Thoughts On Ernest Hemnigway's Missing Thirteen Stories

I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash

 I was always fascinated by the fact Hadley Richardson Hemingway lost 13 short stories of Hemingway’s on a trip to Paris. Here is one scenario.

It would make a great movie!

The setting is 1920's Paris and Hadley Richardson Hemingway has arrived from the states. She has been charged to deliver 13 of Ernest Hemingways short stories to him and they are in a leather brief case. She is greeted upon arrival and immediately ushered to a party at Gertrude Steins with Hemingways artists and writer friends. The writer's Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.E. Cummings, Archibald Macleash and others along with the artists Picasso, Masson, Gris and Miro. Hemingway is delayed and will arrive at the party later. During the early part of the party as she is being introduced she sets the brief case on a stand near a chair in the room. While distracted by the introduction to these Famous people she has heard of but never met she is overwhelmed by the excitement and forgets about the stories. When Hemingway arrives and makes his grand gregarious entrance she remembers that she set the stories down and she goes to the table but the stories are gone. There is an uproar throughout the gathering and Gertrude Stein calls the police. A middle aged somewhat backwards and slow detective shows up and begins asking questions. There is tremendous confusion and each person the detective interviews is sure they know who took the stories because each artist and writer that is accused has expressed jealousy over Ernest Hemingway's talent and consider him to be somewhat of a bully. They all have their stories of confrontations while excessive drinking has occurred and arguments about who is better at their craft abounded.

The briefcase is found but it is devoid of the stories and the important factor is that the detective determines that no one has left the party and the intrigue is where in the world in Gertrude Steins home could some one hide the stories. Each and every person leads the detective in a different way and many false innuendos and accusations creates disharmony and jealousies and outright disdain for fellow artists and writers are exposed. In the end the detective discovers a clump of pebbles next to a large bamboo stick near the fire place hearth upon closer inspection he finds a piece of cloth a shard ripped from someones sleeve. He examines all the occupants clothes and the shard matches Zelda Fitzgeralds apparel. She took the stories because one of Hemingways stories had received greater adulation from Gertrude than her Husbands recently and the opportunity presented itself and she was sloppily drunk at the time.