Manof Chpt8

Chapter 8

He greeted them as they climbed the stairs.

Constantin smiled, "Hello. Are you ready for lunch?"

Marie-Claude smiled. "Lunch will be in twenty minutes. We must change."

"I'll be ready," Bruce smiled. "Good ride?"

"Wonderful. Invigorating," from Constantin as he disappeared. The 20 minutes became 30, but Bruce didn't mind. He waited and he wandered around. He waited in the drawing room next to where they would eat lunch and notice the white grand piano and sat down. In front of him was the music for Moonlight Sonata. He began to play, softly and with feeling.

The gold decorated piano was perfectly tuned. Soon he was lost in the music. This had been one of his favorites when he studied music as a boy. The notes didn't flow as they one did but he was deep into the music when he spotted Marie-Claude seated at the other end of the room, watching him. He stopped suddenly.

"I'm embarrassed," he frowned. "I haven't played in years."

"You're very good," said Marie-Claude as she came towards him. "You're a man of many talents."

Bruce was smiling now as Constantin entered the room. "Was that you playing?" he asked.

"Guilty as charged," Bruce joked. "It's been a while."

"Nevertheless" said Constantin." You have talent."

They went in to lunch. The three waiters were waiting. On the table was a large bowl of caviar trimmed with tiny wafers. Marcel held a cold bottle of Champagne.

(The table was set exquisitely for lunch, the red dishes adding a note of rich color to everything)

"Ah, my favorite, said Marie Claude.

"And mine too," said Constantin.

"Make that three," Bruce smiled. Everyone laughed. The waiters remained stoic.

After lunch they sat in the music room near the piano. The waiters served more wine and left the three to talk. Constantin started the discussion.

"I think it's time we started talking about why my sister asked you to come here."

Bruce settled back, notebook in hand.

Constantin started: " As you know, we seem to have had a robbery here some months ago. I can't say when, exactly, as we only discovered that a drawing was switched, missing, gone or stolen a few weeks ago. Naturally we called the police in Limoges, the largest city in the area and they started an investigation. They took finger prints or tried too but there were none. They called in all the usual suspects but found nothing.

"The drawing was believed to be done by Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Bruce continued making notes and Constantin continued. It was a study for mechanical wings said to have been done when the master stayed here on his way to Amboise where he lived for a while and died."

Bruce was busy writing in his notebook.

"The police have no clues but the investigation proved that the copy was slipped into the original frame and was done on ordinary water color paper manufactured in Paris quite recently. The copy was hardly exact but since it was only a line drawing, it was easy for the perpetrator to reproduce something that would not easily be detected at first sight. I knew the drawing well and discovered it myself. So we do not know when it was taken. I can't even remember when I last checked it before my embarrassing discovery."

Bruce looked up. "And do you suspect anyone?"

"No one. You have to understand that we never had an incident like this, at least not in my lifetime. The family has made a positive impression on the community. We have friends among the villagers and many of them earn their livelihood working for us."

"Including the piano tuner?" Bruce interrupted.
Marie-Claude was surprised. "How do you know we had the piano tuned?"

"I just played it," Bruce replied. "It was either tuned recently or it holds its tune very well."

"You are very astute," Constantin smiled. "You are correct too. Unfortunately that won't get us anywhere. The piano was tuned after the discovery of the theft."

Bruce smiled and crossed something out in his memo pad.

Click here for the next chapter.


	Chapter 8 He greeted them as they climbed the stairs. Constantin smiled, "Hello. Are you ready for lunch?" Marie-Claude smiled. "Lunch will be in twenty minutes. We must change." "I'll be ready," Bruce smiled. "Good ride?" "Wonderful. Invigorating," from Constantin as he disappeared. The 20 minutes became 30, but Bruce didn't mind. He waited and he wandered around. He waited in the drawing room next to where they would eat lunch and notice the white grand piano and sat down. In front of him was the music for Moonlight Sonata. He began to play, softly and with feeling. The gold decorated piano was perfectly tuned. Soon he was lost in the music. This had been one of his favorites when he studied music as a boy. The notes didn't flow as they one did but he was deep into the music when he spotted Marie-Claude seated at the other end of the room, watching him. He stopped suddenly. "I'm embarrassed," he frowned. "I haven't played in years." "You're very good," said Marie-Claude as she came towards him. "You're a man of many talents." Bruce was smiling now as Constantin entered the room. "Was that you playing?" he asked. "Guilty as charged," Bruce joked. "It's been a while." "Nevertheless" said Constantin." You have talent." They went in to lunch. The three waiters were waiting. On the table was a large bowl of caviar trimmed with tiny wafers. Marcel held a cold bottle of Champagne. (The table was set exquisitely for lunch, the red dishes adding a note of rich color to everything) "Ah, my favorite, said Marie Claude. "And mine too," said Constantin. "Make that three," Bruce smiled. Everyone laughed. The waiters remained stoic. After lunch they sat in the music room near the piano. The waiters served more wine and left the three to talk. Constantin started the discussion. "I think it's time we started talking about why my sister asked you to come here." Bruce settled back, notebook in hand. Constantin started: " As you know, we seem to have had a robbery here some months ago. I can't say when, exactly, as we only discovered that a drawing was switched, missing, gone or stolen a few weeks ago. Naturally we called the police in Limoges, the largest city in the area and they started an investigation. They took finger prints or tried too but there were none. They called in all the usual suspects but found nothing. "The drawing was believed to be done by Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Bruce continued making notes and Constantin continued. It was a study for mechanical wings said to have been done when the master stayed here on his way to Amboise where he lived for a while and died." Bruce was busy writing in his notebook. "The police have no clues but the investigation proved that the copy was slipped into the original frame and was done on ordinary water color paper manufactured in Paris quite recently. The copy was hardly exact but since it was only a line drawing, it was easy for the perpetrator to reproduce something that would not easily be detected at first sight. I knew the drawing well and discovered it myself. So we do not know when it was taken. I can't even remember when I last checked it before my embarrassing discovery." Bruce looked up. "And do you suspect anyone?" "No one. You have to understand that we never had an incident like this, at least not in my lifetime. The family has made a positive impression on the community. We have friends among the villagers and many of them earn their livelihood working for us." "Including the piano tuner?" Bruce interrupted. Marie-Claude was surprised. "How do you know we had the piano tuned?" "I just played it," Bruce replied. "It was either tuned recently or it holds its tune very well." "You are very astute," Constantin smiled. "You are correct too. Unfortunately that won't get us anywhere. The piano was tuned after the discovery of the theft." Bruce smiled and crossed something out in his memo pad. Click here for the next chapter.