This is the last Ever After Mystery – at least for a little while. And this time, the mystery is surrounding my book!
It’s finally my turn!!! Yes, Slashed Canvas has released, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this terrific series of fairy-tales-turned-1920s-mysteries. It’s the last one, and though they’re all stand alone, you’ll want to be sure to read them all.
Theft at the Louvre – An Ever After Mystery
I sat at the little cafe on the Champs-Élysées, sipping my cafe au lait and admiring the general splendor of the city of Paris. It was all I had dreamed it to be and more. The Eiffel Tower. The Arc de Triomphe. The Louvre. What a magnificent place to be.
“Ms. Tolsma?”
I gazed up from my coffee to see two French policemen standing over me. “Oui?”
One pulled out a metal chair and sat across the table from me. “We just have a few questions to ask you.”
I had a few questions myself. What were they doing bothering me? What could this be about?
“We believe you’ve recently visited the Louvre.”
“I have. It was magnificent. All those famous and expensive pieces of art. Even the building itself was a sight to behold. I was mesmerized.” I couldn’t believe I was allowing my mouth to run like this.
“And you have heard about the theft of the Russian princess painting?”
“Wasn’t that awful?”
The policeman who was standing scribbled something in his notebook. Wait a minute. “You can’t think that I had something to do with its disappearance, can you? Is that why you’ve tracked me down?”
“Your name has been mentioned as someone we might do well to check out.”
“Let me guess. I was Rebekah Jones who gave you the suggestion.”
“We aren’t at liberty to say. “
I knew it. I always thought she was a little sneaky.
“You have a special passion for Russian history, don’t you?”
I sipped my coffee to try to give myself a calm, unhurried appearance. All I managed to do was to burn my tongue. “I studied it in college and have read quite a bit on the subject, but I’m an author, not a history or art expert.”
“But you yourself mentioned all the expensive art contained in the museum.”
“If it isn’t expensive or valuable, why would it be there?” I don’t understand why they think that comment would be strange.
The one sitting across from me narrowed his eyes and drilled his stare into me. “It will go better for you if you cooperate with us.”
“There is nothing for me to cooperate with you about. I didn’t steal the Russian Princess.”
“And you have an alibi?” The policeman stood with his pencil poised above his notebook.
“Of course. I was with my son at the Eiffel Tower the day the painting was stolen. In fact, here he comes now. He’ll verify my story.”
My son strode up with two pastries in his hand, his bearing that of a seasoned US Marine. This gendarmes would have to take him seriously. “What’s this about? What’s going on, Mom?”
“These gentleman believe that I stole that painting of a Russian princess that was taken from the Louvre. Please tell them where we were that day.”
“At the Eiffel Tower. I’ll never forget that day because I finally got my mom over her fear of heights and got her to the top.” He set the pastries on the table and whipped out his phone. “Here’s a picture of her.”
“She looks terrified.” The policeman across from me stared at the picture.
“As you can see, the picture was taken the same day as the painting was stolen. We were at the Louvre two days before that.” My son tapped on something that showed the date and time of the picture.
I sat back and crossed my legs. “Are you gentlemen satisfied?” So what if I was being a little saucy?
“Well.” The one standing deflated. “If you didn’t steal it, who did?”
Did I dare accuse someone? I hated it when Rebekah did it to me. But I did have a pretty good idea. “I’ve heard rumors that Marji Clubine loves art and Russian art in particular. And that she could use the money. If I were you, I’d check into her.”
After a few more questions, the gendarmes strode away.
My son sat at the table, and I stared at him. “They kind of ruined our dream of sitting together on the Champs-Élysées.”
“That was kind of rude of them. But we can still enjoy our coffee and pastries.”
He was right. There was no need to allow them to sully this moment. I just sure hoped they managed to find Marji – and the painting.
About Slashed Canvas
Held prisoner by all she’s lost, Katarina’s about to lose all she has.
Princess Katarina Volstova barely escaped the Russian revolution, arriving in Paris just before the birth of her twin daughters. With her heart still captive in her homeland, she haunts the Louvre each day, spending hours gazing at one painting, lost in her pain.
Not the man he once was before the Great War, Georges Velvey hides himself away doing janitorial service in the Louvre and watching the beautiful woman whose pain seems riveted on one painting.
When Katarina returns home to find her daughters and their nanny missing, the loss opens her eyes to all she has to lose now. Frantic to find her girls, her distress causes Georges to offer his assistance. Together they put together clues to a puzzle they must complete before the kidnapper ensures Katarina and her daughters are never reunited.
Slashed Canvas offers a retelling of The Lost Princess that mingles self-centered grief, spoiled little girls, and proof that nothing will stop a mother from saving her children.
Check out the rest of the Ever After Mystery missing painting posts to find out who really took it!
Cathe Swanson – Feb 1
April Hayman – Feb 2
Denise Lauren Barela – Feb 3
Sandy Barela – Feb 4
Rebekah Jones – Feb 5
Marji Laine – Feb 7
Chautona Havig – Feb 8
