Charging nothing would at least draw everyone in.
As for whether the appraisals identified genuine articles or fakes, Mercury had some ability to judge that himself.
Besides, this was a chance to build a good relationship with Richard.
Once word spread, the first person to come was an elderly woman from Camogli.
Camogli was a fishing village east of Genoa, where the men of every household went to sea.
The elderly woman brought three painted wooden panels left behind by her brother's family.
Each panel depicted a ship listing in a storm, with waves higher than its mast.
The Virgin Mary sat among the clouds in the upper right corner, and four letters were carved below: v.f...
Richard translated the letters. "A vow made, a grace received."
In the old days, sailors in peril at sea would make vows to the Virgin Mary.
If they came home alive, they would paint panels like these and hang them in a sanctuary up in the mountains. These three had never been hung up; they had lain in the old woman's house for forty years.
Richard laid his hand on a panel, saying he wanted to examine the pigments closely.
[Available points: 4.46...4.59...4.71.]
Each panel held the most heartfelt gratitude sealed within it.
The sailors had thought they would die beneath the waves, but they had survived.
Their fear, together with gratitude that had lingered for decades, had all been sealed into the wood.
He nodded to Mercury. "They're genuine, and quite well painted. Well preserved, too."
Mercury obliged him, offering a price far higher than the dealers in the rear hall would have paid.
The elderly woman looked down at the three panels and offered only two, keeping the last one clasped to her chest.
"The man who came home