The Cézanne Chase (46 page)

“They took his body to the morgue and found it when they stripped off his clothes. It was between two undershirts he had sewn together. No harm done to the portrait. In fact, it's on display as if nothing ever happened.”

“And the girl? Llewellyn's friend?”

“A sad problem for her, but Astrid was in over her head. I had the first inkling the morning I met her when she was going off to Johnny Van Haeften's for a desk. One in light colors, she said. Van Haeften has first-rate porcelain and fine silver”—he shook his head slowly—“but not a stick of furniture. Of course, Jimmy, you knew that.”

He raised his binoculars, looking first at
Sepera
then at the cruiser. “It's moving again. Slow, but moving.”

He kept the glasses trained on the cruiser as he talked. “Astrid's being held in Marseille pending extradition. She may be complicit in the murder of Boggs, and the Americans want to question her about the Boston portrait. Llewellyn took it badly.”

Oxby scanned back and forth between the two vessels closing in on
each other, then panned the binoculars over the water to pick up the duty boat, which had turned and now was on course for
Sepera.

“And Pinkster?” Jimmy asked.

Oxby shifted his angle and had
Sepera
in clear view. “In the beginning there was Alan Pinkster, and now, at the end, there is still Alan Pinkster.”

Oxby smiled. “But not for long.”

Paul Cézanne painted twenty-five self-portraits—notwithstanding any statements to the contrary in this story. He painted dozens more portraits of friends, relatives, and ordinary folk, many of whom were asked to return for sitting after sitting while the artist continued his unending quest for a personal expression of the shapes and colors he saw. Such, I suppose, is the nature of genius.

I chose to tell a story about Paul Cézanne's self-portraits because those pictures are the essence of Cézanne and because Cézanne has recently gained the recognition and respect that is long overdue. The thought that a dreadful disaster might befall one of Cézanne's masterful self-portraits presented an irresistible storytelling opportunity.

Acknowledgment is one of those long, dusty words that lacks warmth and does not convey the gratitude I feel toward my many friends and colleagues, who were always ready to share their knowledge and give their support. Having said that, I extend my deepest appreciation and thanks to the following:

 

This is fiction; however, the self-portraits of Paul Cézanne are real. All except one or two.

Thomas Swan
chose art crime and thievery as the backdrop for his three highly praised thrillers featuring Inspector Jack Oxby:
The Da Vinci Deception, The Cézanne Chase,
and
The Final Fabergé.
Swan was director of the national board of the Mystery Writers of America and past president of its New York chapter. His novels have all been Book of the Month Club selections and been translated into French, German, Greek, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Copyright © 1997 by Thomas Swan

 

This book is published in the United States of America.

 

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole, or in part, in any form, without written permission. Inquiries should be e-mailed to [email protected]; or write to Permissions Department, Newmarket Press, 18 East 48th Street, New York New York 10017; or fax (212)832-3629.

 

First Newmarket Paperback Edition

 

eISBN : 9781557049780

 

Version 10172012

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Swan, Thomas.

PR6063.W26C49 1996

832'.914—dc20 96-26748

CIP

 

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