The gilded seal, p.1
The Gilded Seal, page 1
T H E
G I LDED
SEAL
To Amelia and Jemima
“When the first baby laughed for the fi rst time,
its laugh broke into a thousand pieces,
and they all went skipping about,
and that was the beginning of fairies.”
J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Contents
Epigraph iii
Historical Background xvii
Prologue
It started with a whisper; a barely voiced
tremor
of…
3
Part I 11
Chapter One
As the car drew up, a shaft of light appeared…
13
Chapter Two
They hit traffic almost immediately when they
turned on to…
18
Chapter Three
It seemed less a castle than a mausoleum
to
Tom;…
26
Chapter Four
As a precaution against being seen in
Hudson’s company, Cole…
33
Chapter Five
The hall was dark and still. Several marble
busts,
once…
38
Chapter Six
Tom was finishing a call when Archie let
himself
in,…
43
Chapter Seven
This was a sanctuary. A refuge. A place
to
escape…
48
Chapter Eight
With a sigh, Tom threw the bedclothes off
and
swung…
50
Chapter Nine
Reuben Razi’s gallery occupied the ground
floor of one of…
55
Chapter Ten
The wooden gate creaked open, ripping the
police notice forbidding…
61
Chapter Eleven
The thing is, Special Agent Browne…I’m
awful
busy.”
65
Chapter Twelve
Gillez led Tom round to the other side of the…
69
Chapter Thirteen
The sound of sirens echoing down Broadway’s
steel canyon reached…
73
Chapter Fourteen
Tom had waited for the protective cloak
of darkness to…
76
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as she was certain that the doors had…
82
Chapter Sixteen
Eva seemed reluctant to leave the workshop.
Tom understood why.
87
Chapter Seventeen
You got any idea what it means?” Mitchell
asked
Jennifer…
91
Chapter Eighteen
The rhythmic tolling of the Basilica’s bell
ushered
Tom
inside.
94
Part II 97
Chapter Nineteen
I thought we’d agreed that you were going
to
keep…
99
Chapter Twenty
The air was heavy with a swirling mist
of
cigarette…
105
Chapter Twenty-One
The air was still and heavy, the washing,
strung
along…
111
Chapter Twenty-Two
In the end, things had gone surprisingly
smoothly. Green had…
115
Chapter Twenty-Three
I’m sorry, but can you say that again?”
Philippe
Troussard…
118
Chapter Twenty-Four
The round pond was encircled by trees.
As arranged, Archie…
123
Chapter Twenty-Five
The elevator was enclosed in a black wire
cage
that…
128
Chapter Twenty-Six
Let me get this straight,” Besson laughed,
as he poured…
136
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The room was empty. Milo was alone,
standing to one…
139
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tom had long wondered whether he would
ever really be…
144
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jennifer stepped out into the Cour Napoléon
and paused. The…
150
Chapter Thirty
I thought I asked for the Commando variant?”
Milo
kicked…
155
Chapter Thirty-One
Let me see that list again.”
158
Chapter Thirty-Two
Dumas had found them this place, a small
end-of-terrace
house,…
166
Chapter Thirty-Three
Jennifer had been on hold for almost fifteen
minutes
before…
170
Chapter Thirty-Four
The edges of the room were wreathed in
darkness,
the…
173
Chapter Thirty-Five
Who is it?”
176
Chapter Thirty-Six
Jennifer stepped out of the elevator and turned
toward
the…
181
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The one-way street was blocked by a car,
hazard
lights…
185
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A narrow slice of the Pompidou Center was
framed
between…
187
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Can I help you?” the security guard challenged
them
as…
191
Chapter Forty
She had to admit it was an impressive
set-up.
Camera…
193
Chapter Forty-One
They’ve stopped,” Ledoux pointed at the screen.
The van had…
197
Chapter Forty-Two
We’ve got a problem.”
201
Chapter Forty-Three
You hurt?” Jennifer helped Troussard to his feet,
wiping
the…
204
Chapter Forty-Four
Tom wasn’t sure when the idea had first
occurred
to…
207
Chapter Forty-Five
Ferrat and Ledoux stared at her blankly,
and Jennifer realized…
210
Chapter Forty-Six
There was only one way inside the van—through
the
floor.
212
Chapter Forty-Seven
There it is!” Djoulou, sweat beading his brow,
pointed
at…
215
Chapter Forty-Eight
The tunnel’s access hatch was no more than
five
feet…
218
Chapter Forty-Nine
Djoulou turned to his expectant men and gave
them
a…
220
Chapter Fifty
Who wants another drink?”
223
Part III 227
Chapter Fifty-One
Leigh Lewis wedged the phone against his
shoulder
and
dialed…
229
Chapter Fifty-Two
Archie’s rasping voice, the overspill of ash
on the floral…
233
Chapter Fifty-Three
Do you mind if I join you?”
236
Chapter Fifty-Four
There was a Napoleon quote that Tom
vaguely remembered, something…
241
Chapter Fifty-Five
Looking around, it struck Jennifer that,
no matter the country…
245
Chapter Fifty-Six
He’s here!” Dumas pointed at the Range
Rover turning on…
249
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Jean-Pierre Dumas, DST,” Tom lied.
255
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Jennifer lifted her head, her eyes
incredulously searching the room…
258
Chapter Fifty-Nine
How long have you known Besson?”
Jennifer asked Tom as…
264
Chapter Sixty
You’re saying she walked out of there
voluntarily?”
Green
eyed…
268
Chapter Sixty-One
Tom paused in Cécile Levy’s bedroom,
the noise of the…
271
Chapter Sixty-Two
It must have been ten years sin
had
been…
277
Chapter Sixty-Three
Did she date the Louvre’s Mona Lisa
before she…?” Besson…
279
Chapter Sixty-Four
Jennifer turned the obelisk over in her hands,
studying
each…
282
Chapter Sixty-Five
This time tomorrow there’d have been no
one here.” Tom…
285
Chapter Sixty-Six
Archie liked this place. Compared to the sleek,
sanitized
efficiency…
290
Chapter Sixty-Seven
She’d only been doing about ten miles
an hour when…
294
Chapter Sixty-Eight
The heat had scorched the tree trunk and
formed
a…
299
Chapter Sixty-Nine
It was a fifty-minute drive from the underground
garage where…
302
Chapter Seventy
The door swung open. Milo carefully edged
his gun and…
309
Chapter Seventy-One
Tom surged out of the darkness and rapped
his
knuckles…
312
Chapter Seventy-Two
They crossed the road, Jennifer noticing that
Tom was keeping…
315
Chapter Seventy-Three
There. It was done. Besson placed the canvas
in
the…
322
Chapter Seventy-Four
Ledoux’s no idiot.” Ketter looked as though
he might actually…
326
Chapter Seventy-Five
By the time they made it down on to the…
332
Chapter Seventy-Six
The two squat wings of the Palais de
Chaillot
loomed…
335
Chapter Seventy-Seven
She couldn’t move—her hands were tied
behind her back, her…
341
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Tom had been right about needing a guide.
Archie
was…
345
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Through here—” Jennifer rubbed her wrists
as she ran from…
348
Chapter Eighty
Do you carry any tools?” Tom asked Blanco
hopefully,
rubbing…
352
Chapter Eighty-One
Don’t tell me. They got away.” Milo’s finger
was
angrily…
359
Chapter Eighty-Two
Jennifer stepped from the shadows of the
doorway she had…
361
Chapter Eighty-Three
He couldn’t prove it, but Dumas was pretty
certain
the…
366
Chapter Eighty-Four
The girls were turning out along the Malecón,
their
lipstick…
370
Chapter Eighty-Five
The Museo Napoleónico was located on the
far side of…
373
Chapter Eighty-Six
The color drained from Tom’s face,
his eyes wide and…
378
Chapter Eighty-Seven
It was a long narrow room with a
single,
windowless…
382
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Please accept this with the best wishes
of the government…
385
Chapter Eighty-Nine
What did you say to him?” Jennifer laughed
as
they…
390
Epilogue
The corridor stretched before them,
the unpainted concrete walls closing…
395
Note from the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise
Other Books by James Twining
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Historical Background
This novel was inspired by the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911
and its eventual recovery in 1913, an event which triggered
one of the largest criminal investigations in history and to
which the Mona Lisa owes much of her present-day fame.
All descriptions and background information provided on
works of art, artists, thefts, forgery detection techniques and
architecture are similarly accurate. Unfortunately, the Clare-
mont Riding Academy, which is briefly featured in this novel,
announced its closure shortly before publication, but the de-
scription was left unchanged as a tribute to the sad passing of
a much loved New York landmark.
For more information on the author and on the fascinat-
ing history, people, places and artifacts that feature in
The Gilded Seal and the other Tom Kirk novels, please visit
www.jamestwining .com.
Extract from Lives of the Most Eminent
Paint ers, Sculptors, and Architects by Giorgio
Vasari (1568), translated by Gaston du C. de
Vere (1912)
Leonardo undertook to execute, for Francesco del
Giocondo, the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife.
In this head, whoever wished to see how
closely art could imitate nature, was able to
comprehend it with ease; for in it were counter-
feited all the minutenesses that with subtlety are
able to be painted . . .
. . . The nose, with its beautiful nostrils, rosy
and tender, appeared to be alive. The mouth,
with its opening, and with its ends united by the
red of the lips to the flesh-tints of the face,
seemed, in truth, to be not colors but flesh. In the
pit of the throat, if one gazed upon it intently,
could be seen the beating of the pulse. And, in-
deed, it may be said that it was painted in such a
manner as to make every valiant craftsman, be
he who he may, tremble and lose heart.
And in this work of Leonardo’s there was a
smile so pleasing, that it was a thing more
divine than human to behold; and it was held to
be something marvelous, since the reality was
not more alive.
2 j a m e s
t w i n i n g
The Washington Post, 13th December 1913
Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s great painting,
which was stolen from the Louvre, in Paris, more
than two years ago, has been found [and a man
arrested]. It is now in the hands of the Italian
authorities and will be returned to France.
Mona Lisa or La Joconde as it is more prop-
erly known, the most celebrated portrait of a
woman ever painted, has been the object of an
exhaustive search in all quarters of the globe.
The mystery of its abstraction from the Louvre,
its great intrinsic value, and the fascination of
the smile of the woman it portrayed . . . have
combined to keep alive interest in its recovery.
On being interrogated, the prisoner said his
real name is Vincenzo Peruggia . . . “I was
ashamed,” he said “that for more than a century
no Italian had thought of avenging the spolia-
tion committed by Frenchmen under Napoléon
when they carried off from the Italian museums
and galleries, pictures, statues and treasures of
all kinds by wagonloads, ancient manuscripts by
thousands, and gold by sacks.”
P R O L O G U E
There is only one step
from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Napoléon I
MACARENA, SEVILLE, SPAIN
14th April (Holy Thursday)— 2:37 a.m.
It started with a whisper; a barely voiced tremor of sup-
pressed anticipation that rippled gently through the expec-
tant crowd.
“Pronto. Pronto estará aquí.” Soon. She’ll be here soon.
But the whisper evaporated almost as quickly as it had ap-
peared. Snatched from their lips by a capricious wind, it was
carried far above their heads into the warm night, only to be
casually tossed between the swirling currents like autumn
leaves being chased across a park.
It was replaced, instead, by the distant sound of a lone
trumpet, its plaintive, almost feminine cry echoing down the
winding, cobbled street. This time, people made no attempt
to conceal their excitement, and their faces flushed with a
strange inner glow.
“Ahora viene. Viene La Macarena.” She’s coming. La Maca-
rena is coming.
The crowd, almost ten deep on both sides of the street,
surged forward against the steel barriers that lined the route,
straining to see. In between them, the dark cobblestones
