Foolan was hired to make a room full of strangers laugh. He should have asked why they were mourning someone who hadn’t died. A concealed painting, an empty chair, and one careless joke leave him trapped inside an artwork with a missing man beneath the table. In this world, original paintings can be entered. Those who survive and comprehend their meaning return with power. The first successful comprehender claims its strongest form. Everyone afterward receives a weaker echo. Some return changed in ways nobody knows how to repair. Foolan wants to get out, collect his fee, and discover who decided his life was worth twelve marks. His search leads through disputed collections, dangerous expeditions, and a trade in weapons extracted from artworks. The Feathers have a place in that trade. They also have reasons to keep certain disappearances unexplained. One of their recruiters offers Foolan help. He sees through the jokes with an accuracy Foolan finds difficult to refuse. For once, someone understands him. Foolan has yet to learn what that will cost.