rooms was all they needed to move on to the next island.
Jill watched Nicole's enthusiasm dropping as each island in the Loch disappointed them with the lack of a painting. Jill hoped to find the painting for Nick's legacy but was content to enjoy the Scottish countryside and this beautiful lake.
"Someday when you're not chasing a ten million dollar work of art, I would enjoy staying in one of those cabins on the first island we visited or better still the island with the private home on the last island," Nathan said. "I love the peace here."
"We could also stay on the island with the old distillery. Perhaps you could make some moonshine while we're there," Jill replied leaning against him with the wind buffeting her.
"I think I would likely poison the two of us trying that and our bodies would be rotted by the time someone visited our scene of death. I'll pass."
Jill laughed, "Imagine that you would think of a way of killing us before I would! You have a point about the old distillery. I suppose there might be rust and lead in our moonshine."
"At the very least, along with spiders, and mice vermin."
"Okay, you've killed it for me. Forget that I mentioned that unromantic idea of spending time there killing ourselves," Jill said with a shudder.
Soon they were ashore reloaded in the van and on their way back to Glasgow, Edinburgh and then on to a boat at the Firth. Nathan asked that they stop at a grocery store on their way through Glasgow so he could buy lunch for the group. Shortly they were back on the road munchi
ng on sandwiches. Murray had them arriving at the dock closest to Cramond Island in the early afternoon. She explained that they would return to the docks at Leith as the tide made it tricky for boats in this area.
The tide was out, so they walked across the causeway to the island. Jill noted the numerous tags of graffiti artists and the general dilapidated air of the building on the island and knew no painting could survive there. She said so to the group, but they dutifully searched the structures. They met the patrol boat manned by a new officer and made their way across the firth to the next island of her list.
Jill had high hopes for it as there was an old monastery located on it. Wouldn't that be a great place to hide an old painting? Furthermore, there was a purported thirteen-century wall painting in the Abbey which suggested that a painting would survive. She kept her thought to herself not wanting to dash Nicole's optimism if they came up empty-handed again. There was a WWII tunnel also on the island, but after looking at all of her prime suspected locations, Jill was now the one that was melancholy over not finding the painting.
Oh well, at least they were getting such stunning if not rapidly taken photographs of some beautiful islands.
They moved on to the next to the last island on her list. It had a lighthouse that was automated, but it was really quite sad from the decaying military fortifications of WWII and earlier. Before she set foot on the island, she thought the only likely place for the art to survive was in the lighthouse, but once she approached the yellow three or four-story structure and saw the impact of graffiti artists she knew the painting wasn't there.
It left one more island to explore and then the painting would fall into the cold case file in Edinburgh; a sad ending to what started as a highly anticipated journey. They boarded the boat and noted that depending on their trip to the final island; they would make it back to Edinburgh by sunset. Again she silently thanked the weather gods for a great day by Scottish standards.
Maybe she was feeling the fancifulness of Nicole, but as they approached this last island, she felt it calling out to her on the painting. It had a critical lighthouse, manned until the late 1980s. Could the painting have been left behind in the lighthouse or one of the houses occupied by birdwatchers on the island? Would no one have noticed its value? And how had it arrived on the island to start with? Did someone just dump it in one of the buildings hoping to forget that it had been stolen from someone running from the Nazis? Jill was not an art expert and couldn't answer these questions.
The island had served the military during WWII with men posted to look for German submarines approaching the Scottish coast, but that isn't how such a painting would have arrived.
As they approached the harbor, they noticed another boat already tied up there. She supposed it was for the bird experts; to bring supplies out to the islands. She looked around at everyone and said, "Well this is the end of the road for me. Either the painting will be here, or better minds than mine will have to find this missing Canaletto painting." Jill tossed off her life vest onto the boat and departed with everyone else. They walked up the road towards the original lighthouse powered by coal and oil with Michael and Nicole in the front and Nathan and Jill in the rear. There was also a little cluster of houses; it was very quiet so Jill assumed that the birds were active at dusk and thus the birdwatchers were out and about watching the birds.
She looked over at DIs Campbell and Murray and said, "Is this where you went to camp?"
It was an excellent question to ask as none of the islands had triggered that reaction yet. Maybe Jill had picked the wrong islands of Loch Lomond? When she looked over at the two detective inspectors though, they were frozen in place. Jill followed their gaze and saw what she initially missed.
Chapter 38
Her Italian man was standing in the doorway of the farthest row house, gun in hand.
She knew the Scottish DIs carried no guns, though they might be armed with Tasers. She hadn't thought to ask earlier given she'd expected no trouble.
Campbell called out to the man, "DI Campbell, Police Scotland, drop your gun."
The man made no move to follow orders.
"He speaks Italian," Jill said in a softer voice. Jill could see Campbell put the pieces together to determine who this man was holding a gun on them that Jill knew.
Campbell asked Michael to translate his command for him and he did, but the Italian man didn't move or otherwise indicate he was going to follow the command.
Jill said to Michael, "Ask him if he found the treasure." She listened as Michael translated the question and watched as the armed man reached for something at his knees to show them what appeared to be a painting.
Michael followed up with a question of his own and the man replied. Michael explained to the group that when he returned home, he found a small notebook belonging to his friend Girard in his luggage and he indicated the location of the painting on this island.
Jill thought thankfully Italy is far from this corner of Scotland so it took the man so long to get back that they could intercept him. She looked sideways at Nathan and found he'd disappeared. She took another quick look and then decided he must be planning something. Oh dear!
DI Campbell told Michael to tell the man he was under arrest for threatening a police officer, owning a gun, and stealing property from the government of Scotland. Michael repeated the order, and a few sentences were exchanged.
Michael turned back to Campbell and said, "He doesn't care what you say. He has a gun and if you don't move out of his way, he'll shoot one or all of us. He's planning on leaving on his boat with the painting."
Jill wondered if there were birdwatchers inside the building either dead or restrained? She also worried about where Nathan had gone.
The Italian man steadied his grip on the gun, which in Jill's eyes looked like a semi-automatic weapon. If he wanted, he could mow them all down where they stood. Jill backed away from the path trying to give him space as she saw the others doing out of the corner of her eye.
Campbell caught her eye and seemed to note that Nathan was missing. The Italian man said something in Italian which Michael translated as, "He says stay back, or he'll be forced to shoot us."
The gunmen slowly move forward watching all of them; gun clasped in one hand, the painting in the other. He was inching forward from a slate grey house to a whitewashed house. Jill wondered at the different architecture and then refocused on the man with a gun. She caught sight of Nathan on the roof of the white building; she was worried that the gunmen would detect him and shoot, so she turned toward the harbor and pointed, saying, "Look is that another boat coming?"
Everyone looked including the gunman, and since he didn't understand English, Jill felt reasonably secure saying in a low voice to Campbell nearest to her, "I'm just trying to distract everyone from Nathan."
The gunman continued to walk down the path toward the dock, while Nathan edged over the roof. Thank goodness it was an ancient stone house designed to withstand the vigorous weather of an island in the North Sea.
Nathan grabbed a stone or ceramic drain pipe and swung off the roof and into the man's back plunging him forward. In seconds Murray and Campbell were on the man separating him from his gun. Nicole and Michael made a dive for the painting wanting to see it safe. Jill had her eyes on Nathan the whole time hoping that he would remain unharmed from his daring maneuver.
She needn't have worried. He ended up with filthy hands and a cut on one finger. She ran over to him, hugging him for dear life. He just leaned down with a smile and said, "That was fun, now I've got a great story to tell friends."
"What? About the time you caused my heart to beat so fast that the Scottish Police had to get a defibrillator off their boat to shock it to a slower pace?"
"Come'on babe, admit it, you're jealous that I thought of circling behind the man and you didn't. That was a modified stomp kick that would have made my Sensei proud," Nathan said wearing one of his rare wildly happy smiles.
Sh
e had to mask a grin of her own, and she turned and looked at the others. Seeing the Italian man secured, she looked over to the painting to find Michael with a magnifying glass examining the painting. From this distance, it looked unharmed.
Campbell was holding the man down with handcuffs on him. Murray was on the phone, and she saw the officer from the boat running up the path toward their aid. When the officer arrived, Campbell directed him to search the man for additional weapons. During the search, they found his passport.
"So your Italian man's name is Giovanni Floris and he lives in Sardinia. I assume this is the man that used a stun gun on you and you decided not to contact police. Have you changed your mind?"
Jill thought about it and said, "I think you probably have enough charges on the man without my adding to them. I'd like to stay out of the Scottish justice system."
"Are you sure? What he did was serious. It was an armed assault," Murray added.
Campbell must have mentioned that story to Murray when Jill was out of hearing range.
"Yes. I'm sure. As much as I've enjoyed your company Detective Inspectors, I'll be leaving for the United States in the morning. I would like to leave with the case closed. I'll give you a statement today about the events on the island, and I'll be able to leave understanding the motive for Nick's murder. I would be interested in hearing what Mr. Floris says once you have an official translator and question him. I think that valuable painting was the cause of Nick's death," Jill said pointing to the painting.
Murray said to Campbell, "We have reinforcements and crime scene technicians on the way. Also, a contact from the Museum is joining them to make sure we move the painting with appropriate care. I imagine that letting the sea breeze whip it on the way back to shore is a terrible way to take care of a ten million pound painting."
Jill checked the time and said, "Is there any way we civilians can be transported back to Edinburgh once those reinforcements arrive?"