To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief

“The world is full of good people who do bad things, mon cher!” (Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective)

This  post  is in self-interest: My wife Francoise-Marie is a sculptor and painter. And it so happens that her work gets into various places in the world. And sometimes gets stolen.

Five years ago, the family of Kentucky Fried Chicken Founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, acquired a bronze sculpture, "The Ballerina" to accompany Margaret Sanders' poem "My Darling" on her Grave memorial at the Louisville Cave Hill Cemetery, in Kentucky. It is famous for its art and atmosphere. But alas, "The Ballerina" was stolen, about a month ago. The sculpture is a limited edition. This was # 2 out of seven, signed "Françoise-Marie". Born in Belgium, she appeals to the Hercule Poirot in you to catch the thief. 

Again the world is full of good people who do bad things. Proof, another theft occurred during a Traveling Exhibition with Cercle Artistique de Luxembourg in France, several years ago. Françoise-Marie's bronze sculpture "LaPenseuse" or "The Thinker" was stolen in the City of Metz. It was one of a limited edition of 7. It was never found. 

Every morning, a small part of humanity gets up with no good intent, the insurance guy would say.

Margaret Sanders' Poem on the Memorial:

My Darling

You think I am of the earth Earthly

But really I am like a ballet dancer

Poised briefly with just the tip of one toe

To the earth

But so attuned I catch the music

Hear naught of anything else

And go dancing on and on

To interpret the music that I hear

God plucks the chords of the harp

For my dancing

But one day I shall lift my toe

From the earth

And you shall find me

Only in the music you hear

For then I shall go

Just music

BY MARGARET SANDERS