The Killer Queen by Noella Briony

Chapter 84

The moment she dropped that bomb, the whole gallery fell weirdly silent.

This painting was the crown jewel of the gallery. Tons of folks came here just to eyeball this masterpiece, turning the place into a hotspot for Instagram selfies and all that jazz. It even got its 15 minutes of fame on a bunch of TV interviews.

No way this piece was a fake!

Harper couldn’t help but smirk sarcastically. “Listen up, Miss, this work of art’s been vetted by TV crews and whatnot it’s the real thing, so don’t play expert if you ain’t one, okay? No wild guessing.”

–

Travis was getting antsy too. “How could this be a fake, Miss? Loads of art buffs have given it the thumbs up – it’s legit!”

Noella just shook her head cool as a cucumber, her eyes fixed on the play of light and shadow in ‘Spring Night‘.

The genuine ‘Spring Night‘ had a few roses added in the top left corner – just a little magic touch she threw in while Master Killian was painting.

Those roses took the whole thing up a notch. Killian loved it so much he hung it in his bedroom. At its first showing, the roses weren’t there, so any copycat wouldn’t even know about them.

This painting in front of her, although a pretty good knockoff, was definitely a dud.

Too many details were dealt with heavy–handed strokes, which didn’t make it the same league work as the original ‘Spring Night‘.

Noella pointed at a corner of ‘Spring Night‘ to everyone and claimed. “The original by Master Killian didn’t start its strokes in this sequence.”

Harper scoffed, “Come on, princess, Killian’s brushwork is one of a kind. Who could possibly fake that?”

Noella turned to Travis, “Bring me some paper and paint.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, right on it,” he said, quickly grabbing the best paints and brushes from the gallery’s stash and setting up an easel for Noella.

Noella grabbed a brush and started mixing colors like a pro, whipping up ‘Spring Night’s palette in no time!

and those were the most impossible things to replicate. Most wannabe forgers couldn’t even get the colors right and bailed

fly and sketching

Chapter 84

in a blink!

does it. This ‘Spring Night‘ is all wrong

said.

Everyone was gobsmacked!

the spot was even more vivid than the one on display. The water

paint doesn’t mean this one’s a phony. We dropped a

him. “You painted this, didn’t you? And

sweating

figure it

must be bluffing!

busted, he’d be behind bars!

like that. How could I have painted this?” he said with a shaky voice.

turning the camera to the ‘Spring Night‘ in question before the old man even said hello.

real painting still hanging in my bedroom?” the old man was confused. Seeing Master Killian, Travis didn’t care if the guy

Killian, are you sure this

and showed the real ‘Spring Night‘ in his bedroom, “See? It’s got the roses my hopeless student

Killian’s live testimony, everyone in the gallery hit the floor like sacks of

plotting his escape, “Travis, you gonna nab him or wait to get

snapped to it and immediately rushed up to nab Harper.

little weasel. That’s three hundred million! Enjoy your life in

sudden. He was panicked and scared out of his wits, “I did it for the gallery! How is my painting any worse than Killian’s? You wouldn’t showcase my stuff, and instead,

12-23

Chapter 84

tough, huh? You’ve done

he was toast.

quick and