The Conceiting Portrait (Part 3)

Jo stared at the lifeless body that lay before her. She bent down and gently pressed her lips on Clara's forehead. They had parted away forever. She watched the workers of the church slowly close her coffin and bury her deep in the earth. I will solve this mystery Clara. That's my promise. She vowed silently. "I forbade you to go in there." Max's voice growled from behind. "It's not my fault she followed me in there." Jo said. "It's not huh? If you had just listened to me, none of this would have happened." Max raised his voice. "Max please, this is a church. Not a place for our arguments" Jo pleaded trying to control her tears. Max violently grabbed Jo's hand and dragged her out of the church. "Let go of me!" Jo slipped her wrist from his grip. "You never cared for Clara anyway. Then why are you mourning at her loss?" Jo questioned him. "Clara meant no one to me. That's true. But that doesn't mean that I wished that she left for a heavenly abode, okay?" Max yelled at her. "Not okay Max. If you had just let me go again once more, I would have never snuck into the museum. This is all your fault." Jo yelled back. "You know what? You are nothing like my sister. You're a daredevil accusing me of something that …" "Yeah yeah, I never considered you as my brother right from the start!" Jo interrupted Max as her eyes welled up with tears. "Fine!" Max said and walked away from Jo. Jo wiped off her tears and walked down the lonely street. She walked towards the garden and sat on the bench next to the philodendrons. She gazed at the vibrant colors of the red philodendrons. Then she gazed at the sunset which gave her warmth and courage to fight the present. She closed her eyes and went back in time when she met Clara in the parking lot. Then she jumped from time to time. Her meeting with Clara in the parking lot, her entering the mystical room, hearing Clara collapse, waiting in the hospital and Clara's burial which was followed by a heated argument with Max. Jo sighed. There has to be something that I am missing. What is it? Jo thought through all the moments again. The video! Jo fished out her phone from her bag and scrolled down the gallery. Gotcha! She played the video in hope of a clue. What? That's not possible. Her perplexed face just stared at the video that played itself in a loop.

Mr. Blake walked in to the museum for a fresh start but the memories of the past constantly reminded him of Jo. He'd hoped he would get a half day that day so that he could help Jo recover from the tragic event she had undergone but there was no hope. There were a lot of students at the museum and quite a lot of paperwork left on his desk. As he continued to work, the executive entered holding a cup of coffee. The guide stood up to greet but was asked to sit down without any requirement of greetings. He did as he was asked to do. "Blake, you're my old champ. And I know how you react in every situation, especially when there is a lot of paperwork on your desk. I still remember how you would shout at the staffs if you never found your files in its right place." The executive chuckled. "Get to the point Lance. I'm in no mood to crack up jokes." Blake said. "That is exactly why I'm here; because you're not yourself today. What's the matter senõr?" Lance asked patting his back. "You remember Jo?" "You mean the hacker or hackeress; if that's a valid word." "Yes, that's the one" Blake approved. "What about her?"

"Well, her friend and I snuck into the restricted area and we encountered 'The Blue' portrait because of which her friend departed."

"Departed for? London? Chicago? Mexico? Spain?"

"By departed, I meant, left the world forever."

"Huh? By the way, which portrait did you say?"

"The Blue"

Lance choked and gulped the coffee down his throat. He gave a hard stare at Blake and uttered just three words. "Come with me."

Lance took Blake in an old room with dusty files. He searched through the files and documents and placed a medium-sized filed labelled 'The Blue Murder Mystery' on the desk. Blake picked it up and read it from top to bottom. His eyes widened and he looked back at Lance. Lance wished him luck and left the room. Blake quickly called Jo and asked her to meet at the Central Park. He took the rest of the day off and rode his bike at full speed to the park. He parked his bike and ran inside searching for Jo. She was nowhere to be seen. He called her on her cell. Her number was not reachable. He waited for a long time, still holding the file in his hand. Finally, Jo turned up and patted him on his back. She huffed and bent down to catch her breathe. "What took you so long?" Blake asked angry. "I… I… I saw her… again…" she said breathing heavily. "I thought saw. I have something that will give us all our answers." He said as he held out the file. She took the file and read the title. "The Blue Murder Mystery?" "Yes. The portrait is named 'The Blue'." The guide answered. "Where is Max? I thought he'd come too." He asked. "We had a fight; not on speaking terms anymore." Jo replied sadly. "About the portrait, I have something you need to see." Jo said as she took out her phone. "You couldn't record it on your phone." Blake surprised Jo. "Y-Yes… How did you…" Jo asked with her eyes widened. "I know, the portrait is an illusion. It is something we think we see but we see something that's not seen and so nothing actually even exists there to actually perceive." He explained "What?" Jo looked perplexed. "I'll explain." He walked towards an empty bench and opened up the file. Jo sat beside him and looked at the photos he passed her. "Who are these people?" she asked. "These people died the same way Clara did looking at 'The Blue'." He replied. "But there have been two similarities in the deaths of all these people." He added. "What's that?" "First is that all of them have died due to excess loss of body fluid. And secondly, every person has had the same hallucination you currently are encountering." He spoke. "This means that I'm not the only one. What about the people who died? Like, did they have a family?" "Twelve people died in total. All orphans." Blake hesitated. "Even Clara was an orphan and so am…I" she looked up and stared at the vivid blue sky. "This mystery is very puzzling." She remarked and closed her eyes. Blake, in the meanwhile, skimmed through the files. He read them over and over again and shook Jo really hard to get her attention. "What is it?" she asked a bit frustrated. "Don't you see this? All the people lived in the same hostel you are living in." She looked at him. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Blake asked. Jo nodded her head. They quickly filed the papers back in the folder and rode to Jo's hostel, disappearing in the red, warm sunset.