Summary

Chapter 31 – The novel returns to the present. Rik asks Claire to meet him for a drink. They decide to get together at Clery’s. Rik wants details about Claire’s upcoming show, and her relationship with Markel. Rik tells Claire she will soon be known as an accomplished and professional artist, free from the shadows of Isaac. Rik then reveals that After the Bath is going to be officially reinstalled with great ceremony at the Gardner Museum just after Thanksgiving, and two weeks before Claire’s show. Rik reveals that hopefully by then, more information about After the Bath will be forthcoming, and that perhaps more information will be available about the other missing paintings. He also reveals that Patel is contemplating an FBI offer of immunity.

When Claire relates this information to Markel later, Markel dismisses it. Markel reminds Claire of their cover...