Chapter 4 - The Clock Had Once Belonged to My Family
The auction house traced the astronomical clock’s provenance.
That was the first real shock.
My grandfather purchased it in 1978.
It remained in our family collection for more than thirty years.
Then, according to our records, Victor sold it privately twelve years earlier.
Buyer:
A European collector represented through an intermediary.
Two years later, it appeared at auction overseas.
Then changed hands twice.
Eventually it returned to the United States.
The current owner had consigned it for the Christmas luxury auction where Camilla accidentally broke it.
I stared at the sale file.
Marco’s signature appeared on the original family transaction.
He had arranged the shipment.
Managed the certificate package.
Confirmed receipt of payment.
Nothing obviously illegal.
Except Victor had apparently hidden an envelope inside the base before that sale.
Why?
If he wanted me to receive it, why send it away inside an object leaving the family?
Then the auction conservator showed me something.
The concealed cavity had been opened more than once.
Tool marks appeared around the internal panel.
Some were old.
Some much newer.
Somebody had known there was a hidden compartment.
Marco.
That explained why he attended the auction even though he had no listed bidding interest.
He had not come for the clock.
May you like
He had come for whatever Victor left inside it.
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