-part 1- | Kristy Gabres

Beneath that, an address. A warehouse in the industrial district. And a time: midnight tomorrow.

"Exposed and then un-exposed," Kristy said. "What do you want?"

"They don't want the painting. They want what's painted underneath. The real treasure is the lie. - M.T." Kristy Gabres -Part 1-

"Because the last person who looked for it is dead," Voss replied. "His name was Marco Tannhauser. He was my best researcher. Three days ago, he was found in the Willamette River with his tongue cut out and a king's crown drawn on his forehead in permanent marker."

The rain over Portland wasn't the kind that cleansed. It was the kind that seeped—into coat seams, into old brick, into the cracks of a person's resolve. Kristy Gabres watched it streak down her apartment window, turning the city lights into bleeding gold smears. Inside, her living room was a museum of what she used to be: a framed press pass from the Oregon Herald , a dusty trophy for Investigative Journalism, and a single photograph of her late father, Frank Gabres, a beat cop who'd taught her that the truth was worth a bloody nose. Beneath that, an address

Part 1 ends as Kristy steps into the night, not knowing that the blind king's supper is already being served—and she's the guest of honor.

"Gabres," she answered, her voice flat as week-old soda. "Exposed and then un-exposed," Kristy said

She almost ignored it. Almost.