Page 46 (1/2)
The rest went like clockwork Twenty s were carefully wrapped in the back of their van, and they were on their way to the docks
The exchange would be o would be in international waters before noon
The haul was a fine initiation of their American enterprise
Wallace opened his allery earlier than usual that day He’d stayed at his Haone to sleep Instead, he’d sat up all night, staring at the paintings he so loved, and drinking his cognac
He’d gotten a phone call on his private, unlisted line just before ht He kneho it was And he knew he had to answer—for good or for bad
This tiood
There was another Renoir about to become available And not just any Renoir One that he’d coveted forever It literally took his breath away, and infused a semblance of life back into his soul
He had to have that painting
But, stolen or not, the asking price was 900,000—10 percent of the 9in a museum or at a collector’s estate
He had only a week to co a substantial chunk of his assets And with his art partnership under such close scrutiny by the FBI, it was bound to raise red flags
There had to be another way He’d racked his brain all night, trying to come up with an answer But it always cae su suspicion was to sell at least four or five of his s That was called business, and no one could question its legitimacy
As he drove into Manhattan, the sun barely peeking up over the horizon, a solution occurred to him True, he’d dropped off the radar of the financial industry the day he’d left investotten he ever existed But others had stayed in touch—especially those ere fellow patrons of the arts He saw them at the Met, at MoMA, and at art auctions at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s They all knew of Sophie’s tragic death and how hard Wallace had taken his enormous personal loss And they sympathized with—if not understood—his need to leave the deh finance and to reinvest his sizable assets in the less stressful arena of acquiring and overseeing his own art galleries
In their uy with no dependents and very few financial obligations That would work in his favor There was no way he could co for monetary assistance But he could certainly invite theallery, and then let nature take its course
A philanthropic gesture; a festive wine-and-cheese hour; and a beautiful, talented, and charismatic woman—one who reminded him so much of…
No He couldn’t go there now He had to think of the gala scenario he’d just conjured up