The Killer Queen

The moment she dropped that bomb, the whole gallery fell weirdly silent.

This painting was the crown jewel of the gallery. Tons of folks came here just to eyeball this masterpiece, turning the place into a hotspot for Instagram selfies and all that jazz. It even got its 15 minutes of fame on a bunch of TV interviews.

No way this piece was a fake!

Harper couldn’t help but smirk sarcastically. “Listen up, Miss, this work of art’s been vetted by TV crews and whatnot it’s the real thing, so don’t play expert if you ain’t one, okay? No wild guessing.”

–

Travis was getting antsy too. “How could this be a fake, Miss? Loads of art buffs have given it the thumbs up – it’s legit!”

Noella just shook her head cool as a cucumber, her eyes fixed on the play of light and shadow in ‘Spring Night‘.

The genuine ‘Spring Night‘ had a few roses added in the top left corner – just a little magic touch she threw in while Master Killian was painting.

Those roses took the whole thing up a notch. Killian loved it so much he hung it in his bedroom. At its first showing, the roses weren’t there, so any copycat wouldn’t even know about them.

This painting in front of her, although a pretty good knockoff, was definitely a dud.

Too many details were dealt with heavy–handed strokes, which didn’t make it the same league work as the original ‘Spring Night‘.

Noella pointed at a corner of ‘Spring Night‘ to everyone and claimed. “The original by Master Killian didn’t start its strokes in this sequence.”

Harper scoffed, “Come on, princess, Killian’s brushwork is one of a kind. Who could possibly fake that?”

Noella turned to Travis, “Bring me some paper and paint.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, right on it,” he said, quickly grabbing the best paints and brushes from the gallery’s stash and setting up an easel for Noella.

Noella grabbed a brush and started mixing colors like a pro, whipping up ‘Spring Night’s palette in no time!

Master Killian’s color mix and brushwork were his signature, and those were the most impossible things to replicate. Most wannabe forgers couldn’t even get the colors right and bailed at step one.

And here was Noella, nailing every shade on the fly and sketching out a piece of ‘Spring Night‘

in a blink!

“This is how Killian does it. This ‘Spring Night‘ is all wrong with its strokes and colors.” She

said.

Everyone was gobsmacked!

The ‘Spring Night‘ Noella whipped up on the spot was even more vivid than the one on display. The water at spring night was rippling and galloping with an eye–catching glamour.

Harper was gritting and his knees knocking. “Just because you can paint doesn’t mean this one’s a phony. We dropped a cool three hundred mil on this.”

Noella’s gaze was icy as it landed on him. “You painted this, didn’t you? And that money went straight into your pocket.”

Harper was sweating bullets!

How did she figure it out?

No way! She must be bluffing!

If he got busted, he’d be behind bars!

“Miss, you can’t smear my good name like that. How could I have painted this?” he said with a shaky voice.

Noella pulled out her phone and video–called Killian, turning the camera to the ‘Spring Night‘ in question before the old man even said hello.

“What’s that? Isn’t the real painting still hanging in my bedroom?” the old man was confused. Seeing Master Killian, Travis didn’t care if the guy was a living legend in the art world. If the gallery’s painting was a fake, he’d be in deep trouble!

“Master Killian, are you sure this is a counterfeit?” he asked.

Killian snorted, stood up, and showed the real ‘Spring Night‘ in his bedroom, “See? It’s got the roses my hopeless student added. You think I can’t spot a fake? You’ve got a dud!”

With Killian’s live testimony, everyone in the gallery hit the floor like sacks of potatoes!

Noella’s eyes were on Harper, who was plotting his escape, “Travis, you gonna nab him or wait to get nabbed yourself?”

Travis snapped to it and immediately rushed up to nab Harper. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“You little weasel. That’s three hundred million! Enjoy your life in the slammer!”

Harper didn’t expect the thing he’d been hiding for so long to be exposed all of a sudden. He was panicked and scared out of his wits, “I did it for the gallery! How is my painting any worse than Killian’s? You wouldn’t showcase my stuff, and instead, you made me fix up old paintings. And you still treated my painting as a treasure, right?”

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“Still talking tough, huh? You’ve done the crime!”

Harper knew he was toast.

Cops showed up quick and hauled him away.

Travis asked Noella with respect. “Miss, what do we do with the fake? Should we destroy it

or…?”

“Keep it. Hang it up somewhere with Harper’s name on it. Even among fakes, it stands out.” She replied.

“But it’s a fake, and Harper is such a jerk. Keeping it here could tarnish our gallery’s rep…”

Noella, who was perched on her chair looking down at Travis and the rest of the staff, declared. “If you wanna prove yourselves, now’s your chance. Paint something for me, and if it’s good, we’ll display it and share the profits.

In my gallery, there’s no difference between big–name masters and rookies. Also, cut the backstabbing and scheming. I’ve got no room for bullies or frauds.”

Her voice was ice–cold, and she quickly pointed out the gallery’s operational flaws with laser precision and issued new requirements, “Tomorrow morning, I want to see the latest staff structure and financial reports.”

“Yes!” Travis was sweating bullets. He thought it was just the typical ‘new broom sweeps clean‘ scenario, but boy, was he wrong.

The young lady was seriously clued up about music and art. She could spot the unique features of oil paintings, classical pieces, and even comic exhibitions at a glance. The regional managers were all struck dumb.

“Switch up the exhibition areas to enhance the visual impact; also, take down a bunch of the paintings and ditch the costly and useless sections.”

Noella whipped out a stack of papers and quickly sketched out all the poorly designed areas in the gallery.

The folks in charge w

totally blindsided by how much the young lady knew!

She could spot what was off with just one look. If we really spruced up the place according to Miss Know–It–All’s suggestions, the gallery would totally be reborn.

“Yes, we’ll get right on it!” they promised.

“Thanks for your hard work.” She nodded.

Travis now didn’t dare play any tricks in front of Noella. He was just nodding and bowing like there’s no tomorrow, “No trouble, no trouble at all