What was wrong with this country? Even the man who pretended to be the only one with some conscience was corrupted.
Haejin was so shocked that he couldn’t even say anything.
However, apart from his surprise, there was also Alex, the art dealer, who couldn’t accept what he said about the painting.
“That is ridiculous. Are you saying you can discern permanent yellow from chrome yellow with your bare eyes? Do you think I am a fool? Miss, you can’t be believing him, right?” Alex’s face was red as he argued.
As Albert and Rachel couldn’t totally believe what Haejin had said, they were glancing at him with doubt.
Albert’s eyes were shaking between the painting and Haejin’s eyes. However, he got the confidence from Haejin who remained calm. He then pressed Alex, “What if this is permanent yellow? You must know there is a lawsuit going on about this painting, right? You won’t be able to get away with this. I am going to use everything I have to regain my honor.”
“That makes no sense. Do you really think human eyes can tell permanent yellow from chrome yellow?”
Then, Rachel interrupted him, “Mr. Park once sensed a slight difference in the varnish content in the paint with his eyes. I had my reasons to hire him. I trust his eyes more than a microscope. His eyes have never been wrong, whether you can accept it or not. But… Mr. Park, what is the difference between permanent yellow and chrome yellow?”
Haejin explained, “Chrome yellow was used by artists a long time ago, but it was very bad for the body. Then synthetic paint, that wasn’t toxic, was invented. That is permanent yellow. In short, permanent yellow didn’t exist in Rubens’ time. So, this painting is fake.”
Although Haejin had proved it as fake, he was admiring the forger’s skills.
He was a genius as great as Tom Keating and Eric Hepburn.
He especially understood Rubens’ unique philosophy and coloring. Haejin had to acknowledge that.
“He sensed the difference of varnish content with his eyes? You really believe that? Hahaha! This would be quite the news. You can’t be believing him, right?” Alex scolded, but Rachel didn’t even raise her eyebrows.
She then said, “Is it funny to you? Well, it’s not like you can cry. I can see your concerns, but I asked the British Appraisal Committee to analyze that painting with scientific methods, and the results came out two days ago. The varnish content was really different.”
“…” This time, Alex couldn’t laugh, he just looked at Haejin with shock.
Haejin looked back at him and coldly said, “You didn’t know that, right? Well, it is not your fault. The forger got full of himself after so many successes. Of course, ultimately, it is the fault of your organization. They couldn’t get him chrome yellow.”
“What, what are you talking about? Organization?” Alex asked.
“Stop pretending… you said you bought this from the Ivanov family? And with the signature? Have your workers take a photo of it and show it to me now. Let me see if it is really Rubens’.”
“…” Alex couldn’t say anything. He must have been confident when he told that lie for the first time.
He thought the forger could put in Rubens’ signature in an old frame with just some time.
However, a strange appraiser, who could sense the components of paints with his bare eyes, was demanding photos. So, how could he provide them?
Appraisers often appraise with high-definition photos. Even if it is less accurate, an appraiser like Haejin could easily prove a hastily forged signature as a fake.
“You can’t, right?”
“It is in my storage, so no one can take its photo except for me. Who can I trust with such a valuable object? I have to take care of everything myself.”
It was too late. Making that kind of excuse now made him look even more suspicious.
Albert was getting gladder and gladder. It showed how much things were getting bad for Alex.
“Huh! That is nonsense. You sell such expensive artifacts but take care of everything on your own? Do you appraise on your own? What about the money? You buy and sell all those paintings? Without any investors?” Albert asked.
“I use appraisal agencies… and I sometimes get the help of investors…”
“Rubbish! Do you think you are the first art dealer I’ve ever met? Well, listen! This lawsuit will proceed! I swear upon my honor, I will put you behind bars!” Albert was yelling now.
Alex staggered and then left in a hurry with his painting.
The way he packed his painting also showed that he was a fraud.
He thought his scheme had been revealed, so he didn’t hesitate to touch and move the painting with his bare hands.
Alex would have never done that if it had been real. In the end, he himself showed that everything he said was a lie.
After he fled, Albert breathed heavily and smiled in joy while saying, “Thank you so much. It was so shocking when I was the one being accused, but it felt so good to see him go through that. But how did you know? You really realized it was permanent yellow just by looking at it with your bare eyes?”
Of course not.
Haejin explained, “Actually, I didn’t. However, I thought something was wrong when I heard him say the signature was at the back of the wooden panel. Rubens had never left his signature at the back of the frame. So, I thought he would come back later with even more preparations if I let him go today.”
“You thought he would bring the fake signature.”
“Yes. Then it would get even more complicated, so I came here. I know you didn’t want that, but I had no choice,” Haejin said.
However, Rachel shook her hands at this, “It’s okay. You came to do your job, and it was selfish of me to make you appraise behind the mirror because I feared what others would say about it. I am ashamed of it. You helped me and Edmond, and I… I am sorry.”
“If you are sorry, pay me well,” Haejin replied.
“Hahaha! Don’t worry. You just helped us greatly by revealing that man’s scheme. Honestly, I was tempted, even if I didn’t call him to buy that painting. If you hadn’t come in, I would have argued with him for some time to lower the price,” Rachel then said.
“He is a great talker. Most people would believe him.”
Actually, the forger was even more dangerous than Alex’s talking.
“So, you just said that as a bait? Then, it might not be permanent yellow.”
“I did say that as a bait, but the paint is probably permanent yellow.”
That made no sense. So, Albert ruffled his hair and asked, “Oh… what, now? What do you mean?”
“As I just said, seeing with my bare eyes wasn’t enough to be sure of it. However, the craquelure was too messy to be chrome yellow. That paint tends to crack neatly in two directions.”
“Huh… you even saw that. My…” Albert sank to his chair in shock.
If Haejin had found that out with his incredible eyesight, he would have thought Haejin was a different species, but he could have seen that craquelure.
He wouldn’t have missed it if he had been just a little more careful and a little calmer. That thought made his despair.
“I don’t think that Alex fully believed in the forger, although he didn’t imagine that the painting had a flaw. However, as I asked in detail and accused him, he got suspicious as well. Then, he lost his calm and revealed himself,” Haejin explained.
Albert’s hair was in a mess now. He stroked it and blamed himself, “Hu… I see. If I had examined it well in the first place, it wouldn’t have gotten this far. Shit…”
“I just got lucky.” If he hadn’t had magic, Haejin would never have been able to figure that out so quickly.
Even though he knew how the craquelure of chrome yellow would look like, sensing that small difference at first glance is almost impossible.
He could say that only because he had known it was permanent yellow. If it hadn’t been for that, he wouldn’t have been explaining in such comfort.
Rachel stood up and said, “Thank you. Mr. Harrington will pay your fee… but I want to give you a gift myself.”
“A gift? But my fee would be enough.”
“No, I have made a mistake, and I want to befriend you. Consider it as my apology. If you don’t accept it, I won’t be able to look at you. You will accept it, right?”
She was smiling so Haejin couldn’t say no.
“Well, if you insist…”
Then, Eunhae opened the door and came in while saying, “That was brilliant! You are amazing!”
She gave the thumbs-up and smiled brightly. It made Haejin relax while he also smiled.
“You saw it?”
“Of course. Mentioning permanent yellow was so brilliant.”
“Ms. Butler is giving me a present,” Haejin then mentioned.
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. Let’s go get it.” Rachel smiled and went out. The rest followed her. Albert was still wobbling a little, but at least he looked relieved now.
“Here,” Rachel took them to a small room on the second floor where paintings filled all four walls.
Each of them was magnificent, and Haejin gulped hard.
Rachel stopped in front of them and smiled at Haejin while saying, “The elders of my family has collected each of them. They are all precious to me, but I was taught that I can never maintain this family if I hesitate to invest in people.”
“Your elders are cool.” Haejin wasn’t just saying that to get a better painting. Really.
“Haha! Really?” Rachel took off a painting and gave it to Haejin. “My Grandfather cherished this painting. He liked Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and used to stare at Ophelia from time to time.”
“Ophelia…”
The gift was even greater than Haejin had imagined. Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia…
“My grandfather used to say my grandmother and the Ophelia in this painting were much alike.”
“Shouldn’t you keep this then?”
“No. I’ve seen my grandmother’s photo of her younger days. They were completely different. He was talking about the woman he was having an affair with. Anyway… will you take it?”
“Of course. I would do anything to get this painting.”
