”It appears she was on to something, but it is unclear how she found out about the existence of the painting in the first place.”

Kelly smiled as she reached for a polaroid on her desk of two women smiling with a painting that could be seen in the background. She then reached over to a blown-up photograph of the unclear painting that was in the background.  If only this picture was clearer, she thought before continuing.  ”Is there anything more?”

The voice cleared his throat.  ”We believe the painting is in the United States. Or… at least was there for a while.” 

Kelly took in a quick breath in excitement. ”Exactly as we suspected.”

”From what we can tell, Pierre Durand, brought the painting over when he immigrated and sold it to someone in the New York area.”  There is a long pause from the voice, waiting for a question before he continued.  ”He died in New York sometime in the early fifties.  He caught something and it killed him.  No wife or children.”

”New York?  Incredible.  It’s almost too easy.”

The voice relayed the attempts to determine the precise location of the sale.  How it seemed that Pierre did not know exactly what he had in his possession and only sold it for a few hundred dollars.

”A few hundred dollars was a great deal of money back then,” Kelly clarified.

”True,” the voice took in a long breath that could be heard over the phone. ”If knowledge of the painting had existed, he would have probably been forced to return it to the original owner,” he added.

”Yes, probably, but lucky for us, the painting’s existence has remained for the most part unknown… which will mean a great deal of profit for the one who brokers it privately.”  Kelly smiled as she thought, that is where I will get my revenge on Bette Porter. 

”Private broker?”  The voice questioned.  I thought Holocaust art claims were investigated pro bono.”

Kelly fell silent, as if realizing she had said too much.  Finally, she spoke.  ”Yes… of course.  Ethically and the most responsible way of handling the find will be with respect for the law and the family of the original owners.”  She paused in thought, ”You must come back to the states immediately.  Tonight.  We need to find out what… if anything new has been found out about the location of the painting by Bette Porter.”