The Girl You Left Behind

there he is, gazing straight
     at her through the railings of the lift. He is wearing a soft brown jacket and his eyes
     are uncharacteristically wary. He looks exhausted.
    ‘Hey.’
    He steps out of the lift, and waits in the
     hallway. She stands, her arms folded defensively.
    ‘Hello.’
    ‘Can I … come in?’
    She steps back. ‘Do you want a drink?
     I mean … are you stopping?’
    He catches the edge in her voice.
     ‘That would be great, thank you.’
    She walks through the house to the kitchen,
     her back rigid, and he follows. As she makes two mugs of tea, she is conscious of his
     eyes on her. When she hands one to him he is rubbing meditatively at his temple. When he
     catches her eye he seems almost apologetic. ‘Headache.’
    Liv glances up at the little modelling-clay
     figure on the fridge and flushes with guilt. As she passes she deliberately knocks it
     down the back of the fridge.
    Paul places his mug on the table.
     ‘Okay. This is really difficult. I would have come over sooner but I had my son
     and I needed to think what I was going to do. Look, I’m just going to come out and
     explain the whole thing. But I think maybe you should sit down first.’
    She stares at him. ‘Oh, God.
     You’re married.’
    ‘I’m not married. That
     would … almost be simpler. Please, Liv. Just sit.’
    She remains standing. He pulls a letter from
     his jacket and hands it to her.
    ‘What’s this?’
    ‘Just read it. And then I’ll do
     my best to explain.’
    TARP
Suite 6, 115 Grantham Street
London W1
15 October 2006
    Dear Mrs Halston
    We act for an organization called the Trace and Return Partnership, created to
     return works of art to those who suffered losses due to looting or the forced
     sale of personal artefacts during wartime.
    We understand that you are the
     owner of a painting by the French artist Édouard Lefèvre,
     entitled
The Girl You Left Behind.
We have received written
     confirmation from descendants of Mr Lefèvre that this was a work in the
     personal possession ofthe artist’s wife and the
     subject of a forced or coercive sale. The claimants, who are also of French
     nationality, wish to have the work returned to the artist’s family, and
     under the Geneva Convention and the terms of the Hague Convention for the
     Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, we wish to
     inform you that we will be pursuing such a claim on their behalf.
    In many cases such works can be restored to their rightful owners with the
     minimum legal intervention. We therefore invite you to contact us to arrange a
     meeting between yourselves and representatives of the Lefèvre family in
     order that we may commence this process.
    We appreciate that such notice may come as something of a shock. But we would
     remind you that there is a strong legal precedent for the return of works of art
     obtained as the result of wartime transgressions, and I would add that there may
     also be some discretionary funding to compensate for your loss.
    We hope very much that, as with other works of this nature, the satisfaction of
     knowing a work is finally being returned to its rightful owners will grant those
     affected some additional satisfaction.
    Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss this further.
    Paul McCafferty
    Janey Dickinson
    Directors, TARP
    She stares at the name at the bottom of the
     page and the room recedes. She re-reads the words, thinking this must be a joke. No,
     this is another Paul McCafferty, an entirely different Paul McCafferty. There must be
     hundredsof them. It’s a common enough name. And then she
     remembers the peculiar way he had looked at the painting three days earlier, the way he
     had been unable to meet her eye afterwards. She sits down heavily in her chair.
    ‘Is this some kind of a
     joke?’
    ‘I wish it was.’
    ‘What the hell is TARP?’
    ‘We trace missing works of art and
     oversee their restoration to their original owners.’
    ‘We?’ She stares at the letter.
     ‘What … what does this have to do with me?’
    ‘
The Girl You Left Behind
is
     the subject of a restitution request. The painting is by an artist called Édouard
     Lefèvre. His family want it back.’
    ‘But … this is ridiculous.
     I’ve had it for years. Years. The best part of a decade.’
    He reaches into his pocket and pulls out
     another letter, with a photocopied image. ‘This came to the office a couple of
     weeks ago. It was