The Van Gogh Deception

The chapter begins with Kim Yoon, the executive assistant to the National Gallery’s director. The narrative provides a brief history of both the National Gallery’s foundation by Andrew Mellon and the board of trustees’ members of private citizens and high government officials. Yoon organizes a meeting for the board of trustees and is nervous that one of its most stringent members, the fictional US Secretary of State Damon Sacks, may not appear. To Yoon’s relief, Sacks arrives precisely at 4 o’clock in the evening, as scheduled.

At the same time, Art strolls through the museum with the Sullivans and takes his time to reach the room where he was discovered. He recognizes the statue of Mercury in the rotunda and notices the dark clouds through the skylight. The surroundings feel familiar, but he is still unable to recall his memories. Nervous and unsure that visiting the museum is a good idea, he tells Mary he doesn’t recognize anything.

The director of the museum, Elizabeth Downing, heads the board meeting to discuss the recent acquisition of van Gogh’s painting The Park at Arles with the Entrance Seen Through the Trees. The museum board takes several measures to ensure that the painting is not a work stolen by the Nazis and an authentic van Gogh. Their final step before wiring $183 million to a Swiss bank account is to await the authentication summary from the hired art expert, Dr. Hamilton. Downing introduces the director of acquisitions, Dr. Roger Belette, the man responsible for leading the purchase of the van Gogh and who secretly met with Palmer in Chapter 7. Belette assures the board members that Dr. Hamilton’s report will authenticate the painting and hides the fact that he has written the report himself.

Back at the National Gallery of Art, Art continues to recognize all the works that surround him but lies to Mary and tells her that nothing is familiar. The chapter includes two QR codes, one for Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait (1659) and the other for Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat (circa 1669). Meanwhile, Palmer arrives at the museum with him team strategically positioned to follow the boy’s movements. He hacks into the museum’s security cameras and uses a face-recognition program to scan the visitors. Palmer believes the boy’s escape from them two days before was a fluke and is confident they will easily apprehend him.

Art quickly heads to Gallery 83 as his surroundings become increasingly more familiar. Once in the room, both Mary and Art surmise he was in fact looking at the van Gogh paintings and not the Degas sculpture when he was found in the gallery. Two QR codes link to Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait (1889) and Paul Gaugin’s Self-Portrait (1889). Art notices the way van Gogh’s portrait stares back intently at the viewer whereas Gaugin’s gaze looks beyond. Mary and Camille realize the boy is beginning to recall his memories and patiently give him space.

Palmer’s surveillance system tracks the boy to Gallery 83, and he instructs one of his associates, Regina Cash, to follow the boy. Palmer has an uneasy feeling the boy’s location in the room of van Gogh paintings may be more than a coincidence.

Art stares at the works in the gallery in silence, and Mary offers to take the children to the museum café. Regina Cash follows the three visitors and communicates with Palmer and another team associate, Eric McClain, through an earpiece. They plan to separate the boy from the Sullivans and have their “roper” capture him (103). When Mary and the children reach the café, they choose a table 10 feet away from the one Palmer occupies.

Art is disappointed that despite all the detailed memories he has of the artwork in the museum, none of the paintings have helped him recall personal information about himself. He fears he was and always will be a “blank slate” (105). Mary encourages him to be patient and tells him his memories will return in time. When Mary excuses herself to stop by the restroom, Art notices an old woman give her husband a black piece of plastic like the one in his pocket. Art immediately leaves the table to follow the old man. Camille debates staying at the table for her mother’s return but fears she’ll lose sight of Art. She remembers her promise to watch over him and chases after him. Palmer is caught off guard by their movements and notifies one of his associates to follow them.

Art follows the old man and learns that the plastic chip in his pocket is for an item left in the museum’s checkroom. As he waits at the counter for the clerk to retrieve his item, Mary returns to the café and begins to panic when she sees the empty table. A security guard helps her look for the children and unsuccessfully tries to assure her everything will be fine.

Art recovers a backpack that has his name, Art H., written on its tag. He is certain the bag belongs to him but can’t remember his last name. Meanwhile, Regina Cash misdirects Mary and the security guard by pretending to be a visitor who saw the kids in the gift shop.

In his backpack, Art finds a key, a plastic card, a crumpled coffeeshop receipt, and $400 in cash. None of the items readily make sense to him, but he feels he is making progress toward finding his identity and compares the sensation to a dam on the verge of breaking. Art also discovers a French journal hidden in the bag’s lining. Surprised he can read French, Art learns the book is an inventory of artwork with a bookmarked entry on the painter Alfred Guillou and two drawings. The first sketch shows a young girl and is labelled “recto” for the front side of the painting. The second drawing, labelled “verso” for the reverse side, depicts a water stain on the canvas in the shape of a spider.

As Art repacks his bag, one of Palmer’s men, Winston Lantham, approaches the children and pretends to be Detective Wasberger. As the “roper,” his job is to manipulate the children into trusting him. He tells them they have found Art’s parents and that Mary is waiting outside to take them to the police station. Camille and Art follow the man to his black SUV outside, but they sense something is wrong when they see a second man in the car but no signs of Mary. Art berates himself for being so trusting, and before the children can run away, Lantham threatens them with a stun gun and forces them into the vehicle.

Mary continues to search for the children at the museum while Palmer uses his iPad to wipe the museum’s security cameras. The kidnappers warn Camille and Art that the car is a security vehicle and that they have no chance of escape. Camille screams and demands to know what the men want, and Lantham, in the passenger seat, activates his stun gun and threatens her to remain silent.

Detective Evans arrives at the museum after Mary calls her to report the children’s disappearance. The guard explains the museum’s missing security footage as a technical glitch, and Detective Evans puzzles over how the boy could disappear from the museum as mysteriously as he had appeared. Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to escape the kidnappers’ vehicle, Art grabs a can of Coke from his backpack and begins to shake it. At his signal, he tells Camille to scream.

Camille’s scream distracts the driver, Bazanov, and Art sprays Lantham and his active stun gun with the cola. The electric shock incapacitates Lantham and Bazanov, and both men slump in their seats as the car careens off the road and crashes into a building. One of Palmer’s men, Eric McClain, arms himself with three small tranquilizer darts and drives toward the accident to capture the boy. The children, secured by their seatbelts, manage to escape the smoking car when Camille releases the door lock by the driver’s seat. As the driver comes to his senses and grabs her, Camille bites down on his armpit and runs out of the car with Art. 

Art and Camille escape into the downtown streets of Washington, DC. Despite the danger, Camille manages to make Art smile when she laughs about his can of cola stunt. Art’s mood lightens, and he jokes with her about how the man’s armpit tasted. Distrustful of the police after Lantham’s impersonation, Art admits he doesn’t trust anyone except for Camille and her mother. He suspects their pursuers have been watching them and warns Camille not to call home in case their phones are tapped. Meanwhile, Eric McClain reports to Palmer that the children fled the accident scene before his arrival. Palmer sends out a search party and monitors Mary’s and the police’s phonelines.