Read Online Art and Arsenic (Veronica Margreve Mysteries Book 2) by Valerie Murmel - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Valerie Murmel
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death.
“Why did you use DoS as a tactic in the first place? I didn’t think it was a common competitive maneuver in the art sales world.”
“Oh, that’s simple. Fred wasn’t tech-savvy at all. He wouldn’t have expected it and wouldn’t have known how to fix it. I thought I could get him to panic, to screw up plans for this opening, throw things off-balance. Mess with his head a bit.” I heard her blow her nose.
“How did you know what to do, where to even go looking for the tools?”
“I have a lot of clients in the tech industry. I’ve picked up some general info on cyber-attacks in conversation with a VP at Microsoft when I sold him several pieces to decorate his new house. And then there was that big attack from North Korea in the news recently – I read up on the details on the internet.”
Well, Linda was certainly resourceful!
“I see. I suggest you get a good attorney, just in case.”
She gulped. “So you don’t believe me?”
“I think it would be better, for your own peace of mind, if you have legal advice, and from someone who is qualified to give it – which I’m not.”
“But will you help me? I’ll pay you if you prove I didn’t do it!” Her voice was shrill and trembling now.
“I will do what I can to find out what really happened.” That was the truth, and I could promise her that. I chose to ignore her offer of payment, for a whole bunch of reasons.
“Oh, thank you, thank you! I had nothing to do with the death!” Another gulp and possibly a sob on the line.
“Well, I have to go now.” I wanted to hang up, research some things, and think.
I did a web search for the previous exhibit of David Cox landscapes, that Linda mentioned, found a couple of articles in the local papers that talked about “this successful sale establishing Nordqvist Fine Art as a major light on the Kirkland art scene”. Seemed like that previous event really raised the gallery’s visibility, as Fred bragged and Linda complained to me.
Linda said that the art looked “off” to her at that time. I zoomed in on a couple of photos that accompanied the newspaper articles, and then also did an image search for similar subject matter by the painter. From comparing 10 photos – three from the sale and seven from other galleries’ and museums’ websites, I couldn’t really see anything “off”. But I wasn’t an expert. I did another web search, also looking on Amazon and in my library’s catalog, and put a hold on several books. I would pick them up tomorrow.
In its own way, what Linda told me made sense. Linda aimed to exploit what she saw as Fred’s weakness, to sow confusion. She definitely intended to harm his business. But did she also aim to harm him personally, hurt him, eliminate the competitor? And when he found a way to deal with the cyber-attack, by hiring my firm to fix things, did she do something to get rid of him, literally? I shivered at the thought that perhaps my work on defending Nordqvist Fine Art website somehow hastened Fred’s death.
Or maybe she didn’t have any premeditated plans, but their argument Friday night got quite heated?
Linda also said that she wanted to mess up the plans for the opening of the show. If she were innocent of the murder, did whoever killed Fred have a particular date or timeline in mind?
That got me thinking about Connie, the almost-ex-wife and now widow. She likely had a good motive to make sure that Fred didn’t proceed with the divorce. She might have been in such a hurry as not to care about ruining this particular exhibit, if she could get a share of the business outright. She might also be a beneficiary of some insurance that might pay out on Fred's death. And I did see her talking to Fred at the opening party for a little bit – it was possible she could have slipped something into his drink. Their interaction looked frosty, and she didn’t look at all thrilled to be at the party. Why was she there at
“Why did you use DoS as a tactic in the first place? I didn’t think it was a common competitive maneuver in the art sales world.”
“Oh, that’s simple. Fred wasn’t tech-savvy at all. He wouldn’t have expected it and wouldn’t have known how to fix it. I thought I could get him to panic, to screw up plans for this opening, throw things off-balance. Mess with his head a bit.” I heard her blow her nose.
“How did you know what to do, where to even go looking for the tools?”
“I have a lot of clients in the tech industry. I’ve picked up some general info on cyber-attacks in conversation with a VP at Microsoft when I sold him several pieces to decorate his new house. And then there was that big attack from North Korea in the news recently – I read up on the details on the internet.”
Well, Linda was certainly resourceful!
“I see. I suggest you get a good attorney, just in case.”
She gulped. “So you don’t believe me?”
“I think it would be better, for your own peace of mind, if you have legal advice, and from someone who is qualified to give it – which I’m not.”
“But will you help me? I’ll pay you if you prove I didn’t do it!” Her voice was shrill and trembling now.
“I will do what I can to find out what really happened.” That was the truth, and I could promise her that. I chose to ignore her offer of payment, for a whole bunch of reasons.
“Oh, thank you, thank you! I had nothing to do with the death!” Another gulp and possibly a sob on the line.
“Well, I have to go now.” I wanted to hang up, research some things, and think.
I did a web search for the previous exhibit of David Cox landscapes, that Linda mentioned, found a couple of articles in the local papers that talked about “this successful sale establishing Nordqvist Fine Art as a major light on the Kirkland art scene”. Seemed like that previous event really raised the gallery’s visibility, as Fred bragged and Linda complained to me.
Linda said that the art looked “off” to her at that time. I zoomed in on a couple of photos that accompanied the newspaper articles, and then also did an image search for similar subject matter by the painter. From comparing 10 photos – three from the sale and seven from other galleries’ and museums’ websites, I couldn’t really see anything “off”. But I wasn’t an expert. I did another web search, also looking on Amazon and in my library’s catalog, and put a hold on several books. I would pick them up tomorrow.
In its own way, what Linda told me made sense. Linda aimed to exploit what she saw as Fred’s weakness, to sow confusion. She definitely intended to harm his business. But did she also aim to harm him personally, hurt him, eliminate the competitor? And when he found a way to deal with the cyber-attack, by hiring my firm to fix things, did she do something to get rid of him, literally? I shivered at the thought that perhaps my work on defending Nordqvist Fine Art website somehow hastened Fred’s death.
Or maybe she didn’t have any premeditated plans, but their argument Friday night got quite heated?
Linda also said that she wanted to mess up the plans for the opening of the show. If she were innocent of the murder, did whoever killed Fred have a particular date or timeline in mind?
That got me thinking about Connie, the almost-ex-wife and now widow. She likely had a good motive to make sure that Fred didn’t proceed with the divorce. She might have been in such a hurry as not to care about ruining this particular exhibit, if she could get a share of the business outright. She might also be a beneficiary of some insurance that might pay out on Fred's death. And I did see her talking to Fred at the opening party for a little bit – it was possible she could have slipped something into his drink. Their interaction looked frosty, and she didn’t look at all thrilled to be at the party. Why was she there at
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