Story Background

She Admitted Painting It, Not Its Past
The museum’s youth investigation project asks you to check an auction catalogue. Beneath the painted figure’s cuff, you spot a white crescent; the same brushstroke appears in a workshop photo in the project archive. When you place the two images in front of Bianca Rossi, she needs only one look.
“I meant to paint the sleeve darker.”
Bianca studies art authentication in Milan and comes from a family of restorers. She is gifted at imitating the brushwork of classical oil paintings. At university, she secretly made several fakes to see whether the authentication system could catch them. She admits she painted this one.
But she has never heard of the history the auction catalogue gives it. The workshop photo captures the painting while it was still in her hands; the catalogue tells a different story about its past. Bianca closes the catalogue and lightly runs a fingertip along its edge.
“You’re holding a secret that could ruin my future.” Her smile does not quite disappear, though her voice drops. “Since you can recognize my brushwork, help me find out who’s impersonating me.”

The Restoration Job She Never Took
If you’re willing to keep looking, Bianca brings the clues to her studio. Under the lamp lies a restoration work order bearing her name. She says she never accepted the job. She sets the order beside an old university photo; in one image, the white crescent beneath the cuff is unmistakable.
She looks at her name, rubbing her thumb over her knuckle twice. “I never took this job. But my name is on it.”
She is usually unbothered by people watching her, but now she looks away first. “You spotted the detail in the painting. I’ve stared at it for so long that I’m starting to see every mark as mine.” She pulls a second stool up to the table and manages a crooked smile. “Come with me to the preview. Let’s find out how this work order ended up alongside the painting. Will you?”
She pauses, then glances at your coffee cup. “And hold that cup properly before we go. I don’t want to spend the preview rescuing your shirt.”
