[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.She set the canvas bag on a carved stone table next to the chair.“Now, if I remember correctly, your mother, who died when you were quite young, resided in Flagstaff.” He placed his elbows on his desk and tented his fingertips beneath his chin.“That’s correct.”“Let’s see if the artwork jogs any memories that will help you.”“I stopped at an art gallery yesterday and now have another piece to the puzzle.” Lacy bent and opened the bag, lifting out the carving, the sketches and the snapshots.“I saw two photographs of sculptures by an artist named Muuyaw, and they look very much like what I have.”“Ah, Muuyaw.”“Yes, do you have any of her work here? Or his work.”“You’re right in using her.” His voice grew more animated.“Unfortunately, Muuyaw’s dead, and I would kill to get my hands on some of her sculptures.”She regarded the mild-mannered museum curator and saw the seriousness of the statement in his eyes.He cleared his throat and returned his expression to passive.“We don’t have any of her work in the museum.I do know the two pieces you saw—the eagle and the buffalo.They were stolen some years back when Jarvits owned the Uptown Gallery.He died a couple of years later.It was quite a robbery, woman killed, sculptures never found.”“Yes, terrible.” Chance came to mind, and she pushed the thought aside.“Justine mentioned a patron that collects Muuyaw’s sculptures.”“Rumor has it—and I happen to know it’s more than rumor—he hoards Muuyaw’s body of work for his own pleasure.” He smiled, cocking an eyebrow.“In fact, it’s safe to say he owns all of Muuyaw’s sculptures except for the two stolen pieces.” He turned his attention to the sculpture she held and rubbed his hands together.“Now, let’s see what you have.”She removed the tissue from the wolf and held it over to him.He adjusted his glasses on his nose and slowly scanned the carving.The bottom captured his attention and his finger skimmed over the wood.Muttering something Lacy couldn’t hear, he set the half-wolf down, crossed one arm over his abdomen with his palm holding the elbow of the other.Fingertips tapped his lips as he studied the sculpture.She waited, sketches and photos in hand.“Too bad it’s not signed.” He didn’t make eye contact, instead focusing on the roll and the photos.“What else do you have?”She took the ribbon from the sketches and unrolled them, turning them so they would be right side up for the curator.“Oh, my.” His exclamation came as he leaned forward.“Do you recognize them?” Her nerves gave an excited twinge.“Not in that I’ve seen them before, although this top one does look like the eagle sculpted by Muuyaw.” His eyes took in the initials in the corner.“M slash KM.Very interesting.”“What do you think?”“I’m not sure what to think.” He shuffled through the sketches.His cheeks flushed ever so slightly and his mouth pinched in a tight smile as if suppressing a broader grin.“Do you think Muuyaw drew these to prepare for her sculpting, or did my mother copy them?”He looked up, squinting behind his horn-rimmed glasses.“What are the photos?”“This is the chest that contained the sketches and the photos.” She held back the fact her mother had signed the chest to see, first, what he would say.A flicker of some emotion passed over his face.Lacy might have thought he recognized the chest, but his face quickly returned to passive curator.When he didn’t say anything, she had the distinct impression he was hiding something.“What do you think?” She repeated herself.“It’s a lovely piece of work.Very telling.Sort of a precursor to the three dimensional carvings.” He continued to grasp the two photos, one in each hand, gazing at one then the other.“Could you have this chest sent to me here? I’d like to see it up close.”“Would it really help? I’m not sure if my mother’s carving would tell us anything.”“What do you mean?” His head jerked, and his brows rose.“Didn’t I mention that it’s signed by her on the bottom?” Her palms grew sweaty.Getting information out of the man was a cat and mouse game.“I’m sure you didn’t.” He snatched his glasses from his face and confronted her with wide-open eyes.“And what was your mother’s name?”“Kaya Mockta.”“Kaya?”The look of recognition lighting Mr.Archibald’s face couldn’t be mistaken.“Now I see.” He rubbed his eyes and returned his glasses to his face.“You look like her, you know, except for the eyes.And I have to say, you’re prettier.”“You knew Kaya?”“Oh yes.We were students at NAU together.I knew your mother quite well.Quite well.” His gaze shifted to above her head, to somewhere other than his office.“You were more than friends?”“A long time ago.” He dropped the photos, returned his attention to his desk and flattened out the rolled sketches.“M slash KM.”“Then you must know a great deal about her, about these sketches.” Lacy shifted on her seat, a bit of impatience nagging her.“What do the initials tell you?”He seemed to be gathering his thoughts.His fingers twitched along the edge of the paper, he licked his lips and cleared his throat.“There is definitely a connection between Muuyaw and your mother.I, uh, I’ll have to do some, uh, research to see if I can find any answers for you.” He released the drawings, tenting his fingers under his chin again.Either the curator didn’t want to speculate or John Archibald hedged her question.“Was my mother an artist when you knew her?” She tamped down growing impatience.“A student of art.Very dedicated.Very talented.Fun and.alive.”“And?”“Ms.Dahl, it was a very long time ago.We had some classes, spent some time together, but.well, Kaya’s interests diverged from mine.It was brief.we.” His face pinked.She waited; he’d hung himself and she had no desire to let him off the hook.He seemed to be holding back on his true opinion of the art, so perhaps he’d spill his more personal memories if given the opportunity.Unfortunately, his color equalized, and he regained his composure.“Perhaps you can leave these with me for further examination.”Her mind raced.Something had changed in his demeanor, and the mild-mannered curator didn’t invoke a sense of trust.“You mentioned the collector as if you know him.”“I’ve.dealt with him in trying to secure some of Muuyaw’s sculptures for our museum [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]