TWO

"Well, this is authentic," said Stewart Holcomb.

He was exactly as Lilly had imagined him. At 45 he was considerably overweight. But he still had a full head of hair and a full beard. Both had only sporadic streaks of gray in them. He had a pair of square frame glasses that sat perpetually at the end of his nose and he never bothered to push them up.

"So this is 'Sunset In A Forest' painted by this Closson?" Lilly asked.

"That it is," said Holcomb. "Daniel Closson lived in the 1600s. Actually he was a contemporary Rembrandt."

"The famous painter?" Scotty asked.

"Yes. They both were Dutch. Closson even apprenticed under Rembrandt for a few months. Between 1637 and '38. But to be honest he wasn't very good. Eventually Rembrandt was able to convince him he didn't have the talent or skill to be a professional painter. So Closson left his apprenticeship and went into politics. Turned out to be a good decision. He did very well as a politician."

"What can you tell us about the painting?" Lilly asked.

"Well, Closson presented it as a gift to a friend's daughter in 1658. Even after he left Rembrandt he continued to paint some more as a hobby than anything else. Apparently he painted this one in 1658. The young girl kept it until her death when it was inherited by her son. It's had several owners over the years. The last one was Richard J. Parker II. I understand it disappeared the night Mr. Parker died."

"That's right," said Lilly. "Home invasion. It recently turned up. That's why we needed it authenticated."

"Well it's authentic as I said. There's no doubt about it. It's not a very good painting. I don't understand why a man with Mr. Parker's taste and wealth would have wasted his time on this one."

"How much is it worth?" Scotty asked.

"Oh, only about $7,000.00 or $8,000.00," replied Holcomb. "Strictly bush league."

"Eight thousand dollars?" Scotty questioned. "I don't exactly call that bush league."

"Well," said Holcomb, "when you consider that some of the paintings by the masters can command several million dollars per painting, $8,000.00 isn't much. Whoever took this one obviously didn't know anything about art."

"Why do you say that?" Lilly asked.

"I know for a fact that Mr. Parker owned several paintings worth a great deal more than this one. Anyone who knows anything about art would have passed up this one for one of the more expensive ones. Especially since they took the painting frame and all."

"Is that unusual?" Lilly asked.

"Look, I've appraised quite a few paintings for the police department. And I do a great deal of appraising for museums and private owners. On occasion I've even had to appraise a painting that was stolen and then recovered. People like to know that the painting they got back is the actual one that was stolen and not some reproduction."

"At those prices I can't say I blame them," said Scotty.

"Well, when someone steals a painting," continued Holcomb, "they always cut the painting out of the frame. That way they can roll it up and stick it in their coat or something. Makes it easier to transport the painting. This is different. This painting was never cut out of the frame. It's still in its original frame."

"You're sure about that?" Scotty asked.

"Absolutely. Closson did learn a few things from Rembrandt. One was putting the right frame on a painting. This is the same frame that Closson originally put on the painting. So whoever stole this painting from Parker's home took it frame and all."

"That's interesting," said Lilly. "So if this case was a home invasion like the original investigators thought, why would the burglar risk being seen carrying the painting down the street? Why not just cut the painting out of the frame to make it easier to transport?"

"As I said," said Holcomb, "whoever took it didn't know much about art. Mr. Parker had several paintings worth a great deal more than this one."

"Thank you, Mr. Holcomb," said Lilly. "You've been a big help."

"I'll just send my bill to the department as usual," said Holcomb. "Make sure your lieutenant lets them know it's coming."

"We will," said Scotty.

"Interesting turn of events," said Lilly as they left Holcomb. "A burglar targets a wealthy couple's home, breaks in, kills the couple in their own home, and takes a painting worth almost nothing? That doesn't make sense."

"Well, like Holcomb said, whoever did it didn't know anything about art. Maybe he just grabbed the first one he saw thinking he could fence it."

"So how did Clarrissa Fontane end up with it?"

"Maybe it's time we asked her. After we check the box on the case. There may be something in there that will tell us."

"Let's get back to the station. See what kind of leads we have on this one."

"Seems pretty straight forward," said Scotty as they looked through the box of evidence in the archives. "Someone apparently broke into the Parker's house about 8:30 p.m. Neighborhood woman, Mildred Walker, heard shots about that time while she was walking her dog. She called the police. They arrived 6 minutes later and found the Parker's dead in the library."

"Says here," said Stillman, "the intruder got away with $2,637.00 in cash, the Parker's jewelry consisting of their wedding bands, Mrs. Parker's engagement ring, their watches, Mr. Parker's wallet, and some assorted jewelry. Other than the painting no large items were taken."

"Police report says that their son, Richard James Parker III, was attending a dinner party at Mayor Rendell's when the invasion occurred," said Will. "The police immediately went to Rendell's home when they discovered who the vic's were."

"Why would they do that?" Lilly asked.

"The Parker's were good friends with the mayor," said Stillman. "They were also major patrons of the arts. The dinner party that night was a private party to welcome the new police commissioner. Mayor Rendell had appointed him only the month before."

"John Timoney, wasn't it?" Scotty asked.

"Yeah," said Nick. "I hear he's the Chief of Police in Miami now."

"So if they were such good friends, why didn't they go to the dinner party?" Lilly asked. "Why was their son there?"

"The police report says that Parker said his mother wasn't feeling well," said Will. "They had decided to stay home but Parker went anyway."

"That's interesting," said Lilly. "What do you make of this picture?"

She showed the picture she was holding to the other detectives. It showed Ruth Parker lying on the floor, blood covering the front of her bathrobe. The other detectives looked at the picture but none of them noticed anything unusual about it.

"You said that Mrs. Parker wasn't feeling well," said Lilly. "That's why they didn't go to the party."

"That's what their son said," said Will.

"Well, this picture shows Mr. Parker with her makeup on. When a woman is getting fixed up to go out, she puts her make up on first. That way she won't get any makeup on her clothes. Especially if it's something as important as dinner with the mayor."

"Are you saying the son lied about why his parents weren't there?" Scotty asked.

"No," said Lilly. "Maybe she started feeling better and decided to go to the dinner."

"The dinner party was scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.," said Stillman. "The Parker's weren't killed until 8:30. Seems a little late to be heading out to the dinner party especially since they weren't dressed yet. By the time they had gotten there the party would have been over."

"You did say they were good friends with the mayor," said Lilly. "Maybe it wasn't so unusual for them to go over that late at night."

"Well, the only way to know for sure is to ask Rendell," said Scotty. "He'd be able to tell us if they had a habit of coming over late at night."

"Let's backup just a bit," said Stillman. "We're talking about the Governor of the state. And there's talk that he might be Senator John Kerry's running mate as the Democratic candidate for Vice President in next year's election. You can't just go up to him and ask him like he's any other witness. Besides, technically he's not even involved in this case."

"Well, we need to find out somehow," said Lilly. "Any suggestions?"

"Garland Probst," said Nick. "He was the governor's aid when the governor was the mayor. He'd probably know. I read that after Rendell resigned after his second term Probst decided to stay with the city government instead of going with Rendell. I think he's working in the city manager's office now."

"Good idea, Nick," said Stillman. "Why don't you and Will check with Probst and see what he can tell you about the Parker's and about the night they died? Lil, you and Scotty go talk to Clarrissa Fontane. Find out where she got the painting."

"What about incentives?" Lilly asked. "She's been arrested for running a brothel. Can't imagine she'd be very forthcoming about the painting if she's facing jail time for that."

"Then remind her this is a murder investigation and the penalties for that are a whole lot more serious than for simple prostitution," said Stillman. "And if her information is useful we'll let the DA know. Can't promise anything but he might go easier on her for that."

"Will do, boss," said Lilly. "We'll let you know what we find out."