[Mark Twain Mysteries 05] - The Mysterious Strangler by Peter J. Heck

Author:Peter J. Heck [Heck, Peter J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9781543618839
Amazon: 1543618839
Barnesnoble: 1543618839
Goodreads: 794496
Publisher: The Berkley Publishing Group
Published: 2000-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

14

There is no law against copying pictures.” explained Agente Maggio. patiently. “It is how the students learn, as long as there have been painters. The only wrong thing is to sell the false pictures as if they were the authentic ones. Then the polizia pay very serious attention.” My employer took the cigar out of his mouth and knocked the ash over the side of the carriage. “So this fellow Battista can paint all the fake Botticellis and Leonardos he wants, and nobody cares?”

“Little Luigi can paint them, and as long as he tells the truth about them he can even sell them. There is no crime in that,” said the policeman. Mr. Clemens had given him a cigar, and he was puffing away on it with obvious appreciation as he guided the horses through the streets of old Florence.

“I noticed that none of the paintings in Battista's shop bore the artist’s signature.” I said. “If he sells them to someone who then adds a forged signature, presumably that person would be guilty of fraud, rather than Battista?”

‘That is true in theory,” said Agente Maggio. “It can be hard to prove who did what. Luigi says he sells his pasticcios only to those who know what they are. But that does not answer if he knows whether those buyers plan to sell them again, to someone who thinks they are authentic. It is not easy to prove this in a court, capisce?”

“I capisce enough that I’m starting to wonder about Stephens’s so-called Raphaels,” said Mr. Clemens. “Everybody at the party took his word that they were the real thing, but what’s his word worth?”

“It is worth much.” said Maggio, with a sweeping gesture that sent ashes flying from his own cigar. “In fact, an art dealer who is known to sell forgeries, people will not trust him. His business rests on his word that what he sells is genuine. In fact, Signore Stephens has often worked with Capitano Rosalia to stop thieves, and to expose forgeries. So he has the reputation for being honest.”

“I think I’ll ask him about those Raphaels, anyway,” said Mr. Clemens. Having inspected the place where Virginia’s body had been found, and having interviewed the nearby art dealers, we were on our way to Stephens’s residence to offer our condolences on the death of his sister-in-law. This visit would also give us an opportunity to ask a few questions in furtherance of our murder investigation—or so we hoped. I dreaded it, and yet I was anxious to begin.

Agente Maggio turned the carriage across Ponte Vecchio, with its rows of ancient goldsmiths' shops along the sides, and took us into the Oltramo. The day had brightened up. and the temperature at midday was comfortable enough that we had left our coats unbuttoned, and put our gloves in our pockets. Our route took us by Palazzo Pitti and its lovely Boboli Gardens, which I had explored with Virginia in what now seemed like the remote past. It was

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