Two Minute Mystery – The Mona Lisa Rescue Mischief
The director in charge of the Louvre, Théophile Homolle, paced back and forth inside his disorganized little office. With the stage where the Mona Lisa was once proudly displayed now empty, she wondered if the mystery of her disappearance would ever be solved. The whole country screamed in retaliation and if the police didn’t start producing results soon, the whole of France would be screaming at him too!
Just as the manager was about to pack his bags and leave for the day, the phone rang. He quickly hunched over in his chair and picked up the receiver.
“Hello.”
“Monsieur Homolle?” asked a monotonous voice.
“Yes.”
“I have the Mona Lisa and if you want it back, you will pay me a ransom of 50,000 francs!”
Homolle was momentarily speechless as he tried to digest what he had just heard. With the mystery of how exactly Mona disappeared in his head over and over again over the past few days, he asked, “How did you acquire the painting?”
“It was simple. I spent the night at the Louvre knowing that the next day, a Monday, the museum would be closed for cleaning. As the Lourve was mostly empty, I took the portrait, carefully removed it from its frame, rolled it up and placed it. under my apron. Then I went downstairs, discarded the frame, and hurried out of the museum. ” After a short sinister laugh, he continued. “It was as easy as that! So if you want to see …”
Homolle interrupted. “Although I’m sure the police would love to meet with you, it won’t be to get the Mona Lisa back. It’s obvious to me that you don’t have the painting!”
How did Monsieur Homolle know that the mysterious caller did not have the Mona Lisa?
Answer: Da Vinci painted his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, on a poplar wood panel. Since the painting is not on canvas, as the unidentified caller likely assumed, it could not have been “rolled up” and placed under his robe as he claimed.
