The Prague Basement

Day 1

Diego: October 12th. Prague.

Diego: I arrived this morning on a flight from Madrid. Gray sky, yellow leaves on the ground. The city smells like river water and old stone.

Diego: The job is simple: catalog a private painting collection. About 130 pieces. Three weeks' work, maybe four.

Diego: The client is a guy named Karel Vasek. He contacted me through the gallery where I work in Madrid. Offered double my usual rate.

Diego: The collection is in the basement of his residence in Mala Strana. Old neighborhood, cobblestone streets, baroque facades.

Diego: I'm staying at a hotel a ten-minute walk away. Small room, but clean. View of an interior courtyard.

Diego: I start tomorrow. I'm excited. Not every day you get paid to see art no one else has seen.

Day 2

Diego: October 13th. First visit to the basement.

Diego: Vasek greeted me at the door of his house. Tall, thin man, dark hair combed back. Around sixty, maybe less. Hard to tell.

Diego: He has a soft Czech accent, but speaks Spanish almost perfectly. Says he lived in Seville for a few years.

Diego: He led me down a narrow hallway to an oak door with a wrought iron lock. The key was huge, antique.

Diego: "My family has been collecting for centuries," he said as we went down.

Diego: The stone staircase descends about twenty feet. Constant humidity. Smell of linseed oil and something else... organic.

Diego: And then I saw the basement.

...

Diego: It's enormous. Much bigger than the house above suggests. Brick vaults, Gothic arches. It looks like an underground cloister.

Diego: The walls are covered in paintings. Dozens. Hundreds. Gold frames, black frames, some without frames.

Diego: Portraits, mostly. Faces that stare at you from different centuries. Ruff collars from the 1500s, hats from the 1700s, high collars from the 1800s.

Diego: The lighting is odd. Old lamps with modern bulbs. The light is warm but insufficient. Many corners are in shadow.

Diego: "You have complete freedom," Vasek said. "I only ask that you not remove any pieces from the basement."

Diego: I asked about insurance, certificates of authenticity, the history of the pieces.

Diego: He smiled. "Everything is in the paintings, Mr. Marin. You just have to know how to look."

Diego: He left me alone. I heard his footsteps go up the stairs and the door close.