Chapter 4

Grissom and Sara debated and tugged at reasons on how to continue with the case. The Bloodworths were not prime suspects. In fact, they were barely suspects. They had no forensic data and only a professional relationship to a vic whose whole life was murky with intrigue and danger.

Grissom suggested that they interview the couple together. Sara vetoed the idea deciding that it would leave them at a disadvantage. Eventually they decided that gender separation was the best tactic believing the physical resemblance would not be less startling that way.

Grissom walked past the receptionist desk up the stairs to the second floor. Several students did double takes in the hall when they saw him, only turning away after a second look. Something was off. He was certainly looked like Dr. Bloodworth but there was something different. Dr. Bloodworth was darker, his features more sharp angled, the nose more prominent, the emerald green of his eyes a remnant of some Irish ancestor. No this man was not Dr. Bloodworth but he certainly looked a great deal like him. Surely he was his brother, at the very least a cousin.

Grissom walked past an empty secretary's desk and tapped softly on the maple door. Dr. Jarvis Bloodworth was stencilled across it in Times Roman font. A deep voice called from the other side beckoning Grissom to come in.

Dr. Jarvis Bloodworth stood as Gil opened the door. He peeled off his glasses and watched Grissom cross the threshold with expectation. His brow furrowed as Gil's face came into view. A low whistle emanated from him.

Gil's blue eyes were bright with similar curiosity.

It was the professor that spoke first. "Dr. Gilbert Grissom, I must say it is an honor to finally meet you. I have followed much of your work. I always hoped that I would run into you at some function or another but the world of art and the world of science seem to rarely collide. It's a shame really. Please sit."

His voice was deeper than Gil's and had a hint of some European accent that Gil found hard to distinguish. He wore jeans, and a burgundy sweater. Grissom wondered why he hardly ever wore jeans. He had lost some weight recently and thought he might buy a pair.

He sat in a black leather chair that was slightly off center from Jarvis' desk.

They regarded one another across the large space.

Grissom put one finger up to his face. Bloodworth spoke. "So?"

Grissom smiled.

"I take it you knew about the resemblance."

Grissom smiled again.

"You look a great deal like my brother Jiles."

"He has blue eyes too. He lives in England."

"Scotland Yard."

It was Jarvis' turn to smile. "Ah I should have known you would have heard of him."

"Never had the pleasure to meet him either but I have followed his work on carbon 13 dating."

"The next time you forensics types meet up you will certainly have to look him up. It would good to know one another if you ever want to commit murder on the same night."

Grissom met his eyes. "Why would I need to know him? I know you, and we live in the same town."

Bloodworth tipped his head a bit. "Indeed" He leaned forward. "So Dr. Grissom what can I do for you?"

Gil thought of asking him to call him just Grissom but he sensed that a man called Jarvis Bloodworth would bristle at the informality.

"I wanted to talk to you about Sherry English."

Bloodworth looked down at his manicured hands. "Sherry was very good to my Leigh and I."

Grissom waited.

"We didn't know that she had died until we showed up at the Domain for our usual appointment."

"And when was that?"

"Three weeks ago."

"And when was the last time you saw her?"

"The first of September. My wife and I try to go at least once a month. Sometimes more depending on…."

Grissom watched the man's face for any hint of shame or embarrassment. He saw none. Grissom thought he looked a little Middle Eastern. His looks would be called swarthy in romance novels where as Grissom looked more European, Italian or Spanish.

"What exactly did Ms. English do for you and your wife? I need you to be specific."

Dr. Bloodworth nodded his understanding.

"My wife and I liked for Sherry to observe us having sex."

"Did you or your wife ever have sex with Sherry either alone or together?"

"No." Jarvis flicked at an invisible speck on the desk.

"Are you sure? About your wife I mean."

"Yes. My wife and I have not one single secret between one another."

Grissom spoke evenly. What must it be to love so openly and honestly? "Lucky man."

"No. Luck is for chance. Leigh is a blessing and I thank God everyday for her. Only God could have brought her to me and it is only God that keeps her with me. "

Gil ran the scarred hand over his hair. He smiled at the formal language. "You must know what it is like to have a gift from God."

Grissom stared at the other man.

Bloodworth stared back.

A clock ticked softly somewhere on the wall. Grissom could usually out wait anyone. The only exception had been Sara.

They waited. Professor Bloodworth saw a slight nod of his head.

Bloodworth's face opened a bit. "That is good. Will my Leigh and I have the opportunity to meet your other?"

Grissom stood and began to peruse the bookshelves. He told himself that he was playing a game, interrogating a suspect. He handled a volume on DaVinci's brush technique. The spine said that Bloodworth had written the slim leather book. "She doesn't like to be watched by anyone but me."

"And you?"

"I don't like to be watched by anyone but her."

"Twin souls"

Grissom turned. His hands were behind his back. "Do you know anyone that would have wanted Sherry dead?"

"I feel like we are in a bad movie."

It was Grissom's turn to wait.

"We never talked about anything to personal. I mean our relationship was basically business so to speak. I know that she was from India, she was going to be a vet, she was looking forward to a family wedding in December, she thought she might give into her parents attempts to arrange a marriage."

"Hindu?"

"No Marthoma. Have you heard of them?"

"Basically the orthodox Christian Church in India."

"I am a Catholic and come from a very traditional family as well so we did chat about that sometimes, how ironic our paths should cross in such a setting."

Grissom pulled one of the books from the shelf. "Do you paint as well?"

Grissom put the book back.

"Yes."

Grissom looked around the office. He caught sight of a small oil painting on an easel. It was a fusion of reds and pinks. Grissom took off his glasses and studied the canvas.

"Your wife's"

"Yes"

"She's very good."

"I will tell her that you said so. I see you are a renaissance man."

Grissom straightened himself and turned looked around the rest of the office. "I have a number of interests as I am sure you do."

Grissom knew that this was an investigation but had read a great deal about Bloodworth and thought he might never have another chance to ask the art historian himself.

"The forgeries that you found at the Louvre, I was never clear on how exactly that happened."

Dr. Bloodworth shook his head. "Those of us involved aren't particularly sure either."

Grissom leaned against the book shelf and crossed his arms. He wanted to hear the story.

"My wife and I were on holiday in France. We went through wine country, visited my parents and some of her relatives. Eventually Jiles met us in Paris and we visited the Louvre like we had on countless occasions. Actually Jiles is more responsible for this than he has been given credit for. My brother has an extremely sensitive sense of smell. He's among a tiny fraction of people." Grissom was impressed. "Must help with his work."

"Of course. Well we were in this small exhibit room with two of the lesser known DaVinci's and Jiles kept saying that he smelled something." Dr. Bloodworth rolled his eyes heaven ward.

"Jiles can smell the difference between a new 20 dollar bill and an old one, so complaining of a smell is not novel but he wouldn't let it go. Finally, I went at found my friend Charles Duvet, he is the curator of several collections. I felt foolish really but I said that Charles says that this room doesn't smell like any of the others. Honestly I thought there might be something wrong with the climate system. They looked and nothing. Well as you may know Dr. Grissom when certain people say something is wrong, people sit up and take notice. Charles became relentless. He took Jiles to every room of the Louvre and had him smell them and I mean every room, offices, security, employee's kitchens. While we are doing that he insists that I examine the two DaVincis. Leigh went with Jiles to be an examiner if he smelled that smell again. He didn't."

"They've put me in an examination room and I am telling you Dr. Grissom I saw nothing wrong at first, absolutely nothing. I was almost finished and then I saw it."

"What was it?"

"One of the brushstrokes was off."

"Just one."

"That's all it takes. It was the only mistake, the canvas, the paint, the aging, it was all perfect but there was this one brushstroke. Upon closer examination we found that both of the DaVincis were forgeries."

Grissom was enthralled.

"Who did the forgeries? How did they make the switch?"

"You sound like Jiles. After the local officials were called in, they would not let Jiles leave nor did he want to. He ended up staying a full month. He has watched surveillance for the last 3 years. He had them print every corner of the museum and he ran it against known thieves and forgers. It practically consumed his life."

"No wife?"

Dr. Bloodworth shook his finger at Grissom. "Two months away from getting marriage so I think he felt as if this was his last hurrah. As it turned out Emira is very understanding.

"Well" Dr. Bloodworth talked excitedly. "He finally did figure out a few things. The first was that the tape had been doctored, well it was more like it had been hacked via the museum computer system. He also believes that the thief came in from underground."

Gil's face frowned in concentration. "How long does he think the forgeries were in place?"

Dr. Bloodworth leaned back in his chair and tented his fingers. "At least a year, but probably two."

"I mean the Louvre security system...how would anyone get past that? Could it have been someone working from the inside?"

Dr. Bloodworth looked please. "Ah you see; you and Jiles. Well it turns out that it was most certainly someone working at the Louvre."

Grissom face filled with excitement. "There are only a handful of people in the world that would have the inclination or the talent to pull it off. How did they pass the employment screening?"

Grissom's face filled understanding. "They faked their fingerprints. How? Transparent latex?"

"Jiles says no. He thinks that the forger invented something."

Admiration crossed through eyes. "Damn"

"Indeed."

"Do you or Jiles have any idea who it could have been?"

"The list is quite short"

Grissom ticked off names. "Godfrey Martin, Reneir Franko, Noel Amelie, Jose Diaz and the Ito Family out of Tokyo and the Shadow "

"Stands to reason that if you don't know who or how it was done then the Shadow."

"He or she is believed to responsible for close to 100 million dollars in stolen art. Usually they break in and follow a carefully constructed flawless plan. The shadow has never replaced art though."

"Jiles surmised the Louvre was such a high stakes job that it had to be replaced so that our thief-forger would have some lead time."

"So Jiles thinks the forger and the Shadow are the same person" Grissom considered this. "Who would have the talent to be an ingenious burglar and an expert forger?"

"That Dr. Grissom is the question that Jiles continues to ask himself."

He found a soft water color portrait, also small in size on a bare portion of wall. The woman in the portrait appeared to be nude but her body was obscured by pane of glass. Only her face remained in focus.

Grissom walked to the wall and pointed. "Mrs. Bloodworth?"

"Yes. She sat for me when she was doing her graduate work at Columbia." His accent suddenly became thick with the passion of his recollection.
"Before you were married?"

"Before we were anything but student and teacher; artist and model."

Grissom turned on his heels and put his glasses on. "Was there ever a before?"

Dr. Bloodworth showed a top row of even white teeth. His laugh was interrupted by a hard knock.

Dr Bloodworth glanced at the clock and called for the party to come in. Jim Brass was wearing his "I have to give you some bad news face".

Grissom began to sweat while Jarvis Bloodworth stopped breathing.

The both uttered the names at the same time.

"Leigh?"

"Sara?"