‘But aren’t you coming home?’

‘Yes,’ he said hastily. ‘Of course I am. I’ll be back this afternoon. I’ll catch the Eurostar.’

‘I miss you when you’re away.’

‘I miss you too.’

‘I love you,’ she said achingly. ‘D’you love me?’

Preoccupied, Philip reached into his pocket and pulled out Sabine Monette’s mobile; staring at it. But he wasn’t thinking about the Frenchwoman or his wife – he was thinking about his mistress, Kim Fields. Mistress, hoping to be wife. In time. When he could work up enough courage to tell Gayle she’d been ousted.

‘Do you love me?’ she repeated.

‘Of course, darling,’ he replied. ‘As much as I’ve ever done.’

Putting down the phone, Philip continued to think of Kim. He needed more money. Much more. Because Gayle’s lawyer would screw him in a divorce. And Kim wasn’t the kind of woman to stay around if he were poor … Philip frowned. He didn’t like confrontation. His speciality was guile. He could slide in and out of situations, wheedle his way around. Sleight of mind and sleight of heart.

Flicking on Sabine Monette’s stolen mobile, Philip grimaced as he noticed a blood speck and rubbed it on the coverlet of the hotel bed. Running down the list of her contacts, he paused as he read Nicholas Laverne’s mobile number, followed by those of Gerrit der Keyser and Hiram Kaminski. So did the kindly Mr Kaminski know about the Bosch chain too? If so, he would definitely want it. An expert on the late Middle Ages, Kaminski was venerated for his knowledge and liked for his honesty. It wouldn’t be Kaminski’s way to play hardball. Not like Gerrit der Keyser.

Three of them already in the running. And how long before the infamous Conrad Voygel joined the race?

Philip continued to look through Sabine’s contacts. He felt sick about her death. Not because he had been particularly fond of her, but because her murder looked bad for him. If he had had any doubts about the motive, the initials H B slashed into her skin would have removed them. This was about the chain. And something else. What the chain had held. Wasn’t that what Nicholas Laverne had said? Before he’d been spooked and left …

Philip sat on the edge of his hotel bed, thinking back. Nicholas had been ready to confide until Carel Honthorst walked in. Obviously Nicholas hadn’t believed Philip’s pretence at ignorance. He had seen Honthorst at the auction house and it had thrown a scare into him. Quickly, Philip glanced over at the hotel door, checking it was locked. His recollection of the Dutchman had been brief, but he knew enough about him to be worried. Gerrit der Keyser might pretend that Honthorst had only threatened Sabine Monette, but now she was dead.

Slowly Philip ran through the messages on Sabine Monette’s phone. One was from her maid, another from her hairdresser, and a third from Nicholas Laverne.

Hello, Sabine.

I’m pleased you’re at the George V. Keep yourself safe. Don’t talk to anyone and I’ll be with you soon. Meanwhile, here are some photographs to look at. These are photos of the 28 papers I found. And their explanation. They are authentic. I’ve had three specialists working on then. When you receive these, buy a new mobile phone and download them on to that. Then delete them off this mobile and dump it. This is important. We are on to something which will discredit the Catholic Church and the art world. But you must be careful, Sabine, and discreet. Do not let down your guard.

With affection,

Nicholas

Papers, photographs, explanations. Something that would discredit the Catholic Church and the art world. What a messy can of worms … Philip’s hands were shaking as he opened the attachments, images of pieces of paper covered in Gothic handwriting. Scribbled, scrawled in faint script, some letters and words missing, the paper foxed, spotted with damp. But legible. Not to him – but they would be decipherable to the specialists Nicholas Laverne had employed.

He scrolled down the entries, pausing when he came to the translations reproduced underneath the originals.

Paper 1

Hieronymus Bosch, of ’s-hertogen, endured much suffering, like Our Lord.

Philip stared at the words. Were these words really about Hieronymus Bosch? Why the suffering? What suffering?

Paper 2

The Brotherhood of Our Lady. Bought and bribed.

Paper 3

Hidden away. Worked from dawn until t … (letters missing) light fades. His father puts the swan to death.

His father puts the swan to death … What did that mean? Philip wondered. He realised that the translations were contemporary to the time, the late Middle Ages, and would be accurate to the originals, but they were hard to decipher.

He read on.

Paper 4

Paid for Hell … (missing word) living there. Demons and chimeras for sole company.

Paper 5

The Brotherhood h … (missing letters) commissioned an Altarpiece. They ask to terrorise the congregation.

Paper 6

Hieronymus sickens with fever. From Holland comes the … (missing word) of plague. Father has taken to locking the door.

Philip paused, shocked by what he was reading. The plague had swept across Europe and killed many, but what did the words mean – Father has taken to locking the door? Did they refer to plague victims? Or one victim in particular, Bosch himself?

Paper 7

Jan van Aken, died this day October 11th 14—Prayers said for his soul, that He might enter Heaven. What justice …? (missing words)

Paper 8

Hieronymus told me of his dreams; of frightful ogres, men w … (missing letters) fishes heads and naked lovers burning.

So Bosch dreamed his monsters, Philip thought. They came to him at night … He could imagine how the art world would salivate over the news – a precious insight into the macabre world of Hieronymus Bosch.

Paper 9

From his window he regards St John’s. A spire …… (missing word) to prick the Devil.

Paper 10

His brother, Goossen, sits outside his door at night. No one comes, or calls Hieronymus.

Paper 11

The Zoete Lieve Vrouw, in St John’s church. The Virgin who works miracles. Pray for our Child, our lost boy.

Our lost boy … Was Hieronymus a victim of plague? Had he faced death? Philip paused. The artist was in his sixties when he died, so he must have recovered. Well done, The Zoete Lieve Vrouw, Philip thought wryly, thinking of how the statue was supposed to work miracles.

Paper 12

God’s men are liars. The clergy barters worse than do the cloth merchants.

Paper 13

Antonius seeks more favour from the Brotherhood. Money fattens him … (missing words) … silence.

Philip paused. He felt a tremor go through him – a mixing of excitement and fear.

Paper 14

They work him like there is so little time. When he sleeps, ’tis fitful, dreaming of the dead.

Paper 15

Both of them deserve … (two missing words?) … favour meant for another.

Again Philip paused, glancing up at the hotel door. Footsteps passed, then silence. He turned back to the image on the phone.

Paper 16

Days pass, crouched like a spider, locked … summer and winter bring no release.