Ch 22

That evening, the four of them were in Attleboro with Ian and Cara on Skype in the Comm Center.

"Cara, we need you to do some hacking on an 'Antonio Marcellius'. His last known address was New York City. He also had a home somewhere in the Netherlands. We don't have any more information than that."

"I'm on it," Cara said, flipping open a second laptop and busily typing away on the keys.

"We were able to find a little something out about Marcus Starling," Ian offered. "He was an aspiring art collector in the late 80's, but he seems to have lost the fever. He sold several of his collection off in the early 2000's and has been living a quiet life in Toronto ever since."

"Thanks, Ian" Amy said smiling. "Where are you and Cara now?"

"London, of course," Ian said with a smirk, "the only civilized place to be."

Jake rolled his eyes, which Ian caught and added, "Of course, you probably don't feel at home unless you're in the middle of some desert in Morocco, am I right, Rosenbloom?"

Jake rolled his eyes again, "At least you got my name right this time. I'll take that as progress."

"Alright, tone it down, you two, I have something." Cara interrupted.

"According to the US Treasury, Antonio Marcellius last filed US taxes in 1990. At that time, his address was 907 Fifth Avenue. There are no more records of him after that. It's like he just disappeared. No death certificate on file, no nothing. Vanished. I'll try the Netherlands and see what I can find."

"So, he's got an address in the states, that's something at least," Jake offered.

"Wait a minute!" Atticus shouted, "What was that address again?"

"907 Fifth Avenue," Dan repeated from memory.

Atticus lit up. "That address was on the news this week. I know it! Dan, Google it and see what comes up"

Dan looked confused, but did as his best friend requested, "Um, not much here, a picture of the building, it's pretty posh. Faces Central Park, on the swanky side. There's a Wikipedia page for the building."

Atticus was out of his chair now and was standing beside Dan, "keep scrolling, BINGO! I knew I'd heard about it this week!"

Dan read, "Notable resident, Hughette Clark's three condo's to be sold after execution of her will."

Atticus took over reading, "Reclusive copper heiress' estates to be sold within the year. Hughette Clark owned three condos at 907 Fifth Avenue, but had not lived in any of them in over 20 years. She had condos that took up the entire 8th floor and half of the 12th. The reclusive heiress was said to have lived exclusively at the Beth Israel Medical Center for the last 20 years. She was a notable donor to the arts in New York and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C. Among her prized possessions were an Eduard Manet and a collection of Antoni Stradivari violins. Ms. Clark was the sole heir to the A. copper fortune of the last century. She was 104."

"But what does that have to do with the Gardner theft?" Amy asked.

"If you lived in a building where you knew a known art lover had homes, but wasn't ever in them," Dan started, but Atticus took over.

"you might want to store your stolen art collection there." Atticus said, face alight.

"So, you think these stolen works are just sitting in Hughette Clark's Fifth Avenue condo collecting dust?" Jake asked skeptically.

"It's not such a far-fetched idea." Ian piped up from the monitor. "Where better to store them than in plain sight?"

"Wait a minute though, Antonio Marcellius wouldn't have known that Hughette Clark wasn't coming back. That would have been very risky and if he disappeared in 1990, she would have still been living there. It says she didn't move to the hospital until '91." Amy exclaimed.

"Who's living in his condo now?" Jake asked.

"I'm on it," Dan said swiveling around to face a monitor. "Addresses are public domain" His fingers flying over the keys. "Do we know which number he lived in?"

"3C" Cara replied without looking up from her laptop.

Dan typed away for a few more seconds. "Hmm, that's odd, it shows nobody living there now. It says it is vacant."

"That's because it's for sale!" Atticus chimed in, looking over Dan's shoulder at click-bait that had popped up on the right side of the screen.

All four of them peered over Dan's shoulder. "Christie's auction house presents 907 Fifth Avenue, 3C. $3,956,000. 2 bedroom, 2 bath." Dan read to the crowd.

Jake whistled. "It too, can be yours for a cool $4 million. There goes that lead."

Amy was quiet. She was getting an idea. "Maybe not. Ian, how fast could you and Cara be to New York?"

Ian and Cara both looked up "By the morning I suspect. Why?"

"Because you're going to shop for real estate."