"Mallory does show an occasional gleam of human intelligence; doesn' t he? " he said at last quizzically.
"Not that I ever noticed, " remarked The Thinking Machine crustily.
"But he found the picture, " Hatch insisted.
"Of course he found it. It was put there for him to find."
"Put there for him to find!" repeated the reporter. "Didn' t Jennings steal it? "
"If he did, he' s a fool."
"Well, if he didn' t steal it, who put it there? "
"De Lesseps."
"De Lesseps!" echoed Hatch. "Why the deuce did he steal a fifty thousand-dollar picture and put it in a servant' s trunk to be found? "
The Thinking Machine twisted around in his seat and squinted at him coldly for a moment. "At times, Mr. Hatch, I am absolutely amazed at your stupidity, " he said frankly. "I can understand it in a man like Mallory, but I have always given you credit for being an astute, quick-witted man."
Hatch smiled at the reproach. It was not the first time he had heard of it. But nothing bearing on the problem in hand was said until they reached The Thinking Machine' s apartments.
"The only real question in my mind, Mr. Hatch, " said the scientist then, "is whether or not I should take the trouble to restore Mr. Kale' s picture at all. He is perfectly satisfied, and will probably never know the difference. So—"
Suddenly Hatch saw something. "Great Scott!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean that the picture that Mallory found was—"
"A copy of the original, " supplemented the scientist. "Personally I know nothing whatever about art; therefore, I could not say from observation that it is a copy, but I know it from the logic of the thing. When the original was cut from the frame, the knife swerved a little at the upper right hand corner. The canvas remaining in the frame told me that. The picture that Mr. Mallory found did not correspond in this detail with the canvas in the frame. The conclusion is obvious."
"And de Lesseps has the original? "
"De Lesseps has the original. How did he get it? In any one of a dozen ways. He might have rolled it up and stuck it under his coat. He might have had a confederate. But I don' t think that any ordinary method of theft would have appealed to him. I am giving him credit for being clever, as I must when we review the whole case.
"For instance, he asked for permission to copy the Whistler, which you saw was the same size as the Rubens. It was granted. He copied it practically under guard, always with the chance that Mr. Kale himself would drop in. It took him three days to copy it, so he says. He was alone in the room all that time. He knew that Mr. Kale had not the faintest idea of art. Taking advantage of that, what would have been simpler than to have copied the Rubens in oil? He could have removed it from the frame immediately after he canvased it over, and kept it in a position near him where it could be quickly concealed if he was interrupted. Remember, the picture is worth fifty thousand dollars; therefore, was worth the trouble.
"De Lesseps is an artist—we know that—and dealing with a man who knew nothing whatever of art, he had no fears. We may suppose his idea all along was to use the copy of the Rubens as a sort of decoy after he got away with the original. You saw that Mallory didn' t know the difference, and it was safe for him to suppose that Mr. Kale wouldn' t. His only danger until he could get away gracefully was of some critic or connoisseur, perhaps, seeing the copy. His boldness we see readily in the fact that he permitted himself to discover the theft; that he discovered it after he had volunteered to assist Mr. Kale in the general work of rehanging the pictures in the gallery. Just how he put the picture in Jenning' s trunk I don' t happen to know. We can imagine many ways." He lay back in his chair for a minute without speaking, eyes steadily turned upward, fingers placed precisely tip to tip.
"The only thing remaining is to go get the picture. It is in de Lesseps' room now—you told me that—and so we know it is safe. I dare say he knows that if he tried to run away it would inevitably put him under suspicion."
"But how did he take the picture from the Kale home? " asked Hatch.
"He took it with him probably under his arm the day he left the house with Mr. Kale, " was the astonishing reply.
Hatch was staring at him in amazement. After a moment the scientist arose and passed into the adjoining room, and the telephone bell there jingled. When he joined Hatch again he picked up his hat and they went out together.
De Lesseps was in when their cards went up, and received them. They conversed of the case generally for ten minutes, while the scientist' s eyes were turned inquiringly here and there about the room. At last there came a knock on the door.
"It is Detective Mallory, Mr. Hatch, " remarked The Thinking Machine. "Open the door for him."
De Lesseps seemed startled for just one instant, then quickly recovered. Mallory' s eyes were full of questions when he entered.
"I should like, Mr. Mallory, " began The Thinking Machine quietly, "to call your attention to this copy of Mr. Kale' s picture by Whistler—over the mantel here. Isn' t it excellent? You have seen the original? "