A ghost in the painting

"One million!" 

"One point five!" 

"Two million!" 

"Two point five!" 

The bidding went higher and higher. Allie stared at the painting, her heart beating loudly. After all these years, why did she just now find a trace of her mother? She had been looking for a single clue, and only now had she found one.

She was very sure she knew who the woman in the painting was. Her body's silhouette, the side view of her face, even the dress! Allie might have been young back then, but she was certain it was her mother's favorite dress.

Allie wasn't an art enthusiast and she hadn't been following the famous painters in Claymount, but according to the auctioneer, the painter was a famous one known as Phantom Jade.

She could never forget that codename because Allie found it in her mom's journal, which she still kept to this day. She didn't know what the codename was for, but she hadn't heard it anywhere else.

"Four million!"