"'In New York City's war on crime, 'the worst criminal offenders are pursued 'by the detectives of the Major Case Squad." "'These are their stories.'" "Don't put me off, Bernard." "I've tried to reach you all morning." "I can't do this over the phone." "I'm coming to the city." "Yes, it's... it's that important." "Prototype just arrived." "You should be very proud." "Gloria, I..." "I've gotta go home." "Kid emergency and I..." "I'll see you tomorrow." "'Americans always panic.'" "Don't patronise me." "This is potentially ruinous to both of us!" " Who else knows?" " She didn't say." "I think it's new information." "I don't think she told anybody else." " Will she take money?" " She's worried about her reputation." " OK." " OK what?" "I'll help you." " I have to go to the studio tonight." " Again?" " Could you not..." " Could I not what?" "You've talked for months about doing less work." " I'm tied up with a few things." " You're exhausted all the time and stressed out, it's not worth it." "So we'll have less money, big deal." "You know?" "Big...deal." "I'm sorry, I couldn't find a cab and..." " I thought this was private." " Mr Langer knows all about it." "I'm sure we can sort this out like civilised people." "That's...hard to imagine, with the position you've put me in." "This can work to your advantage." "Now, who's that?" "Bernard, where are you?" "Didn't you hear the phone?" "Oh, my God!" "The wife ID'd him." "Bernard Jackson, an art authenticator." "We called you guys on account of the art angle." "This is about art?" "Call the mayor." "The wife said that's her husband's .38." "She doesn't know the hanging beauty." "Anne Ellis." "ID from the Champlain Museum of Art in Troy." "She's the curator." "Pictures, car keys, hotel pass key." "What's Mrs Jackson's story?" "Bernard was working late." "When he didn't come home, she cabbed it here, found everything as is." "She's got gunpowder on the right one." "We'll do a test." "Test her shirt and sleeve, I wanna see the dispersal pattern." "And check the box cutter near the spool for prints." "Popular opinion's got this pegged as a murder-suicide." "Well, never trust opinion polls." "This rope is frayed down to here." " She was hoisted up?" " Could be." "The fraying doesn't mean anything." "Does this mean anything?" "Glasses are missing." "Yeah, so probably washed." "Tell the MEs to run a tox on both victims for alcohol and sedatives." "I think we're ready to see Mrs Jackson." "They want to check me for gunpowder, as if I shot him!" " It's a routine procedure." " It's not routine for me." "I don't know what I'll do now." "We're very sorry for your loss." "The dead woman's name is Anne Ellis." "She's the curator at a museum in Troy." "Your husband mentioned her?" "No." "Maybe he was doing some work for her." "Are you sure their relationship was strictly...professional?" "It had to be." "Four months ago, my husband had prostate surgery." "It affected his..." "Nothing we tried worked." "He was planning to slow down, maybe go back to teaching at the Art Institute." "The surgery really scared him." "Why would that woman do this to him?" "'You say double homicide.'" "The dead woman's hand was positive for gunpowder." "There was no residue on her shirt." "The mes found enough Roofenol in her system to knock out a horse." "He drugs her, strings her up, then shoots himself?" "Doesn't fit the blast pattern of his wound." "Double homicide it is." "Jackson's wife?" "No gunpowder on her." "She was home until 6am." "Anne Ellis's husband was home all night with their kid." "Checks out with the calls he made to her hotel." "One a last shot." "He had a lot of art in his workshop." "I saw a Tibetan tonka worth over 100 grand, a Goya etching worth half a mil, easy, a Chinese moon vase worth 200 grand." "Easy pickings in a robbery." "All my favourite theories shot to hell in 60 seconds." " Anything in her hotel?" " An overnight bag, no sexy lingerie." "There's a Mr Ellis here, says he's supposed to talk to you." "She was found hanging in Jackson's workshop." "She had been drugged." " What was she doing there?" " We were hoping you could tell us." "I don't know who Jackson is." "This was a business trip for the museum, last minute." "She made many business trips to the city?" "Last few months, every couple of weeks." "She found these donors who were giving a painting to the museum." "A Monet." "A painting like that, that's quite a coup for a small museum." "It was very important to her." "She spent a lot of time sucking up to these people." "I thought that's who she was seeing last night." "You know their names?" "Blunt." "Rachel and, er, Bill, I think." "Annie said they had a big place on Fifth Avenue, just up from the Met." "Oh, God!" "What the hell happened to her?" "She didn't call you that day?" " No." "Neither did Bernard." " You knew him as well?" "He authenticated the Monet we bought." " You bought it at auction?" " Er, no, from a collector in Europe." "Whose idea was it to donate it to the Champlain?" "Rachel spent her summers in the area." "It was a nice gesture." "Bernard said places like the Met have more art than they know what to do with." " But up in Troy..." " Our little Monet would be a star." "That's what Bernard said." " You like art?" " I like this." "It's a Lachaise, er, bronze." "One of only three cast from the mould." "How do you know?" "Does it have the number on the bottom?" "Er, there's...no number, it's, just a documented fact." "Were you aware Jackson and Ms Ellis knew each other?" "They met because of our Monet." "But we didn't know how well they knew each other." "Oh." "You think there was something going on there?" "Well, murder-suicide speaks for itself." "Certainly does." "When's the last time you spoke with Ms Ellis?" "A few days ago." "There was meant to be a ceremony to dedicate the new gallery, but she said it would have to be postponed for a few weeks." " Did she say why?" " Erm, some problem with the contractor." "They botched the lighting." "Right." "It's a Monet, it's all in the lighting." "Thank you." "They're simply investigating the tragic end of a tragic love affair." "He tried to pretend he didn't, but one of them knew a lot about art." "Where did he come by this knowledge?" "At the police academy?" "Come on, William." "Even the art world doesn't know a lot about art." " You said nothing could go wrong." " Nothing has gone wrong." "Jackson just could not keep it in his pants." "How could he be so stupid, getting involved with that girl?" "Look on the bright side." "If anything does go wrong, we can always blame Jackson." "He's hardly in a position to deny it." "It's beautiful." "Impressionists are too pretty." "You probably like those sweaty naked people." "Lucian Freud." "As a matter of fact, I do." "You can't have that at home." "You can't live with it!" "I don't want to live with it, I want to think about it." "Hello." "I see you've found our treasure." "Exquisite, isn't it?" " It's beautiful." " It'll be Annie's legacy." "She worked so hard for the donation, the funding to build this gallery." " She had a lot riding on it?" " We're not rich." "The added security alone is a burden." "But a $10 million gift will put us on the map." "We heard the gallery dedication was delayed by a lighting problem." "The lighting?" "Oh, no." "No, the Blunts had a last-minute conflict." "Annie was adamant we couldn't go ahead without them." " Er, could we see her office?" " Mm-hm." "I can't tell you how shocked we were." "Annie was the last person we expected to..." "Well, you know." "Die?" "I mean, in those circumstances." "I can only imagine how her husband must feel." "Have you heard of the Von Dixon chem test company?" " No." " They're in New Mexico." "They sent Annie a receipt to test paint from an oil painting." "Why?" "We use companies here in New York and in New Jersey." "She didn't want anyone to know she was having tests done." "This says that the test on the paint was inconclusive." "What paint?" "Apparently, Annie thought your exquisite Monet might be an exquisite fake." " The museum let you take it?" " Helped by a court order." "They'll look like idiots if it's a forgery." "If it is, it's a good one." "The paints were handmade by grinding natural minerals, mixing them with linseed oil, as Monet did." "You found cadmium red." "Didn't they use vermilion then?" "Only until 1872, four years before this painting." ""Green specks of unknown origin."" "We're still working on that one." "Maybe green beans got in the paint." " And the canvas?" " Mid-19th century." "Forgers take paintings by unknown artists of the same period and paint over them." "What tipped off Annie that it might be a fake?" "Er, the craquelure of the paint varnish." "When it ages naturally, the cracks are uneven." "When it's aged artificially, the cracks have a uniform pattern, like this." " You did your homework." " Yeah." "OK." "Here's how it works." "1945 on, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, A-bomb tests, worldwide radiation levels shoot up." "Radiation is absorbed by every living thing, including linseed, which finds its way into paints mixed after 1945." "Paintings after 1945 have a higher radiation level." "Which this one shouldn't have, but does." "This was painted at least 30 years after Monet died." "Wouldn't he be surprised?" "He'd note the name of the owner, but I don't know where the records are." "Is that who killed Bernie?" "They sold the forgery to the Blunts, so they have a motive." "You think Bernie knew it was a forgery?" "Our experts think he did." " We're sorry." " He could've been fooled." " It could've been an honest mistake." " Why, he's made mistakes before?" "He used to work almost exclusively for an insurance company." "Last year, it was discovered a rare Greek statue he authenticated for a museum in Los Angeles was a Roman copy." "And the company let him go?" "He was making more money freelancing." " For RSL Galleries?" " Among others." "He authenticated the Monet for them." "We got 11 invoices to RSL, half a dozen to other clients, totals just over 100 grand." "No, that can't be right." "Bernard put almost a million dollars into our accounts." " From his art business?" " Yes." "This report is unreliable." "The radiation test didn't lie." "Americans are so impressed with science, when it's as much myth as religion." "There's also the cracking of the varnish." "Again, a matter of opinion." "Forgive me if I credit my expertise and Bernard's with a bit more authority than some stupid machine." "You don't think other paintings Jackson authenticated might be forgeries?" " Not at all." " Where did the paintings come from?" "From European sellers who remain anonymous." "How about a list of the paintings and the American buyers?" "That information is confidential." "Americans are also impressed with subpoenas." "We'd be glad to show you how impressive they can be." "There is nothing I enjoy quite as much as being threatened by a beautiful woman." "Let me get you that list." "Monet's Spring Violets was in the Albertina Museum in Vienna in 1935, but the painting was on loan from a private collection." "Ursula and David Lieberman." "Lesen Sie Deutsch?" "Ja, ausreichend." "I learned in the army." "This day is evermore delightful." "Is that where you got the painting from, the Lieberman family?" "No, they all met an unfortunate end." "Wonderful collections they had." "Very tragic." "Here's your information." "Six months ago, Langer sold Rainy Night by Pissarro." " What's the next painting?" " A Cézanne." "Rainy Night by Pissarro, property of the Abraham family, Lintz, Austria, 1936." "Stone Road by Cézanne, property of the Sternberg family," "Vienna, 1938." "Mr Langlois by Renoir, property of Julius Schkolenik, Vienna, 1937." "Langer's paintings were owned by Jewish families." "And they all met an unfortunate end." "We have the most extensive list of stolen Jewish art, thanks to the Nazis." "They kept very precise records." "Here's one." "Let me just check something." "Why didn't alarms go off when this Monet went out on the market?" "Private sales." "We never knew they were on the market." "Here." "Those the paintings on your list?" "They're all there." "What's this list from?" "The manifest of a U-boat that sank in the North Sea in 1945." "All your paintings were on board on their way to South America." "What I don't understand is, how could anyone recover these masterpieces from the bottom of the ocean?" "By painting them yourself." "Maybe the paintings never got on the sub, some Nazi stored them in his attic." " A relative of Langer?" " I bet they're all forgeries." "There's one way to find out." "Test each painting." "Start dialling." "We left messages." "No one's called back." "Nobody likes to be told they're a sucker." "Even the Blunts and the Champlain dispute the results." "That may explain their behaviour." "Find the explanation that works for you." "As for the Renoir we bought from Mr Langer," " we donated it to the Tufnell." " The Tufnell?" " It's in Des Plains, Illinois." " Why that museum?" "Big museums are full of Impressionists, but in Des Plains..." " It would be a star." " Precisely what Dewitt said." "After speaking with Mr Jackson and Mr Langer." "We consulted with them, naturally." "What did you pay for the Renoir?" "One and a half million dollars." "Bit of a bargain." "Still, a nice gift for a small museum." "'Here's the deal.'" "Last year, Mr Dewitt Foster exercised his stock options." "He's worth 20,000,000." "He thinks his stocks will be worth more if he keeps them." " But the market takes a dive." " Now his stocks are worth 3,000,000." "The crunch comes when he gets his tax bill." "His taxes are assessed on what the stocks had been worth." " When they were worth 20 million." " He gets a tax bill for eight million." " He needs to cut his tax bill." " Hence the donation to a museum." "The assessed value of this painting is 14 million bucks." "That's a seven million dollar tax break." "He paid only one million five for the painting." "That's why they call it a bargain." " A tax scam." " A very good tax scam." " Are the museums in on it?" " No." "Langer targeted small museums that couldn't afford testing." "They believed Jackson's authentication." "Except for Ms Ellis in Troy." "Her suspicions gave Jackson second thoughts about his participation in the scam." "Langer killed them both." " You think." " I think." "This scam has a built-in defence." "Plausible deniability." "Buyers claim they didn't know they were forgeries," "Langer claims he was duped by his supplier." "They all point their finger at Jackson." "There is one person they can't say they didn't know." "The forger." "Find him and the dominoes will fall." "The art theft squad at the FBI might know this guy." "Talk to them." "I need to practise my German." "Tax fraud." "How mundane." "But smart." "I like smart." "I wanna get one thing straight between us." "It's not a crime selling forgeries to people who know they're forgeries." "Am I correct to assume murder is still a crime?" "Yes." "There's a lot of people involved here." "But we're light on evidence." "If we put pressure on people, someone will talk." "Why start with me?" " I have nothing to tell you." " You have a lot to tell me." "You not only sold those paintings, you painted them." "What makes you think that?" "They were made by a master technician." "Not like van Meegeren and his fake Vermeers, but someone who could recreate the work of many artists." " An artist in his own right." " No." "This person would have to be devoid of artistic vision and an American." "Americans have no idea what art is any more." "You filled this building with motorcycles and called it art." "Is that what you're doing, thumbing your nose at us?" "Whatever I am doing, it hardly entails painting frauds and signing someone else's name." "I do not know of any man who could subjugate his ego to such an extent." "A woman." "He said a man's ego would get in the way." "You have transparencies of the paintings?" "Reproductions." "You make any money at this?" "They retail for 500 at art fairs, cost me 20." "You tell me." "Hit the lights." "This is one of the best forgeries I've seen in a long time." "Tell me about the materials." "Er, period canvas, paints hand-mixed with linseed oil." "It's hanging in a museum, like a couple of yours, I'll bet." "I'll never tell." " What, are you seeing something?" " Maybe." "See this?" "Er, it's like a cut in the paint." "With a palette knife." "They all have it." "Crescent shape." "Man... she's gotten good." " You know her?" " Yeah." "She did restorations for the Met to support her painting." "Name's Sylvia Moon." "You have been saying it's about to happen!" "This is not a good day to issue ultimatums." " I want people seeing my paintings." " They are seeing your paintings." "You made me promises." "You better keep them." "Artists..." "You owe me two canvases." "You finish them..." "then you get your show." " Sylvia Moon?" " Yes." "Who are you?" "Detective Eames, Detective Goren." "We need to talk." "I'm in the middle of some work." "It will only take a few minutes." "Hey, it's..." "It's nice." "He can't help himself." "Can I come in?" "I guess so." "Careful, it's still drying." "That smell..." "Erm, linseed oil?" " Do you grind your own paints?" " The pigments are better." "The way the Impressionists did it." "Some of them." " What is it you want to talk about?" " You grind them in this?" "Yes." "I'm sorry, my studio isn't open for tours." "Now, I'm trying to get a show ready." "Do you know a Rudy Langer?" "He owns a gallery." "Everybody knows Rudy." "You should put this in your show." " Where's it gonna be?" " That hasn't been finalised yet." "Yellow tangs, clownfish." "I like your setup." "It's very...relaxing." " Is this how you control the algae?" " Yes." "It says you crush the tablets before you put them in the aquarium." "Yes." "You crush these green tablets in there?" "Same as your paints?" "Yes." "Why?" "I guess it wasn't the green beans after all." "Chemical analysis showed the green specks were composed of simazine, which is the active ingredient in the algae tablets." "You did the Monet, the Renoir, the Cézanne" " and the other forgeries." " They're not forgeries." "They're original works based on material by other artists." "I even sign them with my mark." "Why did you paint them?" "As colour exercises." "You learn to paint by copying the masters." "It's OK to pass them off as the real thing?" "I didn't." "Rudy knew what he was getting and so did the buyers." "An original painting by Sylvia Moon?" "Yes." "Identical in every respect to a Monet?" "Not at all." "Art is about context." "A Romanticist painting flowers in the machine age isn't the same as a 21st-century woman painting the same flowers in the cyber age." "The message is different." "What was Bernard Jackson's message when he signed the authentications?" "I don't know what you mean." "He certified that your painting was a Monet." "I don't know who this person is." "I have no control over what people do with my paintings once they buy them." "That's the bottom line." "Now, this interview's over." "A lot of people have bought your work?" "I mean, aside from, er, colour exercises?" "Several collectors are very interested." " They're waiting for my new show." " Who's putting it on?" " Rudy Langer." " That's funny." "He told me that only someone devoid of artistic vision could paint those forgeries." "If she didn't misrepresent her paintings, she may be off the hook." " We have no leverage." " So much for falling dominoes." " Try the other buyers." " All alibied for the murder and they say they were misled by Jackson." "Seems like we've been here before." " Sylvia Moon knew Jackson." " What?" "This says she graduated from the New York Art Institute in '91." "Katherine Jackson said her husband used to teach there." "I knew, some part of me knew, that you were stringing me along!" " Never." " But to brag about it?" "To tell the police that I am devoid of artistic vision?" "I had to throw them off the track." "Don't you know what this is like for me?" "Can you even conceive what this show meant?" " You can't." " Sylvia, don't be like this." " We have to be careful now." " I don't care any more!" "Don't look at those!" "That's bad art!" "There's no art in this gallery!" "This man is a fraud!" "Stop looking!" "Bernard had a reputation." "There were flings with other faculty." "What about the students?" "Sylvia Moon?" "A name I haven't heard in a long time." "Yes, there was some involvement." "Bernard had to leave when we found out." "Under threat of a lawsuit, we let Sylvia graduate." "Or she wouldn't have graduated?" "There was strong draughtsmanship in her work." "That isn't artistry." "Was she admitted the same way she graduated?" "No." "She had to apply twice before she was accepted." "The second time, she showed impressive growth in a year." "Her second canvas was brilliant." "We even used it in our publicity materials." " We'd love to see it." " Oh." "Would you happen to know where she got her BFA?" "I'll look it up." "Her last year here, she took Art of Southeast Asia with Professor Gilsdorf," "Portraiture with Professor Diniacopoulos..." " This is odd." " What?" "She got credit for her classes, but no grades." "I wish I'd known about this place." "OK." "I remember this." "Ms Moon was in residence that year." "Her roommate, Zoe Payton, suicided." "So the college gave Sylvia a bye." "College policy." "Because of the trauma." "How did the roommate kill herself?" "Hanged herself in her room." "Zoe was our only child." "It killed my wife." "Just took ten years to do it." "Did you have any warning Zoe might hurt herself?" "She kept things to herself, but she felt things very deep, like my wife." "She'd just broken up with some boy." "Did she mention her roommate Sylvia Moon?" "She found her." "Poor girl." "It broke her up." "They were friends, took art classes together." "This room hasn't changed much since your daughter died." "No." "Eames?" "What's the matter?" "Did Sylvia visit here?" "No, I don't think so." "And this is one of your daughter's paintings?" "She did that her freshman year." "Same person did both paintings." "She flipped the rope over the crossbeam, those acoustic tiles come out, and tied it to the radiator." "The chair was kicked over here." " Was she tested for drugs?" " They found quaaludes." " Is this her bed here?" " Er, yes, I think so." "Well, these tiles have been replaced." "Do you have the maintenance record for this room?" "Yep, a few years ago, replaced a bent pipe and some broken brackets." "Well, now I see it." " Thank God!" "They arrested me." " For what?" " Tax fraud." " Not again!" " She knew Bernard Jackson." " Knew him quite well." "You had a relationship with him." " I didn't" " Don't deny it." "Now, as to the murders, we believe Mr Langer committed them, but we need your help to prove it." "I don't know, I wasn't there." "We lifted 120 different fingerprints from the workshop." "It won't take much to match yours with one of those." "If she helps you, what does she get?" "She pleads to grand larceny two, she gets probation." "We'll talk to the US Attorney about the tax charges." "That's if we get her full cooperation." "Rudy asked me to help them talk to this woman... this curator." "They said they were going to pay her off." "I stayed half an hour." "She was still alive when I left." "When you left, er, where was Ms Ellis standing?" "Near the table." "Which table?" "One of them." "I don't know which one." " Where was Mr Langer?" " He was near the bookcase." " At least four bookcases." " Getting lost in the geography here." "Er..." "We'll bring her down to Jackson's loft to show us." "Do I need to explain what "full cooperation" means?" "She was standing right here." "So, just about two feet from where she was hanged." "If you don't mind, I'm gonna put this here." " Was she drinking anything?" " She had a glass of wine." " What, half full, almost empty?" " Less than half full." " Who poured it for her?" " Rudy." " Who else had wine?" " I did, and Rudy." "Jackson was where?" "There, next to that bookcase." " And Rudy?" " Leaning against that table." "There was a bottle and a ring left by a glass." "Then who was sitting in this chair?" "You see, we found two rings left by glasses on this table." "Yeah, I'm thinking" "Annie Ellis was feeling woozy from the knockout pills in that drink." "She sat down and put her glass here." "That leaves one glass unaccounted for." "Rudy's glass was over by the bottle, so whose glass do you think..." "Maybe Jackson had a glass after I left." "The medical examiner checked." "He had nothing to drink." "That leaves only your glass." "I could've put my glass there when I left." "Next to Annie?" "She was in this chair when you left?" " No, she was standing there." " Not with the pills in her system." "You said her drink was almost finished." "If she had passed out and fallen down... there'd be bruises on her and broken glass - no." "She was passed out in this chair, wasn't she?" "I don't remember now." "The plan was to kill her and dispose of her body?" "I don't know what they planned." "Jackson got cold feet, Langer shot him" " and wiped gunpowder on Annie." " I wouldn't know." "Why did he drag Annie over there and hang her from a rafter?" "There are perfectly good pipes right above this chair." "Strong-looking pipes." "Well, what d'you think?" "They strong enough to hold Annie's weight?" "I think she's told you everything she knows." "I don't think so." "I think she has experience in hanging things from pipes." "Remember these pipes?" "You should." "They were in your dorm room." "How about it, Sylvia?" "You tried hanging something from these pipes...and they broke on you." "You didn't want that happening again." "It's not true." "So you and Langer, you dragged Annie over here, hanged her from this beam." " I wasn't here then." " You tied the rope to the radiator." "Just like you did Zoe Payton!" "Zoe committed suicide." "You didn't kill her?" "You didn't steal her painting?" "No, that was my painting." "Your painting of her parents' living room?" "Yes." "I've been there." "Then what happened to you?" "How come they say that you never lived up to your promise?" "I have." "I've done great paintings." "But they just didn't look like this." "Is that it?" "Everybody just wanted you to keep doing the same thing?" "They wouldn't give me a chance." "But Rudy Langer did." "He was giving you your own show." "In return for knocking off a Monet, a Cézanne." " She already admitted to that." " It was worth it." "Your one chance to make them see your vision." "Your talent." "Make them see you, right?" "That's all I needed." "Then that stupid woman from that stupid little museum was gonna mess the whole thing up." " We were gonna pay her off." " She wouldn't take the money." "She wanted to expose you as a fraud." "As someone who made a living off the work of dead artists." "I told you, I left." "Jackson wanted to let her go." "This man who slept with you, used you." "He was gonna let her ruin you." "So you killed him!" " It was Rudy!" " No, you shot him!" "Rudy did it!" "He knew where the gun was!" "I couldn't stop him!" "You were there." "Oh, my God!" "And then you helped him kill Annie." "You don't know." "You don't know what it's like." " What, to work so hard?" " Yes." "And still be a nobody?" "Yes." "Welcome to the human race." " Herr Langer?" " What is it now?" "Did you know there's a Salvador Dali at Rikers Island?" "He donated it in the '60s." " Fascinating." " You'll see it first hand." " You're under arrest for murder." " Impossible!" " You can't do this to me!" " We can and we just did." "Sie haben Ihren Partner unterschätzt." "Weil sie nun eine Mörderin ist, kriegen ihre Gemälde einen riesigen Preis." "What was that all about?" "I told him he missed the boat on Sylvia Moon." "Now that she's an admitted killer, he could've made a fortune off her paintings."