He held the photograph up to the light.
"What do you think?" Anthony had been working feverishly since March. Three dozen 8" x 10" glossy, colored photos had arrived in the mail after the deal had been struck with Price Koch. The museum had documented every square inch of Van Gogh's 'Montagnes a Saint-Remy' for future reference and insurance purposes. It was from these that DeAngelo worked to create copy number one.
Simon swiveled his head from the full on photo to the canvas and back. The left side of his mouth rose; a smirk, and nodded his head. "Brilliant. Will it stand up to scrutiny?"
Simon was uncomfortable with this deal from the very beginning. He and Jean Pierre had talked for hours working out the details; stripping away everything that was unnecessary and making a plan that was as elegant as possible.
"Yes and no." Anthony glanced at Simon. "Framed, displayed on the wall in the gallery, perhaps the only person that could tell the difference is Vincent. And, as you know, he is no longer with us. At some point in time, someone somewhere will have to do some conservation to the picture. Even then, the likelihood of detection is unlikely. Maybe one in ten thousand, probably higher. The problem lies with chemical analysis."
"How so? The canvas is from the right period, the pigments were made from scratch, where's the problem?"
Anthony's head dropped slightly, closed his eyes halfway and said, "The pigments. Yes, they were made from scratch. Here's the problem. Radioactivity. There is more in the atmosphere today than in Vincent's time. The pigments are distilled from natural products grown in soil. The soil's radioactivity level is higher. It will show up. But, these tests are expensive, they take time, some destruction of the painting is necessary; however small. The reality is that these tests will never be run."
Jean Pierre had suggested limiting exposure as much as possible. He was adamant. Anthony DeAngelo was to go nowhere near the museum. Same with Simon. The weak link in the entire process was to fall upon Price Koch. If anything were to go wrong, it had to be there.
"And if the tests are run?" Simon wanted to cover all bases.
"A couple of things. First, the results will be inconclusive. Historically speaking, for every expert that claims the painting is fake there will be one that asserts its authenticity. Secondly, and once again this is based on historical precedent, even if the museum believes it to be a fake, well, they'll be too embarrassed to admit it. Quite the contrary. They'll defend it. There's too much money at stake, not to mention their reputation."
Simon was happy with the artist's analysis. "What's the next step?"
"Almost done, chief. We age it, in that big ass pizza oven that you bought. Another week, perhaps two. Then she'll be all set. What do you want me to do about the frame?"
"Nothing."
This was another detail that Jean Pierre contributed to the plan. Simon was visiting JP's villa in the south of France during the hatching phase. "The less moving parts, the better," he suggested. "The beauty of it is that the present frame adds to the illusion."
"Call me when it's ready." Simon turned to leave. "Oh, Anthony, one more thing. I need some way to distinguish it from the original. Something additional, not something taken away. Something small that only you and I know about."
"No problem, boss."
Phase one was nearly complete.