The Assassin's Portrait

by Nina Wachsman

About the Author: Nina Wachsman's upcoming novel, The Gallery of Beauties, set in seventeenth-century Venice, will be published by Level Best Books in June 2022. She has recently published a short story, Laundry After Midnight, in the anthology of TriState Sisters in Crime, Justice for All: Murder New York Style-5, and has two more short stories in contract for publication in 2022.

Excerpt

“You are most meticulous with the tools of your trade,” the old man said, as I packed away brushes and paints into their worn wooden box.

“I have to be, my success depends upon it,” I said, wiping my paint-stained fingers with a ragged cloth. “Besides, it would not do to have any evidence left at the scene of the crime, now, would it?”

I disliked the old codger, even though he did have good cause to order both the portrait and the death of his son-in-law. I took a last look at the insouciant smirk of the man in the portrait. Only in oils would his charming smile be seen, since by now it had faded into the grimace of death when I had completed his portrait. I wondered whether his long-suffering wife would reminisce over it fondly, recalling earlier days, before her husband revealed his true nature.

The old man stood alongside me and joined me to gaze at the portrait. “It is astonishing how life-like you have made him, though we both know he was never as noble as you have painted him.”

He sighed and placed a folded document into my hands. “Here is the deed conveying ownership of my estate to your uncle. He drives a hard bargain, the blackguard, but my daughter’s happiness is worth it.”

He did not take his eyes off the glistening portrait, its veneer still wet, as he added, “I am tempted to burn it, so she can forget him, but I will not. It will be a legacy to my grandson, and should put to rest any remaining rumors about his father.”

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