What Evil Lurks in Monet's Pond: A by Sara M. Barton Page A

Tattinger used to provide
art scholarships for area college students? In exchange for
financial support, they were required to donate their works to the
museum, and the museum held onto them until such time as the
artists began to gain in popularity. The idea was that the museum
would benefit from the effort to support the artists. You’ve heard
of Tate Achincloss, right?”
    “Contemporary artist. He does those big,
square canvases of color blocking. I’ve seen some of his work. It’s
almost a blend of Impressionism and Contemporary, with an ethereal
feel. Nice stuff. Why?”
    “The Tattinger just sold one of his works for
$566,000 at auction.”
    “Whoa!”
    “So, why did Anna Szabo organize the vote to
dismantle that program?”
    “To close the museum and get her inheritance
up front?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Oh, dear. I think I know what they’re doing,
Ross. They’re pirating copies of the limited editions and selling
them on the side, out of sight of the Tattinger. And maybe if the
Tattinger is no more, there’s no one to question exactly how many
limited editions there are to be sold. They can forge all they
want.”
    “It’s a digital age, babe. It’s like these
digital books that self-published authors sell at Amazon, Barnes
and Noble, and all the other retailers. The up-and-coming authors
post their digital files, and as the sales begin to show promise,
the bots pick up interest in the authors. They need enough traffic
for the books to siphon off a percentage of the sales. They bury
their criminal activities in the sales programs within the
retailers’ websites. The criminal syndicates mask it as an ‘agent’s
fee’ for helping the author sell more books.”
    “It doesn’t show up on the author’s tally of
books sold?”
    “Nope. The authors never know there’s anyone
else getting a percentage of their sales. And it doesn’t take
anything away from the retailers, so they don’t care if the
publisher doesn’t get all the profits. As far as they know, the
retailers are paying everyone what they are owed.”
    “That’s sleazy,” I decided. “You think
they’re doing the same kind of thing with the art prints?”
    “Why not? It’s a web-based business, right?
You only have their word for it that a print is a limited edition.
If the Szabo family is as involved in organized crime as I believe
they are, they’re doing most of their business back in Hungary.
They could be laundering money for just about anyone, masking the
sales as legitimate. Drug cartels, terror organizations,
criminals....”
    “Is that why you’re here?”
    “Your family is a target, babe, thanks to the
WikiLeaks. I’m here to accomplish two things. I’m going to make you
a minor star in the art world, because you’re going to help the FBI
solve this case. And I’m going to give myself a legitimate reason
for meeting you and falling in love with you.”
    “You are?”
    “I am. I was going to try and pull something
off when you went to Madrid in March, but why wait? If the Szabos
are interested in looting the rest of Hermione’s estate, we might
as well take advantage of the situation ourselves. Besides, that
dead artist was deliberately left there so that your sister would
drop her plans for the castle.
    “You think there’s still a chance to save the
Tattinger?” To be honest, I had mixed feelings about it. What’s the
point of having a museum no one ever visits? Then again, if it were
to support future artists, that could be a very positive thing,
couldn’t it?
    “Did you know that a couple of art schools
were interested in taking the Tattinger over? They wanted to buy
the building, lock, stock, and barrel. The Szabos put the kibosh on
this.”
    “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
    “Blackmailing other board members? Oh, yeah.
Definitely. How else do you explain the consistent votes that are
diametrically opposed to the museum’s best interests?”
    “Maybe some of the board members