100 Ways to Solve a Murder-Chapter 120: The Artist VIII

Modern Contemporary Art Gallery, Central London

That evening, Sam stood waiting outside the address Levi sent her hours previous, her long black coat wrapped around her. It was oddly colder than she expected it to be; she should have brought a thicker coat, she thought, looking at her cold hands.

Moments later, she sees the familiar blue with white stripes Shelby cobra park on the street opposite the gallery, and steps out of the car were the duo; Levi Jackson and Marco Evans.

They spot her immediately, her hands tucked inside her coat pockets, crimson hair shimmering under the moonlight.

"You should’ve went inside," the slicked blond berated, seeing her subtly shivering. He could tell she’d been waiting for at least 15 minutes. Her punctuality had always been admirable and dependable, but at the same time in times like that, he found it annoying. "Im fine." she answered. And the three entered the gallery, they all shrugged their coat by the door.

Minutes later, Leo Burton entered the lobby to greet them; he was wearing a frightening amount of neon orange. He smiled at the two familiar faces, shaking their hands and then turning to Sam when Levi introduced her. "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Gray." he said, offering his hand and her taking it with hers. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Burton."

The flamboyant man ushered them towards the gallery; several different paintings and sculptures adorned the large room. And even before Leo could lead them to Michael’s artwork, Sam recognized one hanging to her left. She made her way towards it, a magnificent abstract painting, filled with waves of colors. Teal, blue and yellow swirled together in both harmony and chaos.

"Have you seen this before, Dr. Gray?" Leo asked the redhead while Levi eyed the small paper with the artist’s name on it. The title part is empty.

"No, but I recognized his strokes." Sam said, earning a nod of appreciation from Leo. He thought she must’ve been a fan, being able to recognize an artist easily through his work. He was far from the truth. As Sam said, she recognized the strokes of the paintbrushes; the style was particular with Michael’s previous work.

Levi shifted towards Leo, "No name yet?" he asked; Leo sighed, "Were still working on it. He was supposed to give us the title of his work. But he passed before he could tell me." the man said, his eyes starting to water yet again. He took a deep breath reigning his emotions in; he will not break; he kept repeating to himself.

"He is a loss to the community." Leo said, earning the three’s attention. "He may not be mainstream popular. But he was highly respected, and he has a number of loyal fans." the beefy man added.

The group turned when security called the curator; he excused himself and left the three to observe.

Sam’s eyes remained on the painting, while Levi wandered to the other side of the wall to look at Michael’s other painting. From his knowledge, he had seven paintings for this show. Marco, on the other hand, took pictures of the said seven paintings for documentation.

It didn’t take long for Leo to return, and he wasn’t alone. Following behind him was a woman with pitch-black hair and blue eyes.

Levi approached her immediately, his fake smile adorning his face. "I’m Levi Jackson," He introduced himself, and Marco and Sam came towards them. The slicked blond gestured to the two beside him.

"And these are my colleagues, Dr. Evans and Dr. Gray." The two shook the woman’s hand, and Leo left them to talk privately for a few minutes.

Alicia stood, looking at one of the paintings, her brows furrowed together in both sadness and regret. She left him for another man; he hurt him—something she regretted even then.

"Mrs. Brown." Levi started, earning her attention.

"Please, call me Alicia. I won’t be Mrs. Brown for much longer. We’re getting a divorce, might as well get used to it." she said. "I’m sorry to hear that." Levi said.

"We’re working together with the CID to solve Michael’s death. We have suspicioin its not suicide, possibly homicide. Anything you can tell us would help." he explained, direct to the point. Alicia’s eyes widened in surprise; she honestly assumed it was suicide.

"You seemed surprised?" Levi said, noticing her shocked reaction.

"Did you by any chance speak with him before his death?" he asked, reading her body language. Something was running in her mind; he needed to know it.

"Yes, no." she said, confused, Levi arched a curious brow. "He reached out to me, a few months back through email. Only after learning he died did I realize what it was. So, I thought he killed himself," she said, looking back at that email. She brushed it off quickly. She had a family; she didn’t want anything that would be a source of an argument with her husband, especially since they had been going through difficult times.

"Because he basically said goodbye." she added further. Levi and Sam exchanged looks.

"Do you mind if I take a look at that email?" He asked immediately.

Alicia shrugged, "If it could help." she said, fishing out her mobile phone out of her sling bag. Levi caught a glimpse of the wallpaper of her mobile phone. It was an image of a girl, approximately five years old, with black hair and brown eyes.

She opened her email and handed the blond psychologist her mobile phone to read.

Levi looked at the message, "My mind is full of unsaid things, but these things are better left unsaid. These things I cannot say. These things, I leave to you." he read out loud, and Sam and Levi exchanged looks at the mention of the word "Unsaid things’.

Realization hitting them that, no, the redhead wasn’t reaching last night. Her gut was right!

Levi handed Alicia’s mobile back to her swiftly as he glided towards the closest painting. Sam stood right beside him, scanning the artwork with her eyes, trying to find anything.

A message.

Marco watched the two move in sync, at the back of his mind wondering, are they possibly aliens?

"Guys, what is it?" he asked, noticing Alicia mirroring his confused expression.

"He said it again, left unsaid, unsaid things." Sam muttered while Levi gritted his teeth. His mind was going a thousand miles per second, different scenarios playing in his mind. He had a few plausible ideas about what it all meant.

But something was evident with that message; he left something.

Something he cannot say. He has no idea what it could be; it could be unrelated, could be just some of his feelings towards the ravenette. But chances are it was related to the case—the probability of it leaning to the identity of the killer.

"One of Michael’s last entries was, "So many words to say, but no one to say them...but what’s left unsaid says it all," Levi said.

He turned to face Alicia, "I didn’t think it was anything at first but his email to you proves he left a message, something in his paintings." he further explained.

"The question is what?" he added, his eyes landed on Sam for a moment. Her eyes were scanning the whole painting, scrutinizing every inch of it.

One thing he knows for sure if she couldn’t find anything amiss on those paintings... No one can.

....

30 minutes later

Levi stood beside Alicia as she waited for a cab outside the gallery; his hands were inside his pockets. The night was chilly, and they had yet to unravel what secrets lie in the paintings. But Sam hasn’t given up, looking at it in different ways. She was racking her brain on how it was all connected. Her mind attempted to connect each of the seven images, twisting and flipping it in her mind, but to no avail.

They weren’t.

Whatever his message was, it was left never to be found. But if he saw it, she could see it too. Unless...wait, she pondered on the idea, Was he smarter than her?

She scowled at the thought; she had not once met anyone sharper than she was when it comes to anything involving imagery. Her mind worked at speeds even she was amazed. So, why didn’t she see anything? Did he really leave a message? Or was she looking at it the wrong way?

Was it a shape? Was it a code? How complex was it?

She had suggested the paintings be brought to her lab so she could study it. Dissect it without, of course, destroying it. Alicia had agreed, she was more than happy to help in any way. But she wanted the paintings ready in time for the gallery. "Even though he’s no longer here, I want the world to see the wonder of what he created." she said before agreeing to Leo to have the artworks displayed next week.

"Your husband." Levi said, standing beside the woman. Alicia turned towards the psychologist in question, "What color are his eyes?" he asked. Alicia furrowed her brows, confused, but answered, "He has green eyes."

"I see." the blond chuckled, amused; he was right at his suspicion.

"Why?" the woman asked, looking at him strangely. "I take it she’s 5 years old," he thought out loud, and her eyes widened for a second. Could he tell? She wondered to herself.

"I won’t say anything. Have a good night, Alicia." he said, gesturing to the cab stopping before them. And he walked back inside the gallery, not looking back.

Levi smoothened his suit as he approached the redhead, stopping to stand beside her, "Anything?" he asked.

"Not yet. I feel like something is missing." she admitted, earning a nod from the blond. She sighed, her eyes bouncing from the floor to his face, her brow raised in intrigued, noticing the shit-eating grin on his face, "What made you so happy?" she asked.

The side of his lips stretched even wider, and he looked down at her,

"It’s not just the painting Micahel left in this world." he said.

Sam’s brow raised in question, and he leaned towards her ear, "He left a daughter." he whispered.

And her green eyes widened, she recalled the image of a girl on Alicia’s phone, but that doesn’t prove anything, "What gave it away." she asked.

"Her eyes were brown. When she has a blue eyed mother and green eyed father."

"Aaah, yes. Genetics." Sam muttered, knowing full well a couple with green and blue eyes has a 0% chance of having brown-eyed children.