One Mystery Solved
A year later an important letter arrived at the boys’ house. Dad opened it, read it quickly, and said, “Good news, boys! This letter is from the Dutch government. Remember those two paintings that we thought might have been stolen from a Dutch museum?”
“Yes,” said Bill.
“Well, it seems that after a year of studying them, the Dutch have decided that they really are the paintings that were stolen.”
“That is good news,” said Harley. “At least we know that two of the paintings we found are genuine.”
“What are they going to do with them?” asked Martin.
“Of course, they have to go back to their original owners. But this letter says that the Dutch government wants us to come to Holland as their guests as a reward for finding those paintings.”
These two paintings “The Lacemaker” and “The Smiling Girl” were thought to have been by Vermeer. A series of tests, including some of those described in this booklet, showed that the paintings are fairly old. However, some of the materials used are not typical of Vermeer, and the pictures are now thought to have been painted by a follower of the artist.
“That’s great!” said Bill. “Looks like we’re getting something out of finding that box after all.”
“Yes,” said Dad. “And don’t forget the other unidentified paintings may also be genuine. We’ve proved that one is a fake, the experts believe that three of the others are copies, and then there are the two that might be Sisleys and are only waiting for a method to prove it. And we have one more that science managed to prove was really old. I’m sure that in a few years methods will be developed to tell us exactly who painted it.
“And now let’s make arrangements for our trip to Holland.”