‘He was useless.’

‘He was OK.’

‘How would you know?’

‘He’s got relatives …’ Dwappa said quietly, reading his mother’s expression. The thought amused her, he could see that.

‘Boys run away all the time,’ she replied, knowing her son understood that Hiller would never be coming back. Not to the shop, or anywhere else. ‘His mother should have protected him more. That’s where you’ve always been lucky, Emile – your mama’s devoted to you.’ She paused, breathing in through her mouth, terrifyingly still. ‘He was saying bad things about you, Hiller was. Repeating gossip. Nasty little boy, with a nasty little mouth.’ She touched her son’s cheek. ‘You owe me so much. And I know you’ll look after your mama. Always.’

He swallowed hard. ‘They’ll look for Hiller. They’ll look for him—’

‘They’ll look, but they’ll never find. No one finds anyone who crosses us. You know that.’ She smiled like a wolf, sizing him up for the kill. ‘No one finds anyone who crosses me.’

*

In Madrid, away from plots and meetings, from threats and machinations, Leon Golding sat in his study and stared at the skull of Goya.

He had no idea of the rumours that were circulating. No notion of his rivals, of Emile Dwappa or Jimmy Shaw. No intimation that the relic in his possession would cause mayhem.

If he had known the events to come, he would have wished it back in its unkempt grave. Back under the concrete and the flagstones of the past. Away from light and lust and the greed of men. Had he been gifted with prophecy, Leon Golding would have rid himself of a relic so notorious and valuable it would inspire butchery.

But instead he stared at the skull of Spain’s greatest painter, gazing into the black caverns of its eye sockets. And he thought of the Goya he had studied and admired. Of the man who had painted war, murder, madness and death.

Never knowing that the skull, once resurrected, would incite more of the same.

Can’t forget what you’ve discovered in Unearthing the Bones?

Read the rest of the story in Memory of Bones, from bestselling author Alex Connor

“Truly superb” Euro Crime

“Connor displays a deep knowledge of the art world … Marvellous” Crime Squad

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Also out in ebook: The Rembrandt Secret, Legacy of Blood and the free title Blood on the Water

And Available from May 2013

A sixteenth-century conspiracy

A modern-day murderer

CITY OF SPLENDOUR

In October 1555 the Italian master Titian painted the portrait of Angelico Vespucci – a Venetian merchant whose cruelty words could not capture.

CITY OF SECRETS

When Vespucci was revealed to be the elusive monster who had been flaying young women across the city, he vanished inexplicably, along with the painting. All that remained was a chilling warning: when the portrait emerges, so will the man.

CITY OF THE SKIN HUNTER

Now the lost Titian masterpiece has surfaced in modern-day London, and skinless corpses are amassing across the globe. And it will fall to an unlikely man from the fringes of the art world to unravel half a millennia of myth, mystery and murder.

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