Chapter One: After the Glasses Come Off

In the haze of white light, the lamp had become a closed eye. The museum opened at nine. By eight forty, the underground conservation center already smelled of paste, old paper, and climate-control machinery. Yanqiu scanned her badge. Colleagues nodded through the glass. Tang Qi approached carrying a tool case. “You look like you just authenticated yourself as a counterfeit.” “Didn't sleep. Where's the painting?” “Table Three. Curator Lin's visiting expert thinks there's secondary pigment around the boat lamp.” Homeward in Rain was the museum's most valuable modern oil painting. A black sea swallowed most of its sky; one small boat carried an amber lantern toward shore.