This is an event.”

Two bidders remained after $35 million. One represented a private museum in Chicago. The other was a tech investor bidding by telephone from Seattle. The price climbed in increments of a million dollars.

Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-four. Forty-six. The room had gone so quiet that Evelyn could hear Celeste’s assistant breathing beside her.

The telephone bidder raised his offer to $47 million. The Chicago representative answered with $48 million.

The auctioneer waited. No one moved. The hammer fell.

“Sold for forty-eight million dollars.”