10 days ago…

ALEX IS JOGGING, his eyes lingering on the calm sea and the imposing mass of Mount Olympus. The atmosphere is clear today, giving him the sense that he can touch the mountain of the Olympian gods. He returns home, and heads to the bathroom for a shower. He likes to start his day with exercise and jogging.

Fifteen minutes later he prepares his breakfast. A slice of wholemeal bread with a tahini and honey spread and coffee of course. Leaving his mug of coffee on the desk he turns on his computer to read his messages. One of them catches his attention. Subject: ‘The lost painting of Picasso.’ As he reads the message, his phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Good morning. Mr. Alex Evangelou? I am calling from the National Gallery of Athens.”

A phone call from the National Gallery of Athens was not the one he expected to start his day with.

“Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”

“I’m Angeliki Adamopoulou, director of the National Gallery. We met at the ‘Three wounded works by Parthenis’ event about four years ago.” After the introduction, Ms. Adamopoulou explains to Alex the reason for her call. She has a proposal for him, and she has sent the details via e-mail. Alex listens very carefully. It sounds interesting, so he agrees to meet with her next Monday in her office to discuss further details.

He hangs up and returns to reading his messages. After a while, he turns off the computer, sits down to enjoy his coffee in front of the window with a sea view and put his thoughts in order. The sun’s rays reflect on the buildings across the right side of the city, giving a sense of a ‘white’ city.

Alex lives in an apartment on the east side of Thessaloniki, which is the second largest city in Greece. He is a well-known private investigator of stolen works of art. He is almost 45 years old, having done this job for the past fifteen years. However, his professional career started in computing. He studied computer systems and network security and worked in the sub-directorate of Cybercrime Prosecution which is based in Thessaloniki, in the department of special cases.

He became known as an art crime researcher when he located and returned Picasso’s stolen work ‘The Hairdresser’ to the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. This work of art was created in 1911 being declared stolen in 2001. The authorities were offering an enormous amount of money to whoever would recover it. However, the French police reached a dead end after several years of investigation, and the piece was considered lost forever. After the heist, the painting had changed hands over various members of criminal organizations, before being located by Alex and handed over to the Georges Pompidou Centre.

The cases he had investigated were like scripts from police films and formed the basis for his book that was published two years ago, having the title ‘Lost works of art’.

Why now? Why after so many years? What did the director of the National Gallery mean by ‘there is danger’?

AMSTERDAM IS CALLED ‘Queen of the North’ by many and the city manages to live up to this unofficial title. It has all the advantages of a big city: culture, nightlife, international restaurants, a good transport network, while at the same time being a quiet city, without traffic problem, thanks to the canals that cross it and a wide cycling network.

“I like this city,” Alex says. “It gives the visitor a wide range of options, such as museums, attractions, flower gardens full of tulips, romantic cafés, beautiful parks, colourful markets… and the famous Red-Light district.”

The plane with Alex and Sofia lands at Schiphol International Airport, which is located about nine kilometres southwest of Amsterdam. It’s the main airport in the Netherlands and has excellent facilities and various shops.

“The name Schiphol comes from an old fortification called ‘Fort Schiphol’, which was part of the fortifications of Amsterdam,” says Alex and continues “The airport also has a library! It’s the first airport library in the world. The space is impressive with digital stations, where passengers can read books, listen to music, and get familiar with Dutch culture and literature.”

Alex is a passionate reader of Greek and international literature and almost always finds time to visit public libraries in the cities he travels to.

“On February 25, 2005, there was a diamond robbery at the freight terminal. The robbers used a stolen KLM airline truck to gain access to the controlled area of the airport. The estimated value of the diamonds was about 75 million euros, making it one of the largest diamond robberies in history,” says Alex to Sofia, looking her in the eyes.

“I didn’t know that in addition to the lost works of art, you are also interested in stolen diamonds,” Sofia comments with a tone of surprise in her voice.

“No. I’m not particularly interested,” Alex replies. “I visited the Netherlands in the summer of 2005 and there were many articles in the Dutch press every day about this robbery.”

Sofia and Alex head out of the main terminal and board a taxi. The airport is close to the A4 motorway connecting Amsterdam to The Hague. The journey time to the city centre is about twenty minutes.

The taxi stops in front of the hotel, which is housed in one of the city’s many traditional buildings, right next to the canal. Beautiful with special decoration, between modern and classic. After being given a warm welcome with coffee and sandwiches they headed to their rooms.

Alex’s room, decorated with wood, is not very big but it has a comfortable bed, a spacious bathroom, and a wonderful view of the canal. Sofia’s room is right next to it and shares the same view.

Alex and Sofia have some time to prepare for their meeting at the museum, which is located in the town of Laren, thirty kilometres southeast of Amsterdam, and they would reach it by taxi.

AFTER BREAKFAST, Alex and Sofia head out to the meeting point at the Louvre Museum to find their guide. They decided to get a guided tour, as it’s the easiest way to enter the museum avoiding the long entrance queue.

They followed the guided tour up to the famous Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo da Vinci, also known as La Gioconda. As they had visited the museum in the past, they decided to continue on their own starting with the Greek collection.

First, they stop to admire the Victory of Samothrace, one of the masterpieces of Greek art. The statue is located in a prominent position on the top of the Daru staircase that leads to the first floor. The winged goddess who heralds victory is seen just as she is about to alight on a marble ship. Next stop is the Venus de Milo, an ancient Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic period. It’s a 202 cm tall and 900 kg Parian marble statue of a Greek goddess, most likely Aphrodite, depicted half-clothed with a bare torso.

They are excited and are constantly commenting and sharing information about the exhibits. Most of the time they complete each other’s sentences. Alex feels that he has found his other half, in this field. They both have big smiles on their faces.

A little later, Alex explains to Sofia that he has to meet some people in Paris for new information. Sofia says that she will stay at the museum since there is a lot more she would like to see, and that she will meet him later for dinner with Michelle.

***

Alex is quite content after the meeting he had. The information he gained encourages him to continue the search. He knows his next step, but he wants to discuss it with Sofia first.

He heads to Michelle’s office. Sofia is waiting for him at the entrance and together they go to the first floor, where their friend’s office is.

As they drink the coffee that Michelle offers them, Alex reveals the information he has gathered so far.

“Mensie is very careful in every deal. The police authorities, despite the thorough investigation, have no evidence of him, not even a sketch. In the world of illegal transactions, he is known for his integrity. No one has met him, but everyone counts him as a very serious buyer of artworks. His name is associated with the latest thefts of Picasso’s works, but the information that he prefers such works is wrong.”

Alex takes a sip of coffee and continues. “As there is no information about his actions in the last decade, I decided to focus on an earlier period. I thought that at the beginning of his career he wouldn’t have been so careful, and I was right. His first major deal, which ultimately failed, had to do with the theft of the painting from the Munch Museum in Oslo in 2004.”

“Do you mean the theft of Edward Munch’s painting ‘The Scream’?” Sofia asks.