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...how the crime was committed
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According to the theory of the Prefect of Paris Police, Inspector Louis Lepine, the thief hid overnight in the museum after posing as a visitor the day before. The next day was Monday, maintenance day, and the Louvre was closed to the public. The thief waited for the guard in the Salon Carré to go out for a morning cigarette break; then, dressed in a workman's tunic, he left his hiding place and removed the Mona Lisa from the wall. The painting was taken down the nearby service stairs and cut from its bulky frame, which Lepine's detectives later found in a dimly lit corner of the stairwell.
But at the door to the courtyard, the thief encountered his first problem. The door was locked, and someone was approaching from the floor below. Lepine believed the thief must have quickly tucked the small wooden panel under his tunic and created a fuss about the inconvenience. "To which the plumber replied, 'Take it easy! Take it easy! I have pliers. I'm going out; I'll open the door for you.'" (author Seymour Reit) The thief waited until the plumber had turned a corner, then slipped past the dozing security guard in the outer courtyard, the Cour Visconti, and disappeared into the anonymity of the Parisian streets. From there, the trail was lost. |
