GO FOR THE GOLD

Can you crack the case?

In April 1934, thieves broke into St. Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, and stole the front and back panels from a section of the famed Ghent Altarpiece: The Just Judges and John the Baptist. Weeks later, a mysterious correspondent demanding a ransom arranged for John the Baptist to be returned — but The Just Judges remained missing.

Then the case took an extraordinary turn. Arsène Goedertier, a Belgian stockbroker, reportedly confessed on his deathbed that he alone knew where the panel was hidden. Investigators later found copies of the ransom letters among his possessions, but not the painting.

Despite repeated searches, the mystery has only deepened. Was the panel destroyed? Hidden somewhere in Ghent? Secreted away in the cathedral itself? Or did someone else know where Goedertier put it — and keep the secret?

About the Book

For six centuries, the world has worshipped Jan van Eyck’s Ghent altarpiece. Few know that the painter hid something inside it. Fewer still know he killed to protect it.

When a fragment of a lost Nazi diary surfaces in Ghent, young art historian Sophia Rossi stumbles onto a trail long dismissed as myth — a trail leading to the missing panel of the altarpiece, stolen in 1934 and never recovered. The diary hints at something far older buried within the painting’s creation: a relic smuggled out of the Holy Land, encoded into van Eyck’s brushwork and protected by murder, theft, and centuries of silence. As Sophia follows clues hidden in monastic archives, cathedral blueprints, and the pigment chemistry of fifteenth-century oil paint, someone else is following her. Mr. W — reclusive billionaire, obsessive collector, and master of secrets — has spent decades building a private empire of stolen beauty. Now he wants van Eyck’s masterpiece, and he never loses. Some artworks are stolen for money, some for power, and some because the truth painted into them was never meant to be found.

“Double the trouble, thrice the action and quadruple the enjoyment. A masterful debut filled with unexpected nuances and dire exploits. This one holds you tight and never lets go, until all is revealed.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of the Cotton Malone series

“A riveting blend of art, history, and high-stakes intrigue. The Lost Panel pulls you in from the first page and never lets go. The twists are sharp, the mystery is layered, and the ending is as clever as it is satisfying. Fans of Dan Brown and Steve Berry will devour it.” —Dr. Noah Charney, art historian and bestselling author of The Art Thief