Tony was walking down a hallway of the Alpha Agency, where he was a temporary secret agent. He was following his boss, Agent 32, an older, white-haired man with a wide receding hairline. Next to him were his two colleagues, Agent 48 and Agent 54. Agent 48 was about 45 years old, black-haired, and wore a beard. Agent 54 was light-haired, square-jawed, and sporty-looking. He must have been a few years younger than Agent 48. Tony was the youngest, only 21 years old.
All four men were dressed in black suits and white shirts. They wore black ties.
They had just watched a VHS video recorded in 1982 that featured two painters, one named Randy and one named LeFrost. Then the boss had ordered them to accompany him to a meeting room, to explain a new case they should take care of.
They entered the meeting room. The room was small. It contained a table with several chairs and a small refrigerator with an electric coffee maker on it. The coffeemaker was on, making coffee. The agents sat around the table. Agent 48 moved to pour himself a coffee in a disposable cup.
"Make yourselves comfortable," said Agent 32, the boss. "We are waiting for someone".
Agent 48 poured his coffee and asked if anyone else wanted some. Agent 54 asked for one. Agent 48 poured him a coffee and gave it to him. Then he sat down. A minute later there was a knock on the living room door. It was a woman in her forties, with black hair, dressed in a blue skirt and a light blue blouse. She was holding a tablet in her right hand.
"Ah, come in," Agent 32 motioned for her to sit down. "This is Rebecca Knucles, the director of the Museum of Modern Art. She has a case to present to us. Have a seat, please. Coffee, Mrs. Knucles?"
"No, I'm fine," said the woman, sitting down on a free chair.
"Then tell us about Jacques LeFrost."
"Well," said the woman, picking up her tablet. "I'm afraid that before I explain who Jacques LeFrost was, I have to explain who Randy Randella was. You watched the video I sent you, didn't you?"
"Yes, we just watched it," said Agent 32.
"He was a pop art painter," said Agent 48. "Wasn't he?"
"Exactly. You all know him?"
"Um... I'm not very familiar..." said Tony.
Tony didn't know much about pop art. Or any other kind of art.
"Well, then I'll explain it to you from the beginning. In the mid-sixties, a new kind of art came into being. It was called pop art. This type of art was based on reproducing everyday objects and representing everyday life. It took many ideas from the mass media, whether from TV, movies, or comic books. In the city, artist Randy Randella began to stand out. Randy had been a graphic designer but began painting series of pop-leaning paintings around 1965. He made several series of paintings. His first series was the series of can openers. He painted a series of can openers of different models that became very famous."
"I had one framed," said Agent 54. "A reproduction, unfortunately. I couldn't afford an original."
"Oh, yes, those first series are now very expensive. They're worth millions," said Rebecca Knucles. "Then he made other sets. Tennis rackets, fishnet stockings, telephone books, toilet paper rolls, screwdrivers. Each series was more successful than the last and Randy made a lot of money."
"Toilet paper and screwdrivers?" Tony wondered.
"Yes, it was the fashionable thing to do at the time. But Randy had other interests. He considered himself an integral artist. He started producing experimental films and other kinds of art. Since he had made a lot of money, he bought an old disused shed and built a loft there, which he used as his base of operations. Randy soon surrounded himself with dozens of people from the art scene and from the more idle classes. It was a very diverse group of people in which you could see penniless artists next to millionaires' daughters, movie actors, rock stars... Randy gave fabulous parties where all these strange people mixed, including men dressed as women and women dressed as men. At that time that attracted a lot of attention. People danced and drank for days at those parties, until they were exhausted. Randy always said: the right way to get to my parties is by limousine, and the right way to leave is by ambulance."
"Witty," said Agent 54.
"He was a very clever man," said Mrs. Knucles. "He built a character of himself. He was very fair-skinned and had white hair. He always wore a little headband across his forehead. You must have seen him on the video."
"Yes," said Agent 48.
"I mentioned that he also produced films. In the early days, Randy's films were experimental. One of the early ones was called Man Throwing a Branch at a Dog. It's in black and white, in a park. You see a man with his back turned throwing a branch at a dog. The dog picks up the branch and carries it away, then the man throws it back at him, and so on for half an hour. There's no plot and you can't see the man well, he's always seen with his back turned, and there's no sound. Another of his early films was Man Insulting a Goose. It is also in black and white. A goose is seen walking around a room and a man follows him and insults him, but since the film has no sound you can't hear the insults. Another of his films is Woman Putting a Geranium on Her Head. That shows a woman... Well, I think the title explains it."
"And people used to watch that?" Tony wondered.
"Well, in the sixties experimentation was all the rage, anything that broke the mold of convention was well received," answered Mrs. Knucles. "Later Randy made films that were a bit more elaborate, in color and with sound, and with scripts, but since the actors were not actors but his friends and acquaintances, many of those films are little seen today. Anyway, his party lifestyle lasted until the mid-seventies, until the day Randy had a serious heart attack. He almost died, but finally survived. Then he decided he had to change. He stopped partying and hanging out with so many friends and started supporting promising artists coming from poor or underprivileged backgrounds. And that's how he met Jacques LeFrost, the artist who is our protagonist."
"Who is the younger, curly-haired, darker-skinned man in the video " said Agent 54.
"Exactly. LeFrost, as everyone knew him, had a very hard life. He was the son of immigrants, but his parents died when he was a child. He lived in an orphanage for the rest of his childhood. At the age of fifteen, he started working in a bakery and confectionery owned by a woman, Mrs. Pendiz, who taught him the trade and protected him. It was she who bought him his first canvases and brushes. LeFrost had always been interested in the visual arts, as a teenager, he loved going to the museum and spent hours there looking at paintings and sculptures."
"And how did he meet Randy Randella?" asked Agent 48.
"In 1980 Randy Randella announced that he was presenting an exhibition of young artists. Artists from all over sent in their work, including LeFrost. Randy loved LeFrost's paintings and gave him a prominent place in his exhibit. The exhibition was a great success. Several major collectors bought works and it was there that LeFrost sold his first painting, Damned Poet. This is the painting," said Rebecca Knucles.
She picked up her tablet and enlarged an image of a painting. It showed a man slumped on a modern sofa. Next to him was a small table with an old, manual typewriter. On the floor were dirty bottles and plates with leftover noodles. The man in the painting was in his thirties and poorly dressed. One could see, Tony thought, that the man on the couch had been beaten by life but was still writing poems on his typewriter. The painting was striking and powerful as if the artist had accurately captured the man's soul.
"It's very good," said Tony.
"Yes, LeFrost was a great painter," said Rebecca Knucles. "His subjects tended to be people from the slums, down on their luck and penniless, the kind of people he had known as a child when he was an orphan and then more as a young man when he had to get up at dawn to work in the bakery. He never painted the rich and famous, whom he met later, at the hand of Randy Randella. Here is a video showing LeFrost receiving his first check for selling a painting."
She placed the tablet on the table. A video that had originally been recorded on VHS began to play. The colors were not good and there were spots and lines. The scene appeared to be taking place in some sort of gallery, pictures were hanging on a wall. In the foreground were Randy Randella and Jacques LeFrost. Randy held out a check to LeFrost. Some people applauded. LeFrost kissed the check. Then a tall woman wearing strange glasses appeared with a vase. She dropped it on the floor and broke it. There was more applause.
"Who is the man on the couch, the one in the painting?" asked Agent 48. "Was he a real poet?"
"Oh, sure. That was the poet and writer Tunk Collins. He is still alive, and today he is well known for his short stories and poetry, especially in university circles. Tunk Collins had humble origins, lived in poverty, and was addicted to eating noodles. He published his works in small underground newspapers and literary magazines. He finally achieved fame, at the age of sixty, when he won a major literary prize. At the time LeFrost painted him no one knew him."
"Addicted to eating noodles? Is that why there are dirty noodle dishes on the floor in the painting?" asked Tony.
"Exactly."
"And why was the painting called Damned Poet?" asked Agent 54. "It's not a nice title."
"Oh, it's just that the damned poets were a type of poets who wrote poetry that defied the conventions of society," explained Rebecca Knucles. "They emerged in the nineteenth century."
"Oh, I see," said Tony.
"Anyway, moving on with the story, LeFrost made some money. And he told Randy Randella what his dream was. He wanted to make enough money to build an orphanage near the museum. He had been an orphan and wanted to take care of the orphaned children of the future and make sure they had not only food, shelter, and education but access to the works of art that had so fascinated him as a child. And Randy Randella, who was looking to mend his ways after his heart attack, was moved by the idea and donated the money to build the orphanage. LeFrost must have been very happy. The idea they had was to buy a piece of land that is next to the park but is not part of the park, it is private property. But the land, for bureaucratic reasons, could not be sold for forty years. It was leased to them. Randy and LeFrost didn't mind. They built the orphanage. Randy was fascinated by the light blue color and asked as a condition that the orphans' uniform be light blue. Of course, orphans don't wear uniforms during the day, only for certain formal activities."
"Wait a minute," said Tony. "I came across a group of children dressed in light blue the other day in the park. Are they from the orphanage that LeFrost founded?"
"Exactly. From the LeFrost Randella orphanage. That's the official name," Knucles replied. "There is a video of the inauguration."
She showed the tablet. On it was an old video, also recorded on VHS. Randy Randella and Jacques LeFrost were standing against the entrance of a building. There was a ribbon across the door. Randy handed a pair of scissors to LeFrost and LeFrost cut the ribbon. There was applause from the crowd. Then the same tall woman with strange glasses who had appeared in the previous video approached them with a vase in her hand and dropped the vase. There was more applause.
"You said the ground lease was due in forty years?" said Agent 48. "That must be about this time."
"That's the problem," said Agent 32. "The term of the ground lease for the orphanage is about to expire."
"Exactly. The lease for the land must be renewed, or the land must be bought. But there are several problems. The first is that the orphanage has no money to buy the land. The second is that there are others interested in buying it. Mainly urban developer Kinko Clavelli. He is the owner of a company that builds large luxury buildings, tower-like skyscrapers with housing and businesses, for the very wealthy. He has always wanted to build next to the park, and the only land available is the land where the orphanage stands today. So he is determined to buy it."
"And what will happen to the orphanage if he buys it?"
"It will be demolished and the children will be left on the street. Well, I don't know about the street, I guess they'll be taken to other institutions. But the LeFrost Randella orphanage is one of a kind. The children have special training in the arts and go to the museum. It would be a shame to lose the orphanage."
"Wow," said Agent 54, "And can't the money be raised to buy the land? Is it too expensive?"
"Clavelli is willing to pay forty million. I don't think that amount can be raised."
Tony was impressed. Forty million was a lot of money.
"And what can be done? Is there a way to save the orphanage?" asked Agent 48, touching his beard.
"Yes, I think there is a way to save it," said Rebecca Knucles. "By finding the Lost Angel."
The agents looked at the museum director curiously.
"Finding who?" said Agent 48. "Who is the lost angel?"
"It's a painting," answered Mrs. Knucles. "The last picture painted by Jacques LeFrost before he died in the late eighties."
"LeFrost died in the late eighties?" asked Tony. "Poor guy."
"Yes, of a very serious illness. His life was short and tragic," Knucles checked something on his tablet. "This is the Lost Angel."
He showed a picture on the screen. The picture showed a young man, almost on his back, who appeared to be pushing a supermarket cart. He was walking down the middle of the street in what appeared to be a fairly squalid neighborhood. The sky was overcast. You could see some enclosed sheds at the bottom of the street, and other people were against the walls of those sheds. Some were sleeping, others were sitting, a couple was eating something. In the background on the right, a man was rummaging through the contents of a garbage can. The man in the center of the image had two small wings growing out of his back. It was a very powerful image, depressing and redemptive at the same time.
"It's beautiful," said Tony, opening his mouth.
"It's considered a masterpiece, it's LeFrost's best painting."
"And where is this painting?" asked Agent 54.
"Nobody knows. It's officially lost. Although some people think it's hidden," said Rebecca Knucles.
"Hidden?" asked Tony, "And who could have hidden it?"
"Jacques LeFrost himself. That's what the legend says."
"What legend?" asked Agent 48.
"The legend says that LeFrost, realizing that he was not going to be cured of his illness and that he did not have much time left in this world, was worried about the orphanage he had helped to found. He worried that, after forty years, the orphanage would be unable to raise the money to buy the land, and would be closed. So it is said that he hid his best painting, Lost Angel so that it would appear and be auctioned off at the time the orphanage needed to buy the land."
"Why hide the painting, couldn't he have sold it and kept the money?" Agent 54 asked.
"LeFrost's paintings, while he was a well-known and celebrated artist, didn't raise that much money during his lifetime," explained Rebecca Knucles. "The most expensive of them sold for less than a million. There was no point in selling the painting at that time. He knew that since he was going to die young and since he had painted so few works, his work would fetch a much better price in the future. And even more so for a painting that became a legend. And he was right, his works today are valued at dozens of millions. If Lost Angel were to appear and be auctioned, it would easily fetch forty million. Most likely more than that."
"Wow," said Tony.
"Why do you say the painting became a legend?" asked Agent 48.
"Because it's lost. We don't even know if the painting exists or if it was destroyed, we only have these photos and some videos that show it. For any gallery or auction house to have the Lost Angel would be a treasure. Many museums and collectors would pay fortunes for it."
"But if it is lost, what are the chances that someone will find it?" asked Tony. "Is there any clue?"
"Gentlemen," Agent 32 interrupted them. "That will be exactly your mission. From today on, you will devote all your efforts to finding the Lost Angel."
Tony looked at his boss strangely.
"Should we be looking for a painting? I thought this agency was in the business of protecting the Internet."
Agent 32 laughed.
"This agency does a lot of things. One of them is protecting the Internet, but another is helping the city's artistic heritage. And helping their orphanages."
Tony remained silent, puzzled.
"And where can we start looking for this painting?" asked Agent 48. "Is there anyone who might know more about him, anyone who knew Jacques LeFrost personally?"
"I think the right person would be Cecilia Vasterfuzze," said Rebecca Knucles. "This is her today, and this was her in the eighties"
She showed a picture of a woman on her tablet. She was a woman in her sixties, dressed smartly, with a blouse and a blue jacket over her. Her hair was black and long. He then moved on to another photo. The second photo showed the same woman, only she was about thirty years younger and wearing long, curly hair and a sweater with shoulder pads and bright colors.
"Who is she?"
"Well, she used to be an artist, from Randy Randella's group of friends. That's where she met LeFrost and they became friends. Some say they were more than friends. When LeFrost got sick Cecilia helped him through his illness. If anyone knows about the Lost Angel and what LeFrost's plans were, it's her."
"And where can we find her? Is it known where she lives?" Agent 54 asked.
"Fortunately we know a lot about her," said Agent 32. "Today she is the director of Chompensky's, the finest art auction house in the region. They hold auctions every week. There is one tomorrow. It would be a good occasion to go and talk to her."
"Well, we'll have to pose as art lovers, I guess," said Agent 54. "How should we dress?"
Rebecca Knucles waved her hand, looking at Agent 32.
"Um... I don't think it's that simple," she said. "The art world is small and everyone knows everyone. If a group of three unknown men suddenly appear they will attract attention and cause distrust."
"Do you think so?" asked Agent 32.
"Believe me, I know the art world. Artists, auction houses, and galleries study buyers well. They don't want their works to fall into the hands of careless people. Some established artists only sell their works to museums or to collectors who already own outstanding works. Not just anyone can show up at a high-end auction and buy art. First, you have to get into art circles or high society circles."
"What will happen if we just show up? Wouldn't we be allowed in?" said Agent 48.
"Well, maybe they'll let you in, maybe not. They might tell you that the room is full and there are no more places. This is usually the case, it's always crowded. Although that may not happen, there's no way of knowing. But you will attract attention, and everyone will want to know who you are. Where you live, what circles you move in, how much money you have, what your occupations are. They will study you."
"Well, that's inconvenient," said Agent 32.
"Yes, I'm sorry. No one in this agency is connected with the art world?"
"I don't think so," replied Agent 32.
"Then they would need to bring someone from high society, someone who is known in the city's elegant circles and who would not arouse suspicion by appearing at an auction. If you get a person with those characteristics you could go as their escort and go unnoticed."
"Can't you recommend us?" asked Agent 54. "Couldn't you say that we work at the museum?"
"No. It's just that many people who go to the auctions collaborate with the museum. We have an association of friends of the museum who raise funds and organize events, and they are in contact with the museum staff. They have never seen you, they will be suspicious."
"I understand," said Agent 32. "Maybe we should go with someone from high society."
"But we don't know anyone from high society," said Agent 48. "Can you think of anyone?"
"We know the LaFeubrers," said Agent 54. "But Uncle Gustav is in prison, and the girl is a little young to be collecting art."
At that moment Tony put his hand to his face, covering his eyes.
"Oh, no!" he said, sighing.
The other agents looked at him, as if in wonder.
"Is something wrong, 48b?" asked the boss.
"I know I'm going to regret this. But I think I know just the person," said Tony.
"Yes? Who is it?"
Tony let out a sigh.
"Mrs. Mercedes Gazutto, widow of Rockensten Hampton," said Tony. "My Aunt Mecha."