Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-One Ending

Ellery continued: "Mr. Knox, are you sure the painting was stolen? Did you put it behind the panel yourself?" The blood came back to the expert's face; he nodded somewhat reluctantly: "I saw it a week ago. Here it is. Nobody knows it but me. Not a soul. This panel has been around for a long time." "What I want to know," said the sergeant, "is how this happened. When was the painting stolen? If what Mr. Knox says is true, how did the thief do it, how did he Do you know where the painting is?" "The painting wasn't stolen tonight—that's for sure," said the prosecutor mildly. "Then why didn't the burglar alarm work?"

"Craft just said that it was fine yesterday, maybe it was fine the day before yesterday," Pepper interjected. Knox shrugged.Ellery said, "It's all going to be clear. Come with me back to Mr. Knox's study, and you all come with me." He seemed very sure of it, and everyone murmured. Follow him silently. Back in his patent-leather-walled room, Ellery went about his work with ease.He closed the door first, and asked Pepper to stand by it, so as not to be disturbed; then, without hesitation, he walked towards the large iron gate on one wall of the study, which was low and close to the floor. .After fiddling for a while, he finally pulled the grate out, placed it on the floor, and put his hand through the opening in the back.Everyone craned their necks to watch; inside was a radiator of large hydro-pipes.Ellery's fingers moved quickly from tube to tube, like a harpist strumming a string.

"Look here," he said, smiling, though it was evident that nothing could be seen. "There are eight pipes here, seven of which are burning hot, but this one—" his hand rested on the last pipe—"this one is icy cold." He poured again Leaning over, he untied some mechanism at the bottom of the cold pipe.After a while, he had unscrewed a camouflage cap, stood up, holding a long and thick tube in his hand, "Okay, you see," he said with a smile, "the device is very Ingenious wow, Mr. Knox," he said, turning the tube upside down.At the bottom of it, there is a metal wire that is not easy to detect.Ellery gave a firm grip, and the bottom shifted, and everyone was amazed to see it fall off, revealing that the pipe was lined with asbestos.Ellery put the cap on the chair, held up the tube, and shook it vigorously.The other hand followed below... From the radiator pipe, a roll of antique canvas fell.

"What's that?" said the officer softly. Ellery deftly unwrapped the scroll.Flatten the painting. It was a painting—heavy and thick oil paint, depicting a battle scene: a group of brave medieval warriors, fighting and fighting for a banner that was waving and fluttering in the wind. "Believe it or not," Ellery said, spreading the painting out on Knox's desk, "what you are witnessing right now is a rare and famous painting worth millions. In other words, this is That see-through Leonardo." "Nonsense!" Someone shouted, and Ellery quickly turned around to see that it was James Knox, standing stiffly not far away, mouth pursed, staring at the painting.

"Really? Mr. Knox, when I took the liberty of disturbing your residence this afternoon, I discovered this great work. Didn't you say that it had been stolen from you? Then, how do you explain the fact that it is said to have been stolen?" Why are things that fell into the hands of thieves hidden in your study?" "When I said 'bullshit', I meant you were 'bullshit'." Knox laughed. "I don't think I overestimated your talent, Quinn. But you still You made a fool of yourself. All I said was true, the Leonardo was stolen. I might as well reveal the fact that I have two copies of the painting—"

"Two copies?" gasped the prosecutor. "Yes." Knox sighed. "I was going to save it for later. What you're looking at is the second copy—I've had it for a long time. This painting is either Lorenzo di Ke Reedy's work, or the work of his disciples, my experts have not yet been able to determine-in any case, it is not the authentic work of Leonardo. Lorenzo imitated Leonardo perfectly, not without Possibly, Lorenzo's disciples also imitated their master. This work, must have been copied from Leonardo's original after the failure of the Florentine fresco project in 1503. The Basilica of the Palazzo Vichaux. And— —”

"We don't want art lessons, Mr. Knox," cried the sergeant, "what we want to know is—" "So your experts believe," said Ellery quietly, "that after Leonardo's fresco fell by the wayside—I recall reading in art class that the subject was said to have been painted, but When you hit the heat, the color melts and the painting peels off—someone made this painting based on the subject of that fresco that Leonardo himself painted. Is that so?" "Yes. Anyway, the value of this second painting can only be worth a fraction of Leonardo's original painting. This is not a problem. When I bought the original painting from Khalkis - yes, I admit that I bought the original, and have always believed it to be—I have long since owned a contemporary copy. I have not disclosed this, because I have my intentions... Well, if forced to Return the original painting to the Museum of Victoria, and I'll pass off my worthless copy as the one I bought from Khalkis and return—"

Simpson's eyes sparkled: "Now, we have enough witnesses, Mr. Knox. What about the original?" Knox insisted: "The original has been stolen. I've been hiding it in that little warehouse behind the paneling in my showroom. God knows, never thought - this copy, I've been hiding in a disguised radiator pipe , the thief obviously wouldn't know. But let me tell you the truth, the original was stolen! How he stole it, I don't know, but he stole it anyway. I also knew that I planned to keep the original secret and use it It's not decent behavior for a replica to prevaricate a museum, but—"

The prosecutor took Ellery, the officer, and Pepper aside for a chatter.Ellery listened carefully and said something reassuring, and they went back to Knox, who was still standing dumbfounded by the desk with the paintings spread out.As for Joan Bright, her back was against the black patent leather wall, her eyes wide open, motionless, her chest heaving in rapid breathing. "Well, sir," said Ellery, "there seems to be a slight disapproval. Both the prosecutor and Sergeant Quinn think--and in this case, you should understand--they can't accept your approach." Talking about groundless rhetoric, saying that this is a copy of Leonardo and not the real Leonardo. Those of us who are present are not qualified to be connoisseurs. I think we should listen to the opinions of experts. Can I ——?”

Before Knox nodded hesitantly, he stepped over to the phone, reported a number, spoke briefly to the other party, and then hung up the phone: "I just called Toby John This man is the leading art critic in the eastern part of the United States, Mr. Knox. Do you know him?" "Meet." Knox only answered these few words. "He'll be here soon, Mr. Knox. We'll have to be patient and rest our minds until he comes." Toby Johns was a squat little old man with a bright eye, a well-dressed man, and an air of inviolability.After Kraft ushered him in, he was sent away immediately; Ellery had a friendship with him on the phone, so Ellery introduced everyone present to him one by one.Johns and Knox were particularly warm.

Then, as he stood there waiting for someone to speak to him, his eyes were drawn to the picture on the desk. Ellery was the first to speak: "This is a serious matter, Mr. Johns," he began deliberately, "so I beg your pardon, and I ask that not a word of what has been said in this room this evening be revealed to the public." Johns nodded, as if he'd heard this request before. "Very good, sir." Ellery shook his head in the direction of the painting, "Mr. Johns, can you confirm who the artist of that painting is?" Everyone was silent, the expert smiled, picked up a lens wrapped with a ribbon and put it on one eye, and took a step towards the desk.He carefully placed the oil painting on the ground, flattened it, and examined it carefully; then, he ordered Ellery and Pepper to hold each side and hold them tensely in the air, and he projected the soft light of several lamps onto the painting. No one said a word, and Johns worked in silence.There was no expression on his fat little face. He looked intently at the painting inch by inch, and seemed to pay special attention to the faces of the group of figures closest to the flag... After he had worked for half an hour, he nodded cheerfully, and Ellery and Pepper The oil painting was put back on the desk.Knox breathed a slow sigh of relief; his eyes were fixed on the expert's face. "There's something to this work," Johns finally said, "and it has a lot to do with what I'm going to say next." Everyone paid attention to his every word. "People have known it for years," Johns continued. Going on, "Actually known for centuries, there are two paintings in this topic, and the two paintings are exactly the same, except for one thing..." Someone muttered something. "Exactly the same, except for one thing. A painting, known to be Leonardo's own. At that time, Piero Soderini invited the great painter to Florence to paint a battle map, to decorate the new council hall in his palace. Leonardo chose the story of the victory of the generals of the Florentine Republic near the Angiali Bridge in 1440 as the painting title. Leonardo’s initial sketch— - the technical name of the original sketch - it is actually often called the Anglican War Picture. It is a great fresco project, and by coincidence, Michelangelo also participated in the contest, choosing the story of Pisa For the title of the painting. Later, Leonardo failed to stick to his work, and Mr. Knox may have known about it; he stopped working after finishing the detailed drawing of the battle for the flag. Because after the wall was baked , The oil paint melted and peeled off, so all previous efforts were wasted. "Leonardo left Florence. It is generally speculated that he was disappointed by his wasted effort, so he turned the original draft into an oil painting as a self-art appraisal. Anyway, there are different legends about this oil painting, but unfortunately It was 'lost' until it was discovered somewhere in Italy by fieldworkers at the Victorian Museum in London a few years ago." Everyone could hear God, and the silence was scary, but Johns didn't seem to notice. "Later," he went on, "at this very moment there were many copies of that manuscript, copies of which were famous by the young Raphael, Fra Bartolemio, and others, But the manuscript itself was damaged after it was used by these replicators. The manuscript has since been lost; The discovery of Nadeau's own original work was - so to speak - an earth-shattering discovery in the art world. "As I have just said, there are two extant paintings of this kind, identical in every respect except one. The first was discovered and exhibited long ago; its author has never been conclusively established until The great discovery at the Victoria Museum about six years or so ago. Herein lies the difficulty. Experts have never been able to determine whether the earliest found work was by Leonardo; in fact, it is generally believed to be Lorenzo di Creedy, or one of Lorenzo's disciples. Like all controversies in the art world, there is no lack of laughter and slander; until the painting discovered by Victoria six years ago, it is not over. This case. "There are certain ancient records that show that there were two oil paintings of the same title: one Leonardo himself, and the other a copy - the author of the copy is vague. The legend holds that , both paintings are identical except for one thing: there is a slight difference in the skin color of the portrait next to the flag. According to legend, the skin color in Leonardo's work is slightly darker-the difference is extremely small, so The records always say that Leonardo's handwriting can only be identified with certainty when two pictures are juxtaposed. So, you see—" "Interesting," murmured Ellery, "Mr. Knox, did you know that in the past?" "Of course I know. Khalkis knows it too." Knox shook his head, "I have already said that I have owned this painting for a long time, so when Khalkis sold me that one, in my opinion You can compare the two paintings ready-made to know which one is Leonardo's work. Now—” he said with a sad face—“that Leonardo work has disappeared. gone." "Oh?" Johns looked uneasy.But then he smiled again, "Well, I don't think that's my business. Anyway, those two paintings have been kept in the museum together for a long time, so the museum can easily identify the field workers in the museum. The painting obtained was an authentic Leonardo. Later, another, a copy, disappeared. Rumor has it that it was sold to a wealthy collector in the United States for a considerable sum. The price, even though it's known to be a copy." He shot Knox a sarcastic look, but no one interrupted. Johns straightened out his thin chest: "One day, if the painting of Leonardo in the museum also disappears, it will be difficult - I should say impossible - to rely on any one painting alone. By itself, you can judge whether it is the original. You can never be sure if you only rely on one to identify..." "Mr. Johns, what about this one?" Ellery asked. "This one," replied Johns shrugging, "it must be one of the two, but if you don't compare it with the other..." He stopped and patted his forehead, "Of course! I Stupid. It must be a copy. The original is in the Victorian Museum across the ocean." "Yes, yes. That's true," said Ellery hastily. "If the two pictures are so similar, Mr. Johns, why is one worth a million and the other a few thousand?" "My good sir!" exclaimed the expert, "what—what shall I say?—is a childish question.—What is the difference between an original Sheraton and a modern imitation? Is there a difference? Leonardo is a master of the generation; according to legend, the author of the copy may be one of Lorenzo's disciples, but he just took Leonardo's finished product to imitate the gourd. Both The difference in value is nothing more than the difference between a brilliant masterpiece of a famous master and a fledgling curtain. Even if Leonardo's painting style and brushwork are exactly the same, what is the difference? Mr. Quinn, you never see You have to say that your signature forged by photography can be regarded as the same as your signature itself, right?" Johns seemed to be talking with great enthusiasm, and he didn't know how to dance with his hands and feet; so Ellery thanked him humbly and sent him out of the door.The expert didn't completely calm down until he went out, and after he left, everyone regained their anger. "Art! Leonardo!" said the officer in disgust. "It's more of a mess now than it used to be. My career as a police officer is over." He threw up his hands. "Actually, the situation is not so bad," said the prosecutor thoughtfully. "Johns' account at least confirms Mr. Knox's statement, even if no one can tell which one is which." At least we now know that there are two paintings side by side, and we always thought there was only one, so—we must track down the thief who stole the other." "I don't understand," Pepper said, "why the museum doesn't say anything about the second painting. After all—" "My dear Pepper," said Ellery leisurely, "they have the original. Why should they bother with the copy? They have no interest in the copy... Yes, Simpson, you speak Exactly. The man we're interviewing, the man who stole the other painting, is the man who wrote the threatening letter to Mr. Knox, who used promissory notes as paper, so it must have been designed to frame Sloane. And the man who killed Greenshaw and designed to frame George Khalkis." "That's an excellent summary," said Simpson wryly. "Now that you've put together all we know, why don't you tell us what we don't know—please, is this man Who!" Ellery sighed: "Simpson, Simpson, you're always getting on my nerves, trying to embarrass me, trying to make a fool of me... Don't you really want to know what your partner's name is?" Simpson stared wide-eyed, and the police officer began to be interested: "Do I really want to know that he actually asked me like that!" the prosecutor shouted straight up, "This is really a wonderful question, isn't it? ... I Of course I want to know." His eyes sharpened, and there was a pause. "I see, Ellery," he said calmly, "you don't really know, do you?" "Yeah," Knox said. "Quinn, who is he?" Ellery smiled. "I'm so glad to hear you ask that question, Mr. Knox. You must have read the following sentence in your book, because there are a lot of famous people--La Toyoda, DeLancy , Correcchi, Cicero, Juvenus, Diogenes—this phrase has been repeated in various ways. It is also the motto of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which is said to have come from The mouth of Thales, Pythagoras and Solon. In Latin: Ne quis nimis. In English: You should know yourself. Mr. James Knox, "Ellery servant is very kind in the world "You're under arrest!"