At the auction, the atmosphere was thick. The bidding started at a modest five thousand euros. Then, a man in the back row, his face obscured by a low-brimmed hat, raised the price to fifty thousand. The room gasped.
Marko smiled, despite the danger. "You always were impatient, Viktor. But the map isn't on the canvas. It's in the pigment." The mystery had only just begun. Najbolja Ponuda(Krimi-Misterija)/The Best Offer...
Marko didn't run for the exit. He ran to the Restorer's Lab. He knew something no one else did: the painting on the block was a decoy he had prepared himself. The real Veiled Truth was already in his possession, hidden behind a false wall in his studio. At the auction, the atmosphere was thick
But as the woman stepped forward to claim her prize, the lights flickered and died. A muffled struggle echoed through the hall. When the emergency generators kicked in moments later, the lady in red lay unconscious, and the painting was gone. The room gasped
The gavel came down. "Sold! To the lady in red for the best offer of five hundred thousand euros."
