Trials, Tribulation and Triumph

Reprisal Chapter 11

Three thousand miles away, a tall, lean blonde stared out the window of an estate sitting on the shore of Palm Beach. She blew through her lips the smoke from her cigarette in a slow measured breath. In her hand she held a glass of brown liquid from which she drank, alternating with inhales from her cigarette that she held in the other.

Her cold eyes focused on the tower of Mar-a-Lago that could be seen in the distance. She had stayed at the historical resort many times prior to losing her financial position and no longer being in a position to write checks to support the current owner.  Marjorie Post must be turning in her grave with the knowledge of the asshole who now owns the beloved property she built, the woman thought as she turned towards the sound coming from an outer room.

The room in which she stood, an office, was lavishly furnished with a large oak desk, bookshelves across two walls filled with books collected by her long-deceased first spouse and a deep leather chair placed in the corner for quiet reading that she never did. The only thing that did not fit were several boxes scattered on the floor with one acting like a depository laden with volumes in disarray of constant use.

The house was all that was left of a fortune she had amassed from three marriages. A fortune that was taken from her by her now nemesis, Bette Porter. She still could not understand how the court could have ruled in Bette's favor and awarded punitive damages that for the most part stripped her of most of her wealth.

Now, at last, Kelly, felt she had begun to forge together a plan that would bring back her fortune and provide her the vengeance on the person who put her in this situation.

Kelly lifted her eyes to the sound of an elderly woman walking into the office carrying a phone.

"Yes?" Kelly inquired in an icy cold voice.

The woman gave an unsure smile as she handed over the phone. "It keeps ringing."

Kelly put out her cigarette and took the phone.  She gave a nod dismissing the woman as she began to pace. "Yes," Kelly commanded the voice to speak, sounding pleased to hear from the person who's name she recognized on the screen.

"There is no one left of his family that knows anything about the painting. It seems he only talked about the painting in the letters he sent to his mother."

There was a momentary pause.  She set down her glass on the desk, as she pondered. "Then I assume you have all the information from his mother?"

"Her letters?... yes, believe so... except for the one that Ms. Porter possesses." The voice gave a nervous pause before continuing. "In several of letters the painting is referenced."

"And what is said?"

"He sold the painting to an acquaintance's father, but there is no name mentioned in any of the letters."

Kelly walked around the desk and sat down.  "Does he make any reference to the artist or a description of the painting?"

"No, and we are not sure of all that was in the letter that Paul Bonnet found. Mr. Bonnet gave no information about what was in the letter he had obtained, even with efforts of persuasion. He caught the COVID and now we have no access to him. But we feel the letters we have provide enough to put together a picture of what happened."  The voice hesitated.  "Mr. Bonnet's assistant was the one who provided us with the information that helped us find the other letters. We were lucky, the letters were scattered amongst extended family. Old letters shoved in boxes with other things that had gathered years of dust in attics."  The voice let out a slow breath, "We have surmised that the letter he found was the first where the painting was mentioned."

"Do you think the information from the letters you possess have merit?"

"The information aligns too great to be a coincidence."  The voice paused, "I also heard a story about a Russian that found a painting that he thought was from that time period.  But he is dead now and anything he may have had or known about a lost painting is gone. I am not sure it is the same painting, and I don't think it is worth pursuing at this time."