Chapter 30 Elin

30

Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

Passing Isaac's phone back across the desk, Luísa, the gallery owner, breaks into a broad smile. ‘Yes, Kier visited us often. It doesn't happen a lot. Most people come for a memento and that's it.' Her hand finds the stack of patterned tiles by the till. ‘Tourists think these are Portugal. They don't see this.' She turns to the landscape on the wall. ‘But Kier did. She understood it.'

Elin studies the painting, the muddy colours pulled into sharp relief by the white of the walls.

It's striking, as if someone's scraped her messy jumble of feelings about the scale and wilderness of the park and made it into something tangible. ‘It's beautiful, but dark.'

Luísa nods. ‘I think that sometimes, artists inspired by a wilderness like this don't just see the landscape, but themselves, reflected in it.' She looks back to Isaac, her expression worried. ‘And you're sure Kier went missing here?'

‘It's not certain,' he replies. ‘Police believe she's moved on, but her brother isn't convinced. Do you have an idea of where she may have gone while she was here?'

‘She asked if there were places off the beaten track where she could walk and swim. I pointed her to a few.' Luísa hesitates. ‘She must have found what she was looking for, because some of them are featured here, on her map.'

‘ Map? ' Elin glances at Isaac.

Reaching under the desk, Luísa rummages for a moment before withdrawing a canvas. ‘She made this map of the park. She left it here, but she never came back for it. If what your friend says is true, now I know why. I'd have liked to display it, but it didn't feel right without her permission, so I've kept it here.' Smiling sadly, she slides it across the table towards them. ‘A shame, because something like this, people should see it, no?'

The hairs on Elin's arms stand on end as she stares, transfixed, at the canvas.

Kier did make a map of the park.

The first map that never made it back to her brother.