The Case of the Missing Painting

Italy September 17, 2005. It was a cold and windy night. Nobody was outside. It was about 3:00 AM at dawn. There was a masked figure. all dressed in black. Almost as if he was in camouflage. He held a big brown suitcase that looked suspicious. He also had a black vest and a hat. He was breaking into the "Museum Of Art.''

The place was heavily guarded and hard to steal from but I guess not for everyone. But this man was stealthy and fast. Also never speaks most of the time. His mission was to steal the painting called "The goddess of serpents." This painting was a HUGE amount of money. The mysterious man had to wear a disguise. He knocked one of the security guards out and stole his uniform.

A camera was about to spot him. So he threw a smoke bomb before someone saw him. The man carried the guard and put him in the dumpster so nobody would know what had happened. All the other guards got distracted by the smoke bomb and that was his chance to move forward from there.

And so he had a great chance to sneak in. He was looking for the painting in all directions. It was in a long narrow hallway mounted on the wall. He took out a spray and looked for any traps or alarms. And so, he found alarms everywhere. That side, This side, everywhere!

The man took an online parkour class. So that shouldn't really be a problem for him. A while later...He finally reached the end. He was exhausted. `He checked for any more traps but couldn't find any. He did find a camera, though. He cut the wires and disabled the camera. Then he carefully took the painting off the wall. He put it in his huge bag and ran. He went to his hideout in the middle of a small forest.

He had a green tent. He didn't have space to put the huge painting. So he placed it on the floor near his bed. In his tent he also had a board. It had plans and schemes on it. His next scheme was to steal the "Emerald Clover." It was an emerald shaped as a leaf clover if I wasn't clear enough.

When the guards found out the painting was stolen, they called down a detective. His name is Charles Henderson. One of Italy's greatest detectives. He was half American and half Italian. He rushed to the scene. He looked everywhere outside the museum. He knew very well that in most robberies, burglars always use disguises.

Then he thought to himself. "If a burglar would knock someone out and steal a disguise from them, where would they hide him or her?" anywhere that is uncommon or unnoticeable. Such as the dumpster. He pointed to the dumpster in the alleyway. He found the guard that was unconscious. And pulled him out. All the guards looked surprised.

The detective then went to the scene where the painting was stolen. He saw a spray on the floor, a broken camera, and some dirty fingerprints. Hmmm...this is going to be an open and shut case. He knew exactly what the man did to steal it. He had to know WHO stole it though. He went back to the station and checked the fingerprints on a special machine. He then noticed that the fingerprints matched his own!

Did he know that it was him all this time? Was he putting this act on all along to run away with it ? That was something that no one actually understood or knew with all the action going around.

The detective got confused and left with so many questions in his head which left him a little lost and disoriented, but why didn't he share his case with a trusted colleague if he had no bad intentions ? Why didn't he give himself in if he was not sure what was going on? The question of good or bad again comes to the surface...

If he was good, he would have involved a trusted friend to find clearer answers and if he was bad then he definitely wouldn't have wanted anyone to catch him but what if he was both like us all!

The mysteries become so when parts of the puzzle are missing and in many cases it is because the pieces of the puzzle are not that clear. There is black and there is white but there is also grey so it is hard to categorise deeds and wills anyway.

Mind that I am not trying to judge here and this could be very difficult a task due to human nature. I will unfold some scenarios to make clear my cause.

First scenario: our detective is the burglar and he stole the painting himself. He sure does not want anyone to know but why would he do so when he is the best at what he does...there must be a serious reason behind that twist.

Second scenario: The detective is the burglar but he does not even know that since he is sick with a split personality.

Scenario three: The burglar disguises as the detective or maybe he is his evil twin brother...At this point in the story everything is all messed up to make it feel and sound more like a mystery. Bare with me until the end. It is worth it I promise...

 Scenario number four: The narrator becomes part of the events and reveals his inner thoughts by bringing himself face to face with his deeds which are half detective, half thief.

The scenarios of human intentions, feelings and circumstances can drag on forever but what we may know for sure is that no one is all good or bad, there is grey between the black and white and Charles Henderson brings forth this complication to the scene of the missing painting.

Finally, it seems like Charles Henderson is our guy; all ''THREE'' ... The burglar, the detective and the narrator of this mystery.

Written by Charles Henderson from a prison cell in the Vatican…An extract from his autobiography '' My split self is the missing portrait. ''

May 20, 2020

Sweden