名画失窃案 Problem of the Stolen Rubens
雅克·福特雷尔/Jacques Futrelle
雅克·福特雷尔（Jacques Futrelle，1875—1912），美国推理小说家。在他的推理短篇小说中，最著名的是《思想机器》。脍炙人口的侦探小说为他在侦探小说界赢得了较高的声誉。
Matthew Kale made ffty million dollars out of axle grease, after which he began to patronize the high arts. It was simple enough：he had the money, and Europe had the old masters. His method of buying was simplicity itself. There were five thousand square yards, more or less, in the huge gallery of his marble mansion which were to be covered, so he bought fve thousand square yards, more or less, of art. Some of it was good, some of it fair, and much of it bad. The chief picture of the collection was a Rubens, which he had picked up in Rome for ffty thousand dollars.
Soon after acquiring his collection, Kale decided to make certain alterations in the vast room where the pictures hung. They were all taken down and stored in the ball room, equally vast, with their faces toward the wall. Meanwhile Kale and his family took refuge in a nearby hotel.
It was at this hotel that Kale met Jules de Lesseps. De Lesseps was distinctly French, the sort of Frenchman whose conversation resembles calisthenics. He was nervous, quick, and agile, and he told Kale in confidence that he was not only a painter himself, but was a connoisseur in the high arts. Pompous in the pride of possession, Kale went to a good deal of trouble to exhibit his private collection for de Lesseps‘delectation. It happened in the ball room, and the true artist’s delight shone in the Frenchmans eyes as he handled the pieces which were good. Some of the others made him smile, but it was an inoffensive sort of smile.
With his own hands Kale lifted the precious Rubens and held it before the Frenchmans eyes. It was a“Madonna and Child，”one of those wonderful creations which have endured through the years with all the sparkle and color beauty of their pristine days. Kale seemed disappointed because de Lesseps was not particularly enthusiastic about this picture.