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“I’m telling you not to buy it yet,” I say.

“There’s a difference.”

He is quiet for a second.

“What would you need?” he asks.

“A cleaner chain of ownership, clarification on the dealer records from Zurich and confirmation that the restoration disclosed in the condition report is as limited as they’re claiming,” I explain. “If all three check out, then we can talk about price.”

“And if they don’t?”

“We walk away.”

The answer comes easily now.

There was a time when I would have worried about sounding too definitive with someone spending that kind of money. I don’t anymore. Wealth does not make a bad acquisition smarter, and clients hire me because they want judgment, not reassurance.

“All right,” he says. “Do what you need to do.”

“I will.”

I end the call and make a note for my associate to contact the Zurich dealer archive before opening the next file in my queue.

The office around me is already fully awake. Phones ring, doors open and close, someone down the hall is arguing politely about shipping insurance, and the conference room has been occupied since eight by a family trying to decide what to do with three generations of inherited art they do not actually want to keep.

I glance at the time and stand.

Naomi Reyes is waiting for me outside the smaller conference room with a tablet tucked beneath one arm.

“You saw the condition report?” she asks.

“I did.”

“And?”

“I wouldn’t approve the loan without another inspection.”

Naomi nods. “That was my thought too.”

We step into the conference room together, where images of six works are already displayed across the monitor. The collection belongs to a client whose parents spent forty years buying without ever building a coherent plan for what would happen afterward, which means their children have inherited paintings, sculpture, photographs and decorative works spread across three properties and two storage facilities.

Naomi gestures toward the screen.

“They want to keep the Diebenkorn, loan the Mitchell and sell almost everything else.”

“That makes sense,” I say.

“The Mitchell is museum-quality, and a loan gives them time without forcing a decision.”

“What about the smaller works?”

“Group the strongest pieces for private sale first,” I reply. “Anything that needs conservation should be dealt with before we start circulating images.”

Naomi scrolls to the next page. “There’s also a museum inquiry on the Mitchell. Eighteen months.”

“That’s too long unless they cover all transport, insurance and conservation costs.”

“They said they would.”