One winter night when I was almost asleep, I suddenly knew what to say. I rewrote the ending of the book many times, but couldn’t seem to get it right. My pile of drafts, by the time I finished the story, was about a yard high. It also has real assignments I made up, and dialogue that came directly from my students. I wrote it to read aloud to one of my classes, just for fun, and that is probably why it has so many wild ingredients. The letter was not signed, and it had no return address.Ĭhasing Vermeer took me five years to write, as I was still a full-time classroom teacher. I congratulate you on your pursuit of justice. If you show this to the authorities, you will most certainly be placing your life in danger. Although you may never meet, the three of you will work together in ways none of us can predict.

Two other people in the world have received this document tonight. If you wish to help me, you will be amply rewarded for any risks you take. I have chosen you because of your discriminating eye, your intelligence, and your ability to think outside of convention. As those in positions of authority are not brave enough to correct this error, I have taken it upon myself to reveal the truth. This crime has wronged one of the world’s greatest painters. I would like your help in identifying a crime that is now centuries old. Each of the three people who lived in those homes lived alone, and each had a hard time falling asleep that night. The doorbell had been rung at each place, and an envelope left propped outside.Įach front door was opened on to an empty street.

A plump tangerine moon had just risen over Lake Michigan. On a warm October night in Chicago, three deliveries were made in the same neighborhood. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled? As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into the mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem-solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears.īefore they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one-neighbors, parents, teachers-is spared from suspicion.

Chasing vermeer by blue balliett