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“Thank you for allowing me to interview you in your home, Councillor,” Shae said as she lowered herself into the seat Porello offered. “I must say, you have a fine study here. Is the artwork over your desk an original?”
The man surveyed the painting with intense self-satisfaction. “I’ve followed the world of art for some years, and I promised myself something special when I had the funds.”
“It’s a Goranno, isn’t it? An early work, possibly from his self-imposed exile. Many of his paintings from this period are yet to be uncovered, I understand.”
He appraised her with a questioning eye. “Someone has taught you well, my dear.”
She dipped her head, pretended to be embarrassed by his praise, and let him continue.
“Yes, it is one of his supposedly lost pieces. I don’t make a bi
