Free Code of Siman by Dayna Rubin Page A

question, and it had better be more than a feeling.”
    “It is more than a feeling…”
    Warren narrowed his eyes at her as he waited, his anger dissipating with hope of a good alternative to having acquired a forged painting.
    Warren folded his arms and leaned against the lab counter as he waited for her reply.
    “Yes, I would say that it is definitely more than a feeling.” Dauphine stated confidently.
    “All right, so we’ve narrowed it down somewhat.”
    “Did anyone actually remove the painting from the frame when they inspected it?” Dauphine inquired as she stood opposite him in the lab.
    “No, they didn’t. They were looking at the damage to the front of the painting as well as damage to part of the frame from the lipstick and wine.” Warren lifted his chin as he defended his previous actions.
    “Hmmm. And at no time did you ask to have the canvas removed from the frame?”
    “No…I didn’t.” Warren inclined his head and frowned. “What are you getting at?” His voice had dropped to a throaty whisper.
    “There’s no stamp.” Dauphine’s eyes met Warren’s revealing no malice, no sarcasm and no judgment.
    Warren let the gravity of what she was saying sink in. “You’re referring to the stamp applied to the back of each painting which identified which collection point it had been stored during the war.”
    “Exactly.”
    Warren didn’t take her word for it, and strode toward the painting held within the confines of the temporary containment center, lifted the lid, and turned it over. His hand lightly explored the back of the canvas as his eyes searched the surface.
    He carefully laid it back down, replaced the lid and walked out of the lab.
    Dauphine caught Gage’s eye as Warren walked back in the lab and said, “Wrap this up, I’ll be back.” She left the lab in pursuit of Warren.”
    Unable to take the same length of stride as Warren, she had to run to keep up with him after she reached his side. She soon saw what he was doing.
    “I want every picture removed from its frame.” He approached each picture and began removing it from the wall.
    “Do you have the capability of X-raying the pieces?” Warren asked Dauphine, somehow sensing that she was by his side.
    “Yes, we do, in fact I was going to ask you if you wanted to proceed with that, but since there wasn’t a stamp I didn’t see the relevance.” Dauphine looked around her to see that in the time it took her to reach him, he had already removed several pictures from the wall. She presumed silent alarms were in a chaotic state at this point.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m sorry…yes what?” Dauphine strained to catch Warren’s attention, but he was angrily moving from picture to picture, causing great consternation from the patrons.
    “Yes, I want every picture in the gallery removed from its frame. I want them cleaned and X-rayed.”
    “Right, every picture…we’ll be here all night, or longer.” Dauphine protested.
    “Can you think of anything more important than this?” Warren stopped for a moment to lock eyes with Dauphine.
    “No, I can’t. You’re absolutely right.”
    A museum staff member nervously approached Warren. “Should I close the museum, sir?”
    “Yes, shut it down Joe.”
    The staffer scurried away, glancing between Warren and Dauphine before he left.
    “You want to help?” Warren inquired over his shoulder.
    “Yes, absolutely. I’ll do whatever I can.”
    “We’ll be processing these paintings through X-ray.” Warren stated.
    “Right…I’ll get that ready.” Dauphine looked first at the pictures, then back at Warren, turned to go, but then stopped to look inquiringly back at Warren.
    “It doesn’t matter,” he said simply.
    “That they won’t approve of this?” Dauphine supplied.
    “Yes, you and I both know it needs to be done.”
    “What are you going to tell them?” Dauphine asked.
    The entire collection of paintings within the room now lay propped against the wall, the starkness