Chapter 73: Poaching
The sea, the storm, the boat, and the panicked crew on the boat.
These are all the elements that make up this painting.
The photos Tommy took were relatively clear. Looking at the brushstrokes and style of the painting, Vanessa recognized it as the work of the painter Rembrandt.
It should be the world-famous painting called "Storm on the Sea of Galilee"!
"How is this possible?"
She couldn't believe her eyes and kept muttering.
After all, the painting was stolen by a thief at the Expo in 1990 and its whereabouts are still unknown.
There have been many rumors in later generations, but most of them are false news. Even if some paintings are really found, they are all proved to be fakes in the end and have no collection value.
However, the "Storm on the Sea of Galilee" that Tommy showed her today was very detailed in all aspects, and she couldn't find any flaws.
"If this is true, it would be incredible."
The author of this painting, Rembrandt Harmansson van Rijn, has always been regarded as one of the greatest painters in Europe in the 17th century and the greatest painter in Dutch history.
He has superb painting skills and exquisite level, and is good at portraits, landscapes, genre paintings, religious paintings, historical paintings and other fields.
Once in a European auction house, a self-portrait of Rembrandt alone was sold at a high price of 20 million pounds.
If this "Storm on the Sea of Galilee" is Rembrandt's authentic work, the price will only be higher.
As the only seascape painting in Rembrandt's life, this painting is naturally equivalent to a unique piece.
As early as 1990, this painting was worth at least 300 million US dollars.
That was 300 million US dollars in 1990. If it is put now, the price will definitely be higher, at least more than 400 million US dollars, and I am afraid that 500 million will not be able to stop it.
Of course, money is secondary.
This painting belongs to Tommy and has nothing to do with her.
What she values most is that if the painting is confirmed to be authentic, her name as an authenticator will also be recorded in the history of art and remembered by the world.
This kind of thing is a huge temptation that is hard to refuse for any art practitioner.
Thinking of this, Vanessa no longer hesitated and directly accepted Tommy's invitation, and acted more anxious than Tommy, and immediately planned to leave.
Tommy: "Will this delay your business?"
"Of course not."
Putting the messy hair behind her ears, Vanessa smiled and responded.
The gallery business is similar to antiques. They don't open for three years, but they can make a living for three years after opening.
The order she made today is enough to pay her rent for a long time.
Besides, if she leaves, there are other staff in the gallery who can look after the store and it can still operate normally.
Therefore, Vanessa, who was eager to see the paintings, just briefly explained a few words to the staff, followed Tommy into the Mercedes-Benz, and quickly left the gallery.
They walked for about ten minutes, and a black extended Lincoln arrived.
The driver helped to open the door, and Wilson Fisk, who had a double-door figure, stepped out of the car.
As soon as he entered the gallery, he began to look for the hostess of the gallery, Vanessa, in a hurry.
Since the last time they met, he fell in love with Vanessa at first sight and thought that she was the love of his life.
However, considering Vanessa's feelings, he did not launch an offensive at the first meeting.
Instead, he waited until today and went to the door again under the pretext of buying paintings, hoping to successfully invite Vanessa to accompany him to a high-end restaurant for dinner.
However, to Wilson's disappointment, he went around the gallery three times and couldn't find the hostess here.
What surprised him even more was that the "Hare in the Snowstorm" he admired that day also disappeared.
Wilson frowned slightly when he noticed these unusual places.
"Strange, where did Vanessa go?"
He specially sent someone to investigate and probably knew Vanessa's life pattern.
Usually at this time, Vanessa should be in the store.
Suddenly she didn't show up today. Could it be that she was not feeling well today, so she didn't come to work?
Thinking of this, Wilson was a little worried and walked to the front desk for consultation.
What he didn't expect was that the staff gave another explanation for his question.
"No, the boss is not sick. He has been in good health. He came to work in the morning, but he just went out with the guests.
Oh, by the way, Mr. Fisk, it was that guest who bought the "Hares in the Snowstorm" that you noticed last time."
"What did you say?!"
Hearing the staff's response, Wilson's face slowly sank, and his aura gradually became lower. His eyes were full of murderous intent, staring at the front desk lady's back.
She had never seen such a terrible look, as if the person standing in front of her was not a person, but a ferocious beast, who could attack her at any time and tear her body to pieces.
No mistake, one post, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one 9!
Noticing that the atmosphere was a little wrong, James Wesley hurriedly stepped forward a few steps, leaned in and whispered a reminder.
"Boss, calm down first. The most urgent thing is to find out the identity of the buyer of the painting so as to ensure where Miss Marianna is and whether she is safe."
"You are right, James."
Suppressing his anger, Wilson took a deep breath and put on a warm smile again.
Anyway, this little girl is also Vanessa's employee, and it would be bad to scare her.
"Can you give me the contact information of the person who bought the painting?"
Worried that Wilson would get into trouble again, James asked for him.
"My boss likes the painting "Hares in the Snowstorm" very much, and I hope the other party will give it up, no matter how much money it costs."
Buying a painting is just an excuse, the key is the contact information.
In order to make it easier for the receptionist to speak, James also took out his wallet from his pocket and took out a small stack of fifty-dollar bills.
"As long as you can tell me the person's phone number, all of these will be yours."
"This..."
Five hundred dollars, almost catching up with her salary for several days.
The receptionist wanted to earn this money, but the problem was that she really didn't know Tommy's phone number.
From the other party's expression, James could confirm that the other party knew nothing, and he felt helpless and asked again.
"Okay, if there is no phone number, is there any other information, even just appearance."
He really had no choice.
If he didn't ask something, his boss Wilson would definitely get angry again.
Fortunately, the staff member was not stumped this time and readily told everything he knew.
"The man was very tall, wearing a pair of black sunglasses, and had a handsome face, like a Hollywood star. As for his dress, he was dressed in a neat black suit."
James shook his head.
There was too little information to find the person.
You know, anyone who has time to come to the gallery to see paintings on weekdays and has spare money to buy art is basically a celebrity in society, and their dress is similar to the description of the staff.
Relying on these characteristics to find someone is no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
Fortunately, under the temptation of five hundred dollars, the receptionist exerted her maximum potential and finally provided valuable information.
"Although I'm not sure, the man sounds like he has an Italian accent."
