Goosebumps

The phone began to ring at the office of Louis Trotter and was answered with a click. Handling the phone in one hand, and paintbrush in the other, he said, “Hello? Yes this is Louis…Of course, I’ll be right there.” Then after a couple quick brush strokes onto a notepad, Louis grabbed his belongings and made his way out of his building to his car. The Legacy Auction house was a new destination for him. Louis was an appraiser and authenticator of fine art. He had been to auction houses before to authenticate a piece before the auction was held, but this was the first time he was invited to the Legacy. “It seems that I’ve really come up in the world,” he muttered to himself before pulling up to the building.

A gentleman came out of the door to greet him with a firm handshake and a smile. “Louis, I presume? We are so glad you could take the time to stop by,” said a shorter man in a tailored suit and slicked back hair. Red. Another liar, Louis thought. He smiled and replied, “Of course. Anything for the Legacy.” “Oh, my apologies. I am Victor, the director here,” said the man, “I would hate to rush you but we are short on time. Our guests will be arriving shortly and I was told that you have an abnormal ability to authenticate works with a mere glance.” Louis raised his eyebrow and asked, “you were told? Well if we are in a rush, then let’s proceed. I will shelf my questions for now.”

Victor led him into the building, passed security and into the storage room of the auction house. “You see, we have ten pieces that just came in and need authenticated. We have never dealt with the seller before so we are certainly a bit weary of the pieces,” Victor began as they walked towards the first piece. “They say that this is a Monet.” Louis looked at it for a second and then said, “A Monet? Well I can assure you that it’s not a Monet. At least it wasn’t painted by Monet.” “What do you mean by that?” “This is a forgery. A new kind of forgery as well. I’m actually not 100% sure about this, but I believe this is some sort of printing.” “How are you so sure that it isn’t a Monet? We actually had this one checked since it was brought in earlier and another expert said that the brush strokes all match a Monet”

Louis paused and then turned to Victor saying, “Your expert was probably right about that. The brush strokes may very well be correct, but I assure you that this is not made by human hand.” Victor, clearly puzzled, asked, “How are you so sure just by the glance that you gave that this is forged?” “I know because it doesn’t sound like Monet.” “Excuse me? Sound like Monet?” Louis Trotter took a step towards the man and held eye contact with him before saying, “I am very curious about who you got my information from since it seems like you don’t even know anything about me.” “Ah, well you see, that is uhh..” “Confidential? Yes, of course it is. Alfred always is confidential.”

Victor took a step back, stumbling over his own feet. Louis chuckled and then spoke through his grin, “It is always shocking to people the first time I suppose. You see, I have a very rare form of chromesthesia, or sound-to-color synesthesia. I hear colors. When a person speaks, there is a color associated with the sound. I have begun to recognize patterns in these colors. When someone lies, is being prideful, is hiding information. My mind is like an empty canvas, and words are like paint being thrown at it. While most with this condition fall into music, I found that my case is quite a bit more unique. When I was younger, it was noticed that I was thinking in colors as well. Not only that, but art galleries were loud to me. I could literally hear the art.”

“Hear the art? You mean more than just when someone says that a piece may speak to them?” Louis nodded and continued, “Yes, that is correct. The strokes and the colors have a voice to me. I have even begun to take notes as small paintings. Now with this painting, it sounds mechanical. Monet sounds like the outdoors. There is a childlike melody that comes from his art. This painting may look like it is real to others, but I can assure you that this is not done by hand at all.”

They then started to go through the rest and after the fifth fake, Victor excused himself to go speak with the authorities. They needed to be notified about the forgeries and open a case to investigate the seller and where these forgeries were being made. Louis then went through the rest of them by himself until he reached the last one. A van Gogh. He smiled and then closed his eyes. Victor came back to find him still standing there. “And? What does this one sound like?” Louis turned and smiled, “Oddly enough, this one is real. A van Gogh. The voices and sounds that come from their work always give me goosebumps.”