Harlequin's Shadow begins 4 days after the completion of events in Dark Rabbit. It's mid-August. In a few weeks, classes will resume at Columbia University. This is Neal's second year in the graduate program where he's studying art history and visual arts. Luckily he doesn't have to crack open his books just yet because White Collar is about to embark on the most elaborate con it's ever devised. The double-pronged objective is to ensnare fugitive hedge fund manager Vincent Adler and the criminal organization Ydrus. The team's dubbed it the U-boat con.
Warning for spoilers to earlier stories
Adler has long believed that a U-boat filled with Nazi-looted art lies waiting to be discovered on the ocean floor somewhere off the Atlantic Seaboard. Jones, Henry, and Mozzie decided to invent the story that Neal coaxed his cousin Henry into helping him recover the looted paintings. Adler believes that a painting by Braque, Violin and Candlestick, contains a hidden message that will lead him to the U-boat. Henry suggested that as part of the con Neal should make a forgery of the Braque in order to trick Adler into believing he'd stolen the original. Only Henry, Mozzie, and Peter know that Neal actually did steal the painting. In the con as outlined in Nocturne in Black and Gold, Neal and Henry will make Adler believe they found a clue in the painting to trace the U-boat's location. Neal has painted a forgery of the Braque and intends to sell it to Adler to provide funds for the con.
Adler is not the only one who's heard the rumor of a U-boat treasure house. His father Wilhelm had a childhood friend named Franz Huber. Huber's son Karl now works for Ydrus. Neal broke into Huber's house on Long Island last February (The Mirror) and examined the contents of his safe. He found a partial shipping manifest that lists several paintings currently listed as missing since World War II as well as a sheet of fractal equations. Henry was able to uncover the connection between Franz Huber and Wilhelm Adler in June (Echoes of a Violin). The team speculates that Franz Huber found out about the U-boat. Since Wilhelm worked at a U-boat construction yard, Franz likely consulted with his buddy about the possible significance of the fractal equations. At that time fractals were being used experimentally in antennas. Had one been used on the U-boat to broadcast its location?
Although the elder Huber and Adler were friends, there is no evidence to suggest that the sons know about each other. Vincent Adler is being aided by Neal's former girlfriend Kate Moreau, the ex-FBI agent Garrett Fowler, and FBI Agent Joseph Ruiz. Huber is believed to be in league with Ydrus to recover the art. Also working for Ydrus are the master art thief Klaus Mansfeld and his cybergenius brother Rolf. The White Collar team believes that if they can snare Huber, they'll be able to eventually catch those elusive criminals as well. More about the background to the operation is in my post: The U-boat Con. The team also knows that an Ydrus informant is working within the Art Crimes unit at the FBI, but they don't realize Philip Kramer is the mole.
The U-boat con is only one of many schemes currently in play. The matchmakers of the Arkham Round Table are attempting to create romantic sparks between New York Neal and Sara by adding romantic plot lines to the Arkham Files stories. Nesting within their con is a sneaky second one—the secret conspiracy between Henry and El. Neal and Sara have devised the Clueless con to thwart the matchmakers. As they cautiously venture out of the friend zone, they've decided to keep any dates a secret. More about Neal and Sara's status is in my post, Unlucky in Love: The Clueless Con.
Then there's the con Rolf and Klaus Mansfeld are running. Outside of Ydrus operatives, only a few people, including the White Collar team, know that they're alive. The head of Ydrus is a woman code-named Python. Readers know that Python's name is Anya. Klaus is her lover. Anya's castle in Hungary is Ydrus headquarters. Anya's younger sister Bianka is an art forger. Rolf and Klaus arranged to have her study at Columbia as a grad student in visual arts where she has the art studio next to Neal's. Anya and the Mansfelds hope that Bianka can make Neal fall for her, and that they'll then be able to use her to help control him. In Nocturne in Black and Gold, Rolf attempted to brainwash Neal through a virtual reality procedure. It failed, but he doesn't know that. He and Klaus believe that they can use a Vermeer painting, The Astronomer, as a trigger to make Neal want to work for them once more.
Not only does Neal have multiple cons to manage, but he has also become the target of an enemy more powerful than Adler, Rolf, and Klaus combined. A Greek goddess named Astrena has established a psychic connection to him. She is now able to enter his mind and feed off his life force. Astrena acts as a muse. She can inspire him to new heights of artistic skill but also has the power to consume him. Neal discovered that the psychic connection exists in my previous story, Dark Rabbit, and has already had some experience with its effects. And he's not alone. Sam Winchester has also become Astrena's victim. Riffs, a rock club frequented by Neal and Henry, is run by one of Electra's agents. Astrena has ordered Neal's activities at the club to be monitored. Like many other Greek gods, she's jealous and possessive. Astrena has already made Bianka ill with what appeared to be the stomach flu. Although this story is not part of the Crossed Lines series, Astrena makes no promises to stay on the sidelines during Harlequin's Shadow. if you'd like to know more about Astrena, a summary of her history with Neal is in my blog post The Road So Far.
Harlequin's Shadow on Archive of Our Own
Harlequin's Shadow on FanFiction
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