Free The Statue Walks at Night by Joan Lowery Nixon Page B

aren’t allowed back in the offices.” She sighed. “After the theft I noticed that the key was not in its customary place in my drawer. Someone obviously had removed the key, then put it back. It’s terrible to think that the thief is probably someone on my staff.”
    â€œDo all the employees know about the theft?” Mr. Quinn asked.
    â€œThe museum’s security guard was there when the police arrived,” Mrs. Gomez answered. “I telephoned my assistant, James Vanstedder. The other employees will be told tomorrow morning.”
    Mrs. Gomez took out a piece of paper from her briefcase and unfolded it on the table. “Here’s a floor plan of the museum,” she said. “You can see that the offices are together, in the back.”
    Mr. Quinn asked, “Where’s your key to the cabinet now?”
    â€œHere, with me, so that I won’t have to worry about losing anything else in the collection.”
    â€œI assume all the items in the exhibit are valuable?”
    â€œOh yes,” Mrs. Gomez said. “Some lovely, small Monet paintings, a Rembrandt drawing, and many other beautiful pieces. Everything in the collection is extremely valuable.”
    â€œThen I suggest that first thing tomorrow you call a locksmith to change the lock on the cabinet in which the exhibit pieces are stored. The thief could return. Most likely, he—or she—has already made a duplicate key.”
    Mrs. Gomez gasped.
    Mr. Quinn asked, “How small were the sketches? Could they have been slipped into someone’s pocket?”
    â€œNot likely,” Mrs. Gomez said. “One is about sixteen inches by eighteen inches. The other is a little larger. Folding would ruin them. Because the thief carefully removed the sketches from their frames, I’m guessing that he’d know better than to fold them.”
    â€œBut the sketches could be rolled, couldn’t they?” Mr. Quinn asked. “And possibly carried out inside someone’s clothing?”
    Mrs. Gomez thought for a moment. “They could be tightly rolled, I suppose. But I should think it would be difficult to carry them out in that manner. Visitors to the museum are required to check all bags and jackets at the entrance. And our security guard is authorized to search bags and clothing as well. The sketches would be easy to detect, say, inside a sleeve or jacket. They would have made a suspicious bulge.”
    â€œSomething about the theft puzzles me,” Mr. Quinn said. “The missing sketches are from a famous artist. How could the thief expect to sell them without getting caught? Everyone he tried to sell them to would know the sketches belonged in a museum. Also, why would he take just the two pieces when everything in the collection is valuable?”
    â€œYou’d be surprised at the large market for stolen art,” Mrs. Gomez said sadly. “There are wealthy art collectors all over the world who knowingly buy stolen pieces and keep them in their own private collections, where they can’t be discovered. Often, certain items are stolen on order.”
    â€œOn order?” asked Mr. Quinn.
    â€œYes,” said Mrs. Gomez. She explained, “It’s not unheard-of that a wealthy art patron who has had his or her eye on a specific work of art might actually hire thieves to steal it. I suspect that is what happened with the two da Vinci sketches.”
    â€œThat would explain why only two pieces were stolen,” Mr. Quinn said. “Maggie, tell me about your employees.”
    Mrs. Gomez sighed. “The theft must have taken place on either Saturday or Sunday. I can tell you where all the employees were at the time.”
    As she spoke, Brian took notes as fast as he could. When she finished, he sighed with relief and rubbed his hand.
    Mr. Quinn resumed questioning Mrs. Gomez. “Is there a possibility that the sketches haven’t been removed