Read Online Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception by Wendelin Van Draanen - Free Book Online

at me like, What? so I tell her, “There was a little, uh,
incident
at the art gallery last night.”
    “The art gallery? You found trouble in an
art
gallery?” Then before I can say anything, she asks, “What art gallery?”
    “Uh, it's called the Vault. I went there with Grams and Hudson.” I motion to Jojo and say, “This is Jojo Lorenzo. He, uh …” I look at him and ask, “Do you own that place or run it or what?”
    “I'm the agent-slash-proprietor-slash-grunt. I do it all!”
    I turn back to Marissa. “Well some guy came in and tried to steal a bunch of paintings and … you know.”
    Marissa rolls her eyes. “Why you?”
    I shrugged. “Well,
some
one had to stop him. He was holding the place up with a squirt gun!”
    “A squirt gun? Who fell for that?”
    Jojo's eyes get all big. “All of us did! He had it in his pocket and he was so … rugged-looking. None of us suspected!”
    “So what's going on with all of that?” I ask him. “Did they catch the guy?”
    “Oh my, no! He vanished!
Poof
, into thin air. And since the paintings are all accounted for and Di doesn't seem to have the emotional fortitude to press an investigation …”
    “Wait a minute. She doesn't want to find the guy?”
    “Oh sure she does, sure she does! She's just very … delicate. Moody, if you must know. And she does put on a good front, but underneath there's darkness. Pain. Conflict.” He smiles. “Which is why she is such a brilliant artist.”
    “But … well, do you think that maybe the Splott … I mean that Tess Winters lady … is right? Do you think Diane Reijden set it all up so she would be the one in the
L.A. Times
?”
    “My pet, it makes no sense! No sense a'tall. Unless you're her accomplice?”
    “No!”
    “Well there you go! If you hadn't stopped that ruffian, he would've gotten clean away. Clean away!”
    “Well, it did feel kind of … desperate. Do you think maybe Tess set it up? You know, to remove the competition?”
    He gives me a really prim look. “Watch me, darling. I'm biting my tongue.” He sticks it out and clamps down on it. But then he leans forward and whispers, “She's haughty and hateful … but she's too mentally
boxed
to orchestrate a heist.” He straightens a little and says, “But you didn't hear that from me!”
    “So who do you think he was? A friend of Austin Zuni's?”
    “Oh heavens no!” Jojo sucks in air through his nose, holds it, then lets it out all at once, saying, “He was simply someone who knows. Or maybe he
works
for someone who knows.”
    “Knows? Knows what?”
    “That it's only a matter of time before you won't be able to touch a Reijden for under thirty, thirty-five grand a pop.”
    “Seriously?”
    He nods. “She just got a stunning review in
Artist World
magazine. It's only a matter of time before she shoots to the stars.”
    “So why did the whole thing feel so … staged?”
    “More like dramatic, if you ask me.” Then he says, “Ahhhhh,” and you can tell he's having a wonderful thought.
    “What?”
    “There's a
movie
in here somewhere….” He claps his hands and says, “Oh. Oh-oh-oh!”
    So while he's writing, casting, and directing in his mind, I'm looking around at his booth. And finally I ask him, “Is this your art, Jojo? It's not signed or anything.”
    He laughs. “Mine? Darling, I draw like a two-year-old.”
    Before I can bite
my
tongue, it's wagging away, saying, “Hey, there's big money in that. Frame it, call it something ‘deep,' and charge ten grand!”
    “Tsk-tsk-tsk,”
he goes, but he's smiling. “Do I detect a jab at one of my clients?”
    I shrug. “I just don't get it, that's all. And Tess sure wouldn't explain it to me.”
    “One shouldn't have to explain one's art.” He leans in. “You insulted her.”
    “But … I was just trying to learn. I mean, can
you
explain it?”
    He shrugs. “To each his own, I say.”
    “Well, do you get it? Do you
like
it?”
    He shrugs again. “It sells, and that's what