Chapter 12 - Victor Was Afraid of Losing the Museum, Not Just Himself
Victor spoke through his attorney.
Then later agreed to a recorded interview as part of the investigation.
Julian and I watched.
He looked smaller without the museum around him.
Why draw a gun?
Victor closed his eyes.
“Panic.”
“Against a child?”
“I wasn't thinking.”
Nothing made that acceptable.
He knew it.
Then investigators moved to Al-Nur.
“When did you learn the Arabic version contradicted the title?”
“2008.”
Thomas's return.
“What did you do?”
“I told Edward.”
“And?”
“He told me the collection would collapse into litigation if we reopened it.”
“Did you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor leaned forward.
“Because I had spent five years watching scholars repair those manuscripts.”
His voice sharpened.
“You think provenance is the only moral question?”
Nobody answered.
“Some pages arrived soaked in sewage. Some had mold. Some were cut from bindings because looters wanted illuminated sections.”
He looked at the camera.
“We preserved them.”
True.
Then:
“And somewhere along the way you decided preservation entitled you to ownership?”
Victor looked away.
That was his failure.
But his fear was not completely invented.
What if the collection were returned to individuals unable to preserve it?
What if descendants disagreed?
What if pieces were sold?
What if public access disappeared?
Difficult questions.
None justified the gun.
None erased the mistranslation.
But they prevented the story from becoming:
Bad museum stole books.
May you like
Good people return them.
Reality demanded more.
