‘Yes.’
‘Other side of Lewes from you, a Tudor cottage in Berwick.’
‘Got it. Thank you. Bye.’ I cancelled the call.
I don’t have a clue who Georgina Foss is. I’ve never owned a TV and I often wonder when those who do have the time to sit down and watch it. Either George, as Lavender had so affectionately called her, is my age, or she has something to do with the art world.
Mum’s friend has me hook, line and sinker. With only moments at home for a quick change I’ll then be back in my car and off to dinner. Unpacking will have to wait until tomorrow and, as for a night off, that luxury has gone out of the window. Harrumph. Having promised Mum and Dad I’d be with them on Saturday and already predicting they’ll guilt trip me into staying longer – ‘Susie, I feel you just squeeze your father and me in when you can – It’s not like you ever spend more than two nights with us – It would be good if you could stay till Wednesday – give us all time to rebuild our relationship as a family’ – there wasn’t going to be a moment to reflect. I must use the rest of this journey wisely. I have two and a half hours from here on in. I have to stick with art fraud while it’s fresh in my mind.
Collins English Dictionary, Puzzle: Solve or understand something by thinking hard.
Think hard I did, as Banbury, Bicester, High Wycombe and Crawley passed.
For Ewen, who knew that a medical procedure – the caesarean – could have such a profound effect on the inheritance of an ancient title? Copying and selling a few pictures would be a great way of taking revenge on his brother and getting his fair share, as he liked to put it, money being the main objective.
Ewen’s a painter but realistically could he pull off the job without an accomplice? For one, swapping over the paintings alone seems pretty impossible. How do you hang a picture on two chains without someone to hold the other half? And as for the painting, did he copy it from life, set up his easel in the locked wing when Fergus and Zoe were away? No, far too much of a palaver getting all the equipment in…Much more likely via photographs.
He’d said himself, ‘If I learnt to take good pictures of paintings, I could then work from them back home… understand the technical details.’ Then he’d admitted, ‘despite doing a course, I’m not very good at photography.’
Ah ha…I’ve seen Louis’ work, he has talent and if he was working together with Ewen, his friend, there would be no better combination for art fraud. A skilled photographer and an accomplished artist.
Let’s say they hit it off on a photography course seven years ago. Ewen’s father then dies and Fergus inherits. Ewen thinks, how can I make a lot of money for myself? He comes up with a plan and gets in touch with his mate Louis. They strike a deal to become partners in crime.
Louis told me he’s been to Auchen Laggan Tosh twice before. I reckon the first time was to photograph Rutting Stags so Ewen could set to, painting a copy. The second visit was planned for when Ewen’s equivalent Landseer was finished. Done and dry. Together they carried out a swap with the original, at the same time giving Louis an opportunity to photograph another, Dogs in the Moonlight. With only one elderly woman, the Dowager Countess of Muchton, in the house I assume it was a pretty easy thing to do.
The first original was sold, the transaction worked smoothly and Ewen got a taste for it all. But I think Zoe caught him out with his second copy. The day she referred to, stumbling into his studio. And although I hate to think Zoe’s involved, going behind her husband’s back, it is beginning to look likely to me. Everything from seeing her in the corridor on Monday night to not wanting the paintings to go on loan. I reckon she blackmailed Ewen to cut her in on the deal. We all know accountants are brilliant at hiding illegitimate cash on their tax return, and Fergus had proudly told us his wife had ‘taken the estate’s accounts in hand’. She wasn’t ever planning to tell her husband.
Next step in the plan, Ewen’s completed Dogs in the Moonlight: he needs a suitable moment for his photographer friend to return. The art residency was ideal. ‘Now’s our chance to swap the paintings and collar another.’ I can hear Ewen saying it. ‘You can stay in the main house with a bunch of strangers. No one will suspect a thing.’ Zoe then sneaks Louis onto the course and their operation is under way. I’ve been suspicious of Zoe’s friendship with Louis all along, and she boasted of getting on well with Ewen. All three of them, I’m now sure, are in this together.
I have to get my theory absolutely straight. So, going back to the start of the week I’ve decided the real reason Louis came late to the very first life drawing session on Monday is because he’d been down the back drive at Ewen’s cottage, helping him carry a copy of Landseer’s Dogs in the Moonlight from the studio to the van.
Now I think about it, when Louis asked Rupert to park the minibus away from the house on Monday afternoon on our way back from the river, he could have been making space for Ewen’s van, later. It had to be right up close to the steps so as in the night, once the house party had gone to bed (when I saw a light on in the locked wing), this pair, supervised by Zoe, could swap an original for a copy. Dogs in the Moonlight,
