Geri’s first response was skepticism. He had presumably received eccentric correspondence before, and the idea that someone was sitting in Italy with the Mona Lisa in a trunk was not, on first consideration, a credible proposition. The theft was still one of the most famous unsolved crimes in Europe, discussed periodically in newspapers even after two years had passed. People with false claims or elaborate schemes had surfaced throughout the investigation.
But Geri also understood that the claim, however unlikely, was not impossible. The painting was genuinely missing. The genuine painting did exist somewhere. If it had turned up in Italy — which was not geographically implausible for someone who had fled from Paris — the opportunity to authenticate it and ensure its return would be significant.
He consulted Giovanni Poggi, the director of the Uffizi Gallery, one of Italy’s most prominent art museums and the institution that housed Florence’s greatest collection of Renaissance painting. Poggi’s professional role made him the appropriate person to authenticate any object that might be the actual Mona Lisa. If the letter was genuine, Poggi would need to be involved in any verification process. If it was false, Poggi’s involvement would quickly establish the deception.
Geri wrote back to the mysterious “Leonardo V.” and arranged a meeting.
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## Room 20, Hotel Tripoli-Italia
Peruggia’s hotel in Florence was the Hotel Tripoli-Italia — described in contemporary accounts as a modest establishment. His room was number 20.
The meeting between Peruggia, Geri, and Poggi took place on December 10 or 11, 1913. The exact date appears as December 10 in some sources, December 11 in others; the discrepancy likely reflects differences between the initial meeting and the arrest that followed the same day. What is established is that the sequence — meeting, authentication, arrest — happened within hours.