Vermeer Interrupted

Chapter 3: The Sign of the Smiling Octopus

Amsterdam. Friday, September 14, 2007.

What a high! Diana didn't plan to descend to Earth anytime soon. The sting went off without a hitch. She hadn't yet had a chance to celebrate the win as processing the suspects took most of the night, but she intended to make up for it today.

The thieves took the bait as expected. A crew of six women was arrested. The shocker was that Marta Kolar was one of them. Diana supposed she should have considered Marta a possibility. After all, Rolf's lover had a diamondback rattlesnake tattoo on her lower back. Diana had assumed the snake was linked to Marta's former employer Ydrus, but it appeared to have a second meaning. At long last, this serpent of a jewel thief was heading for prison.

The interrogations were being carried out by a combination of Dutch and Interpol agents, but they'd allowed Diana to participate. The gang members were an interesting group. Aside from Marta, all were South Asian with passports from India, Burma, and Thailand. Diana sensed the youngest was the most likely to crack and had carefully cultivated a Good Cop image with her. The girl was only seventeen. Diana was sure that if she could persuade her to cooperate, she'd get off with a light sentence. Her hunch was paying off. The girl had already provided leads that would be investigated today.

Sara and Neal were probably still asleep. She left them a text message explaining she was going out for breakfast and then would do a little shopping. She'd spotted a store earlier in the week, and ever since it had been calling to her. Who could resist a store called Sea Creatures? The name had even been written in English as if the owner knew she wouldn't be able to translate Zeedieren. Not that she needed to see the name. When she saw the giant smiling octopus on the sign, she knew she had to investigate.

When she opened the shop door, she entered cephalopod heaven. Sculptures, candelabras, chairs, accent tables, wine coolers, jewelry—every item in the store featured a sea creature motif and many of them came with tentacles.

The shop owner was very accommodating and explained shipping costs to the States. The octopus accent table Diana purchased was the easiest sale the woman would ever make.

"You remind me of another of my customers," the owner said with a chuckle. "He also has a discriminating eye. He purchased that chair you were looking at."

Diana paused, stunned by a flash of inspiration. She'd been riding the wave, her superpowers never stronger. Going with her instincts, she asked casually, "He sounds like a dear friend of mine—Rolf Mansfeld."

The owner shook her head slowly. "I don't believe he's a customer but I'll add him to my mailing list if you give me his address."

It was a long shot and she wasn't surprised it didn't pay off. But she shouldn't abandon the idea just yet. Rolf wouldn't use his real name. When the shopkeeper left to help another customer, she returned to the chair they'd both admired. A shipping tag was on it for Anthonie Leeuw. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. She checked the time. At nine-thirty, Neal and Sara should be up. This would bug her until she found out. If Neal didn't recognize the name, it would bug him too.

"Hi, Diana." Neal sounded awake but he was speaking in a whisper.

"Is Sara still asleep?" she whispered back.

"Yeah, we didn't get to bed till three. What's up?"

"Does the name Anthonie Leeuw mean anything to you?" she asked, spelling the surname for him.

"In what context?" he asked, his tone sharper.

When Diana explained where she was and her hunch about Rolf, he said, "That name is suspiciously close to the scientist who was the probable inspiration for two paintings by Vermeer—The Astronomer and The Geographer. The given names are identical. Your mystery octopus lover used the shortened form of the scientist's surname. It just happens to mean Lion."