Page 113 of Gabriel's Promise (Gabriel's Inferno 4)

“I know.”

He reached out to grab Julia’s hand. “But we should spend some time in Florence and introduce Clare to the city and our friends. We can visit Umbria, as well.”

“I’d like that.”

“We’ve agreed to lend the house in Umbria to Rachel and Aaron for the last two weeks in April. So we’d have to go after that.”

“That’s fine.”

“I’m still waiting for the BBC producer to set the dates for my trip to London. It may be while you’re in Oxford.”

“As long as Rebecca comes with me, I’ll be okay. Professor Wodehouse has been very welcoming, but I doubt he’ll allow Clare to register for the workshop.”

Gabriel and Julia exchanged a look. He squeezed her hand and released it.

He lifted the children’s book and began to read to Clare. He read slowly, positioning the pictures in front of her, and pointed to them. He asked Clare questions and waited, as if she would answer.

Clare leaned against his chest and stared in rapt attention at the pages of the book. When he was finished, he read her another.

Julia snapped pictures with her phone.

* * *

The following morning, Julianne was being pampered at the hotel spa, on Gabriel’s insistence, while he sat with Clare on the floor, playing with blocks. His cell phone chose that inopportune moment to ring.

Clare complained about the noise.

He fastened her securely in a high chair and placed a few toys in front of her, then answered the FaceTime call.

“Gabriel, good morning.” Dottor Vitali’s face appeared on the screen.

“Hello, Massimo. How are you?”

“Good, thank you.” Vitali shuffled some papers on his desk. “I made some telephone calls about the memento mori. I didn’t use your name. But I’m sorry to say, I haven’t been able to discover anything. Museum directors around the world contact one another, from time to time, when artifacts appear. I’ve been approached on numerous occasions by people trying to sell valuable pieces. Sometimes the ownership is legitimate, sometimes not. I reached out to a few people to ask if they’d ever seen your carving. They haven’t.”

“I see,” said Gabriel slowly. “Thank you for trying.”

“Of course, of course. It’s possible the piece has been in a private collection and handed down over time. Sometimes a family doesn’t know what they have. They may think the object is a fake or that it is modern or something like that. But I can tell you no one is looking for that piece, at least at the moment. It isn’t showing up on lists of stolen artwork and no one has approached any among my circle in order to sell it.”

“Right. In view of that, Massimo, I think I’ll have to ask you to return it. I’m uneasy lending it until I know more about how it came to be on my property.”

Dottor Vitali’s face fell. “I understand. We need to be clear on the provenance of an object before we accept it. In this case, provenance is a mystery.”

“The mysteries in my life are legion at the moment.” Gabriel frowned. “But I’m grateful for your assistance and for Judith’s help as well.”

“Certainly. I hope you and your family will come to Florence soon?”

“Yes, Julianne and I were just discussing that. Probably in May.”

Dottor Vitali rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. We will see you then. I will arrange to have the carving returned to you.”

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Good-bye.” Massimo ended the call.

Another dead end, Gabriel thought.

He shook off his disappointment and retrieved Clare from her high chair. “Let’s go for a walk, while Mommy’s out.”