Brimstone

"And her nocturnal, ah, rambles?"

"Now that she's under my care, there's no need for foraging. And I've decided on the site of her recuperation: my great-aunt's estate on the Hudson. It's deserted these days. It should be a good reintroduction to sunlight, if handled gently enough."

"Sunlight." Wren repeated the word slowly, as if tasting it. "It still seems impossible she was there all that time, after what happened, in those tu

"Perhaps she'd grown to trust you. She'd watched you at work long enough, over the summer. You clearly loved the collections, which are precious to her as well. Or perhaps she had just reached the point where human contact was necessary, no matter what the risk."

Wren shook his head. "Are you sure, really sure, she's only nineteen years old?"

"That question is more difficult than it sounds. Physically, her body is that of a nineteen-year-old."

They had reached the front door, and Wren waited for Pendergast to unlock it. "Thank you, Wren," the FBI agent said, opening the door. Night air rushed in, carrying with it the faint sounds of traffic.

Wren stepped through the door, paused, turned back. "Have you decided what you're going to do about her?"

For a moment, Pendergast did not reply. Then he nodded silently.

{ 8 }

The Renaissance Salon of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was one of the museum's most remarkable spaces. Taken piece by piece, stone by stone, from the ancient Palazzo Dati of Florence and reassembled in Manhattan, it re-created in perfect detail a late Renaissances alone. It was the most imposing and austere of all the grand galleries in the museum, and for this reason, it was chosen for the memorial service of Jeremy Grove.

D'Agosta felt like an idiot in his cop's uniform, with its Southampton P.D. patch in gold and blue and its lowly sergeant's stripes. People turned toward him quickly, stared as if he was some kind of freak, and then just as quickly dismissed him as hired help and turned away.

As he followed Pendergast into the hall, D'Agosta was surprised to see a long table groaning with food, and another sporting enough bottles of wine and liquor to lay low a herd of rhinos. Some memorial service. More like an Irish wake. D'Agosta had been to a few of those during his NYPD days and felt lucky to have survived them. They'd obviously set this whole thing up with remarkable speed-Grove had been dead only two days.

The room was crowded. There were no chairs: people were meant to mingle, not sit reverentially. Several television crews had set up their gear near a carpet-covered stage, which was bare save for a small podium. A harpsichord stood in a far corner of the salon, but it was barely audible over the noise of the crowd. If there was anybody shedding tears over Grove, they were hiding it pretty well.

Pendergast leaned over. "Vincent, if you are interested in any comestibles, now is the time to act. With a crowd like this, they won't last long."

"Comestibles? You mean that food on the table? No, thanks." His dalliance with the literary world had taught him that events like these served things like fish eggs and cheese that smelled so bad it encouraged you to check the bottom of your shoes.

"Then shall we circulate?" Pendergast began moving sylphlike through the crowd. Now a lone man mounted the stage: impeccably dressed, tall, hair carefully groomed back, face glistening with a professional makeup job. The crowd hushed even before he reached the microphone.

Pendergast took D'Agosta's elbow. "Sir Gervase de Vache, director of the museum."

The man plucked the microphone from the podium, his elegant figure straight and dignified.

"I welcome you all," he said, apparently feeling it u

Although Pendergast had stopped the moment the director gained the stage, D'Agosta noticed that the FBI agent was still scouring the room with his restless eyes.

"I first met Jeremy Grove some twenty years ago, when he reviewed our Monet exhibition for Downtown . It was-how shall I say it?-a classic Grove review."

There was a ripple of knowing laughter.

"Jeremy Grove was, above all else, a man who told the truth as he saw it, unflinchingly and with style. His rapier wit and irreverent sallies enlivened many a di

D'Agosta tuned out. Pendergast was still ceaselessly sca

"Maurice Vilnius, the abstract expressionist painter," Pendergast murmured. "One of many beneficiaries of Grove's ministrations."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I recall a review Grove wrote of Vilnius's paintings some years back. The phrase that best sticks in my mind is: These paintings are so bad they inspire respect, even awe. It takes a special kind of talent to produce mediocrity at this level. Vilnius has such talent in abundance. "

D'Agosta swallowed a laugh. "That's worth killing over." He hastily put his face in order; Vilnius had turned to see them approach.

"Ah, Maurice, how are you?" Pendergast asked.

The painter raised two very black eyebrows. As a fellow sufferer of bad reviews, D'Agosta had expected to see anger, or at least resentment, on the flushed face. Instead, it wore a broad smile.

"Have we met?"

"My name's Pendergast. We met briefly at your opening at Galerie Dellitte last year. Beautiful work. I've been considering acquiring a piece for my apartment in the Dakota."

Vilnius's smile grew broader. "Delighted." He spoke with a Russian accent. "Come by anytime. Come by today. It would make my fifth sale this week."

"Indeed?" D'Agosta noticed Pendergast was careful to keep surprise from his voice. In the background, the director's voice droned on:".     a man of courage and determination, who did not go gently into that good night .    "

"Maurice," Pendergast continued, "I'd like to speak with you about Grove's last-"

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman came up to Vilnius, her cadaverous figure draped in a sequined dress. In tow was a tall man in a black tuxedo, his bald head polished to gemstone brilliance.

The woman tugged at Vilnius's sleeve. "Maurice, darling, I just had to congratulate you in person. That new review is simply wonderful. And so long overdue."

"You've seen it already?" Vilnius replied, turning toward these new arrivals.

"Just this afternoon," the tall man replied. "A proof copy was faxed to my gallery."

".     and now, one of Jeremy's beloved sonatas by Haydn .    "

People continued talking, ignoring the man at the podium. Vilnius glanced back toward Pendergast for a moment. "Nice to have met you again, Mr. Pendergast," he said, drawing a card from his pocket and handing it to the FBI agent. "Please drop by the studio anytime." Then he turned back to the woman and her escort. As they walked away, D'Agosta could hear Vilnius saying, "It's remarkable to me how quickly news spreads. The review isn't even due to be published for another day."