7. False Appearances

7 False Appearances The next morning, after he dressed and his aunt reapplied his beard and makeup, Stanley hung alone in his painting. The Mona Lisa looked over at him with her sly smile, as if she knew all about yesterday. Stanley still felt terrible. He had disappointed Agent Lunette and scared his aunt. And when he thought of Etoile, his stomach ached. She had looked so confused and hurt when he had been taken away. She had been friendly and generous, and now he'd probably never see her again. Museumgoers came and went, remarking on Stanley and his painting. The Mona Lisa smiled her smile. Suddenly there was a loud clattering, and all the visitors in the gallery turned to look. Even

Stanley shifted his eyes. But it was just someone whose camera had dropped by accident. The murmur of the crowd resumed, and Stanley brought his gaze back to the Mona Lisa. But it took all his control not to furrow his brow. Something wasn't quite right. He'd never noticed the tree beside her head. And had she always turned her body at him that way? She looked back at Stanley with her— Wait a minute, thought Stanley. She's not smiling!

The Mona Lisa had been switched with a frowning fake! Stanley scanned the crowd for anyone suspicious but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then he looked up. There was a masked person, dressed all in black, sticking to the ceiling of the gallery. The person had suction cups on both hands and legs... and over their back was slung the Mona Lisa!

The burglar was creeping ever so slowly toward the door. "Stop!" Stanley yelled, reaching out of his painting to point to the ceiling. "Thief!" The thief began scrambling more quickly. Agent Lunette burst into the gallery, shouting to the guards. A woman fainted when she saw Stanley pull himself from his painting, and a man rushed forward and doused some water on her face.

"S'il vous plait?" Stanley asked the man, pointing to the water. "This is no time for a water break!" Agent Lunette shouted. Without answering, Stanley splashed some water on his face and hands. Then he took three giant steps back, got a running start, and leaped onto the smooth gallery wall. His damp skin stuck like plastic decals on a window, just like when he had climbed the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. By peeling his hands off and re-sticking them a few inches ahead of him, he was able to creep up the wall and onto the ceiling. The thief stuck and unstuck the suction cups speedily to flee.

Stanley inch-wormed across the ceiling as the crowd watched below. When he had almost caught up, the thief looked back, unstuck their right leg, and brought their knee down hard on Stanley's hand. "Argh!" Stanley cried out in pain. The thief lifted their leg again, and Stanley grabbed the suction cup and hung on to it with one hand as he dangled over the crowd. Everyone gasped.