Collusion

Donear Museum has a lot of paintings of the old masters. Sometimes a painting is put up for sale. When this happens there is a great rush to buy it. Very recently a work of the nineteenth century artist Tagore has been put on sale. A lot of people have expressed interest. Applications are being processed. In the meanwhile the procedure involved in the sale has been started. Initially, the painting will be sent to an art valuer. Since the painting is exceedingly valuable a lot of care has to be taken in this matter. The curator of the museum removes the painting from its frame with his own hands. He packs the painting in a special tamper-proof box. He then loads the box into a van. The van is locked by the curator himself. A trusted man drives the van to the valuer's office. He, however, has no access to what is contained in the van. At the valuer's office, the valuer himself unlocks the van with his key. He removes the box containing the painting on his own. The painting is returned in the same way after its price has been determined by the valuer. Thereafter the price is communicated to the chosen customer. Negotiations commence thereafter and with time the deal is closed.
Today is a Saturday. As usual, a lot of art students are in the museum making copies of famous works. There is a special arrangement with Art College for this. At exactly eleven am, all students and visitors are asked to leave. The curator takes the Tagore painting out of its frame. Through a fire exit he goes to the waiting van. The painting is sent in the van. The painting comes back by four pm. The valuer has fixed the price at a million pounds. The chosen customer, Mr Roger Sen, is called by the curator on his cellphone. Mr Sen agrees to the price. The painting is handed over the next morning before the museum opens. Roger Sen calls the next morning. He has had the painting valued by a friend. And according to that friend the painting sold by Donear Museum is a forgery. The gentleman who had valued the Tagore visits Roger Sen's estate. He concurs with Mr Sen's friend. The painting sold by the museum is indeed a forgery.
The police begin investigations immediately. Everyone is questioned-the respected curator, the esteemed valuer and of course the driver of the van. The driver is a young man who has recently got married. There is an anonymous call made to the police station. The driver's wife has been seen wearing a diamond necklace at a wedding. That is all the police need to know. The driver is grilled by the Chief Inspector himself. After two days of questioning he breaks down. Everything becomes known. The idea was this. A van that looked exactly like the museum van was purchased. It was given a license plate identical to the museum vehicle. A locksmith was able to make a replica of the lock that was used to secure the van. Effectively, there were two vans that were the same in every possible way. After the original van had left the valuer's office with the original painting, the second van had met it on the way back to the museum. The rest of it was easy. The museum driver boarded the second van containing the painting forged by an art student. When he drove to the museum there was no way to know that both the vehicle and painting had been stolen. The thieves made off with the museum van and the valuable painting. They were arrested from their beachfront house in Diamond Harbour.