Summer in Eclipse Bay

going?"
    "Swell."
    "Rumor at the post office this morning is that you're planning to use Octavia here to help with some in-depth research for your next book," Jeremy said coolly.
    "You've lived in Eclipse Bay long enough to know better than to listen to post office gossip."
    "I sure wouldn't want to think that there was any truth to the rumors I heard today."
    "When you get right down to it, it doesn't much matter if there's any truth to them or not," Nick said. "Either way, it's none of your business."
    Confusion and something that might have been the beginnings of unease appeared in Carson's small face. She knew exactly how he felt, Octavia thought. This uncomfortable little scene had gone far enough.
    "I've got the Upsall in my back room, Jeremy," she said briskly. "Come around behind the counter and I'll show it to you. You know something about art. I'd be interested to get your opinion."
    Neither of the two men looked at her. They watched each other with the air of two lions facing off over a downed zebra.
    I definitely do not look good in stripes
, Octavia thought.
    She cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, if you wish to continue this conversation, you may do so outside. I would like to remind you that there is a minor present. I would suggest you find someplace private where you can make idiots of yourselves without an audience."
    That got their attention. Both men turned toward her. The chill in their eyes would have thawed a frozen pizza in two seconds flat.
    "Can't wait to see the Upsall," Jeremy said tonelessly.
    "This way." She spun around and walked back into the room behind the counter.
    Jeremy followed. Nick came to stand in the opening. He did not enter the room. Carson hovered at his side.
    "What's an Upsall?" Carson asked.
    Octavia unwrapped the painting with a small flourish. "This," she said, "is an Upsall. I think."
    Carson studied the swirling storm of color on the canvas. "Cool. Looks like the painter dropped a big bucket of paint and it splashed all over the place."
    Nick's mouth twitched. "Couldn't have said it better, myself."
    Jeremy said nothing, intent on the canvas. After a few moments of frowning scrutiny, he crouched in front of the painting and examined the brushstrokes in the corner of the canvas.
    "Well?" Octavia asked. "What do you think?"
    "It's certainly his style. Upsall had a way of putting paint on canvas that was very distinctive."
    "Yes. That's how he obtained such incredible depth of color. It could be a copy, of course, but it looks like there's several decades worth of dirt and grime on it."
    "Which means that if it was a copy, it was made years ago."
    "Upsall's work didn't become popular until recently," Octavia said. "There wouldn't have been any incentive for someone to take the time and trouble to forge one of his paintings several decades back."
    "Could be the work of an admirer or a student," Jeremy said, sounding doubtful. "What are the odds that an original Upsall has been sitting in old man Thurgarton's house all these years?"
    "I'm no expert," Nick said from the doorway. "But following your logic, Seaton, what are the chances that Thurgarton would have had an excellent copy of the work of an obscure artist?"
    Jeremy did not look at him. "Like you said, you're no expert."
    "But Nick does have a point," Octavia said firmly. "It would be just as difficult to explain a fine copy as it would an original. All things considered, I'm strongly inclined to stick with my first instincts. I think this is a genuine Upsall. I'm planning to get a second opinion next week, though, just to be sure."
    Jeremy straightened and shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. He continued to regard the painting for another long moment. Then he nodded once, abruptly.
    "I think you're right," he said. "It's an Upsall. Which means that Arizona Snow, Virgil Nash, and the Heralds are all about to get a very nice windfall."
    "Looks like it." Octavia rewrapped the painting.
    "Who'd have believed it?" Jeremy shook his head. "A genuine Upsall hidden away in Eclipse Bay."
    Nick smiled with icy amusement. "Who says Eclipse Bay isn't the center of the art world?"

Chapter 8
    Another summer storm was headed toward Eclipse Bay. Not a yippy little terrier of a storm like the one that had scampered through town last night and left everything damp. This one promised to be a real monster. It prowled and paced, sucking up energy from the sea while it waited for the cover of darkness.
    Octavia stopped at