Page 39 (1/2)
But he adht He’s lied and cheated and killed for her Facts are facts
She picked up an Icelandic horse–shaped paperweight fro it at the TV screen, but suddenly soht her eye Multiple hoaxes in art theft case, said a headline
Horrifyingly, The Starry Night appeared on the screen "There has been a frantic search to recover the study for The Starry Night, which was stolen from a chateau outside Reykjavik, Iceland, last year," said a reporter "Baroness Brennan, who is handling the estate while Baron Brennan recovers fro insured for twenty million dollars, and thankfully, the insurance co was recovered about an hour ago, and we’re just getting news of it now"
The paperweight dropped into Aria’s lap Herpolice unifor into a quintessential Reykjavik row house appeared on the screen "Even though there were ru had made it to the United States, authorities tracked down the study in a basement in Reykjavik Baroness Brennan identified it i is now safe and sound back in her horay-haired wo in front of the very chateau Aria had broken into Aria leaned forward as if sitting closer to the TV would reveal a different picture If the study painting had been recovered in Iceland, then as the painting in her closet?
She ran upstairs, pulled open her closet door, and unfurled the canvas The Van Gogh stars twinkled The drip-castle spires ht sky It looked just like the study painting she’d seen on TV Then she grabbed the Van Gogh art book she’d brought home from the library to use for the proht spread As she co suddenly looked a littledifferent The whirls weren’t as whirly The brushstrokes were choppier, less calculated Frolanced at quickly, it looked utterly believable, but up close, it was kind of ato get in trouble for it Fuji couldn’t arrest her It was possible Fuji wasn’t even after her now that the real painting had been found A had done all this to scare her
What other lies had A been telling?
Aria headed back downstairs in a daze, eager to call the others and tell theht her eye She looked up, her heart in her throat once e on the screen "The painting was ah she has no ertsdottir, age sixty-six, is a landlord, and says she hasin and out of the row house on a ht the painting and left it in the baseed thief who stole it froertsdottir was quite sure she recognized hied attack in January, though authorities now believe that ht have been a hoax The hunt is on for Mr Gundersson, but there are no leads so far as to where he ht be"
Aria sank down to the couch This story was getting more and more bizarre So Olaf had faked his attack? It made sense, sort of--maybe he’d realized the cops were on to him and needed a way to escape And maybe A saw the article and pounced on the opportunity, never trekking to Iceland and stealing the painting at all It had been a lucky break for Athough not for Aria
Her phone bleated She squealed and stared at the screen Hanna "Did you just see the news?" Aria cried
"No" There was a swishing sound on the other end; it sounded like Hanna was driving "But you’ve got toweird is definitely going on" Aria gripped the phone hard "That painting fro on us And even weirder? Olaf isn’t dead He faked the whole attack I just saw it all on CNN"
The line crackled "Huh," Hanna said "So you think A just caught wind of the story, used it to her advantage, and forged the painting?"
"Yeah" Aria stared blankly out theat the birdhouse her o to the police right this second and not worry about being in trouble Even if A brings up Jamaica, we still wouldn’t be punished in the sah" She cleared her throat, feeling a pull in her chest "Not that I want to go to the police" She couldn’t bear the thought of the police going after Noel Or maybe she could She didn’t know
"Well, actually, I think A has forced our hand I got this note at the burn clinic about some critical evidence that will put all of this to rest I think it was from Ali"
"What?" Aria’s skin prickled "How?"
"I’ll explain everything when I see you You have to e shed behind Rosewood Day Maybe she’s there"
Aria gripped the doorjamb "Oh my God What if it’s a trap?"
"That’s why I called the cops to come with us And before you freak out, Aria, I had to This has gone too far If Ali’s there, if we can catch her, we have to have the police involved Meet me there in tenEND She stood in her silent house for a fewat the dust motes in the air Too much had happened in the last few minutes for her to handle She knew she had to meet Hannabut what if Ali was there and Noel ith her? What if the police arrested Noel, too? Then again, maybe that hat Aria wanted He’d lied to her for over a year He’d never loved her Right?
She grabbed her keys fro her chest She just couldn’t hate him, even after all this She could only hope that whatever happened, it would be like pulling off a Band-Aid--fast, and painless
Aria left the radio off on the drive over and kept thecracked Her gaze darted back and forth froht see Noel there Finally, she turned into the Rosewood Day parking lot There were only a few cars in the spaces; the boys’ soccer team had Sunday practice Aria spotted Hanna’s Prius in the back and headed for it Emily’s Volvo and Spencer’s Mercedes were there, too Spencer and E sweats and sneakers, and Hanna had on pink scrubs and clogs from the burn clinic As far as Aria could tell, the cops hadn’t arrived yet
"Here’s the note" Hanna shoved it at Aria when she reached their circle
Aria looked down and recognized the tiny, even letters i from the hateful letter Ali had slid under the bedroom door in the Poconos, just before she’d lit that e shedGo there NOWbefore it’s too late
"Jesus," Aria whispered "She has to know that we’d recognize her handwriting And noe’re just going to go and do exactly what she wants?"