The second case: "Painting on the go". Subject: Viscount Andrews.
While I was reading the newspaper in the hunt for unsolved open cases someone knocked on the door. The person in question was a butler from a noble house and he had a car waiting outside to take me to the domains of his patron.
The mansion was pretty big and with very exquisite decorations. The entrance hall had some impressive works of art and the maids were dressed in the latest fashion for them.
I was escorted through the corridors to one of the main rooms. There, standing, was waiting for me a middle aged man, with a monocle and a smoking pipe. He seemed in distress, looked at me and told me: "It's gone, it's missing".
While I was still trying to grasp who might be missing the gentleman point at one empty place of the wall with marks of having had previously a painting hanging there.
While I was still trying to solve my internal conflict about the man talking about a painting with the same values someone would talk about a beloved person the gentleman kept giving me explanations about art and history and the value of the piece of art that has been stolen.
The room was impregnated with tobacco scent and that was hurting my sensitive smell sense, plus it was going to make things a bit more difficult for me. I started with easy questions, who has access to the mansion, who has keys to the room, if the room is locked or open, if any of the staff has any known debts....
The man pointed that the mansion was accessible to all his staff plus some outsiders from delivery companies, the room was locked during nights and the keys were kept by the head butler, no known debts for any of his staff.
In a quick glance I could spot two windows on the room, and I asked him if those windows could be open from outside. The gentleman had no idea and the staff went out to check it out. Proving impossible to be open from outside. Since there was no glasses broken I had to assume the windows were open or the thieve came from inside.
I did what it was obvious and first talked to the butler. He might not be as stupid as to steal it himself being the only one with the key but he might know something, so I interrogated him. I asked him if the windows were open and left unattended for long periods of time, and it was not long periods but it did happen sometimes. I asked for a list of people who crossed the main gate to the domains that day and there were only one delivery of goods, all food, and came through the back door, which left the window not exposed to their sight.
At this point, I thought it was quite complicated that it was an outsider. The window was on the side and not noticeable unless you went specifically there, and it's complicated that a thieve had a "lucky" day and just got one painting from all that. So I was assuming someone from inside knew the painting and for some reason wanted it, maybe he had a buyer outside, maybe it was something personal. The reasons were not my real interest.
With the sense of smell completely knocked out for the tobacco I asked for the master of the house to let me check on the bedrooms of the staff. The painting or any proof about it might still be inside, like the frames if it was taken outside. I checked underneath the beds, inside the mattresses, behind the doors, on the rubbish, on the yards near the windows... it was when I arrived to the last room when I noticed there was something inside one of the mattresses, turned it upside down, and noticed there was something hard inside and recent stitches marks, I opened them and retrieved the painting. The maid who slept on the room tried to deny everything until she started crying and confessing she needed the money, she was pregnant from the master of the house and she didn't had a thing to raise the child that she was going to have since the master didn't want to take care of them and was going to fire her.
Police was called and the maid taken into custody.
A success for the viscount and a sad day for justice.
Case closed
W. Green
The mansion was pretty big and with very exquisite decorations. The entrance hall had some impressive works of art and the maids were dressed in the latest fashion for them.
I was escorted through the corridors to one of the main rooms. There, standing, was waiting for me a middle aged man, with a monocle and a smoking pipe. He seemed in distress, looked at me and told me: "It's gone, it's missing".
While I was still trying to grasp who might be missing the gentleman point at one empty place of the wall with marks of having had previously a painting hanging there.
While I was still trying to solve my internal conflict about the man talking about a painting with the same values someone would talk about a beloved person the gentleman kept giving me explanations about art and history and the value of the piece of art that has been stolen.
The room was impregnated with tobacco scent and that was hurting my sensitive smell sense, plus it was going to make things a bit more difficult for me. I started with easy questions, who has access to the mansion, who has keys to the room, if the room is locked or open, if any of the staff has any known debts....
The man pointed that the mansion was accessible to all his staff plus some outsiders from delivery companies, the room was locked during nights and the keys were kept by the head butler, no known debts for any of his staff.
In a quick glance I could spot two windows on the room, and I asked him if those windows could be open from outside. The gentleman had no idea and the staff went out to check it out. Proving impossible to be open from outside. Since there was no glasses broken I had to assume the windows were open or the thieve came from inside.
I did what it was obvious and first talked to the butler. He might not be as stupid as to steal it himself being the only one with the key but he might know something, so I interrogated him. I asked him if the windows were open and left unattended for long periods of time, and it was not long periods but it did happen sometimes. I asked for a list of people who crossed the main gate to the domains that day and there were only one delivery of goods, all food, and came through the back door, which left the window not exposed to their sight.
At this point, I thought it was quite complicated that it was an outsider. The window was on the side and not noticeable unless you went specifically there, and it's complicated that a thieve had a "lucky" day and just got one painting from all that. So I was assuming someone from inside knew the painting and for some reason wanted it, maybe he had a buyer outside, maybe it was something personal. The reasons were not my real interest.
With the sense of smell completely knocked out for the tobacco I asked for the master of the house to let me check on the bedrooms of the staff. The painting or any proof about it might still be inside, like the frames if it was taken outside. I checked underneath the beds, inside the mattresses, behind the doors, on the rubbish, on the yards near the windows... it was when I arrived to the last room when I noticed there was something inside one of the mattresses, turned it upside down, and noticed there was something hard inside and recent stitches marks, I opened them and retrieved the painting. The maid who slept on the room tried to deny everything until she started crying and confessing she needed the money, she was pregnant from the master of the house and she didn't had a thing to raise the child that she was going to have since the master didn't want to take care of them and was going to fire her.
Police was called and the maid taken into custody.
A success for the viscount and a sad day for justice.
Case closed
W. Green
