Blue Smoke and Murder

5

SEPTEMBER 12

MORNING

When the buzzer rang on the front door of the Vision Quest Gallery, William Shilling glanced up and immediately pressed the door release. Mrs. Caitlin Crawford was the kind of client gallery owners loved to see at the door. She was beautiful in a classy way, discriminating, and the wife of an older man who could afford to drop seven figures on a painting without his pulse raising.

“Caitlin, what a pleasure,” Shilling said, hurrying toward her. “May I get you some coffee? It’s quite chilly out.”

The door shut with a sound that suggested complex, durable locks.

“That would be lovely,” Caitlin said, pulling off her black kid gloves and tucking them into a pocket of her black vicuna coat.

“No sugar, no cream, correct?” he asked as he helped her out of her cloud-soft black coat and went to the coffeepot.

“You’re such a sweetheart to remember. And I’m sorry to give you so little notice. Talbert just decided to fly over and check on the new resort. Naturally, I couldn’t pass up a chance to see you.”

Shilling smiled and handed her a fine china cup. The smell of the specially blended roast made an earthy counterpoint to the gallery’s restrained décor.

“You picked a good time,” he said. “I have some paintings I was getting ready to e-mail you about. Really quite thrilling pieces.”

“Dunstans?” she asked quickly.

His smile faded a bit. “Er, no, not really.” Unsigned Dunstans weren’t worth the canvas they were painted on. “There’s a wonderful Blumenschein, a quite nice Sharp, and a small Russell, a lovely little gem. The owner is considering placing them in the Reno auction next year, as it’s too late for proper publicity at the upcoming one in Las Vegas, but he’s willing to consider-”

“No, thank you,” Caitlin interrupted. “We’ll be at the Las Vegas auction, of course. It’s so rare that any Dunstans come on the market.”

“And Talbert always buys them.”

“But of course. As he tells me, what’s the point of collecting if you can’t have the best? All of it.”

Shilling bit back a sigh. Talbert Crawford had become a legend along the Western art circuit. Only the crème de la crème for him.

All of it.

Thomas Dunstan was the best of the best. Unfortunately, the artist hadn’t been the most stable of people. In fact, he’d been an alcoholic of the worst sort. Binge drinker, blackout drunk, and violent. He’d go years without showing a new painting to anybody. But at least he’d had the good sense to destroy his mediocre-or worse-paintings when he was sober. The paintings that survived had became iconic, the essence of the best of Western art.

Of the known Dunstans, Talbert Crawford owned thirteen. The rest were in museums or personal collections. Not for sale, in other words. And Tal had offered a lot of money. He’d even coaxed one out of the Dunstan family collection. Rumor said the cost was seven figures.

“Perhaps it might be time for both of you to expand your collecting horizons,” Shilling said gently. “There are many fine Western painters who-”

“I’m afraid not,” Caitlin murmured. “Not until we’ve bought all the available Dunstans. Talbert is quite firm on that.” Fanatical, in fact. “Breadth in a collection is all very well and good, but depth is crucial.”

“I don’t know of any available Dunstans with unclouded provenance,” Shilling said.

“But I keep hearing rumors of at least one new Dunstan. Perhaps as many as a dozen.”

Silently Shilling condemned the gossip network of Western art collectors. “I’ve heard some rumors, myself.” Seen JPEGs, too. Unsigned canvases, every one. “Naturally I called Ramsey Worthington. Neither one of us can pin down the rumor to a specific collector, curator, or anyone with credentials. It’s like trying to capture smoke in your hands.”

“I traced one rumor back to Park City, the Art of the Historic West gallery,” Caitlin said.

Shilling rubbed a palm over his thinning hair. “Yes, I know of that rumor. The gallery supposedly sent the painting out to several people for appraisal.” He shrugged. “The consensus was that it wasn’t a Dunstan.”

“Still, I’d like to see the painting myself.”

“So would I. In fact, I requested at least a photo.”

“And?” Caitlin said sharply.

“The painting has gone missing. Indeed, there’s growing question whether it ever existed in the first place. The closer the big Vegas auction comes, the wilder the rumors. It happens almost every year. With barely a week to go, you have to expect things like this.”

And Shilling had no intention of adding to rumors that undercut the sale of real, signed art.

Caitlin sipped coffee. A delicate frown line appeared between her dark, elegantly shaped eyebrows. “But this rumor had more substance. I was sure of it.”

Shilling put a professional smile on his face. “Believe me, I had great hopes, too.”

“You’ll tell me if anything else comes along with Dunstan’s name on it?”

“Of course. You and Talbert are always the first on my call list.”

“Good.” She smiled. “If I found out otherwise, I would be very hurt.”

And Shilling would never see another dime of Crawford’s millions.

Both of them knew it.

Neither of them was rude enough to say it out loud.