“Amateur!”

Tony loathed the proposal.

“Carbon-dating isn’t a foolproof method, yet you want a machine to do the appraisal. What a joke! Regardless if you’re using carbon-14 or thermoluminescence, none of these could beat the naked eye.”

Casper smirked at Tony’s admonishment. “You are right. Scientific appraisals have loopholes, but we wouldn’t know the difference till there is a comparison.”

The two men scoffed. “Stop pretending to be an expert. Now, return the jar to us! You can’t afford to pay if you break it?”

Casper laughed. “But I can. Let’s play a game. If the jar is genuine, I will pay you double the final bidding price at the fair.”

“What? You? Look at shabby attire. Where are you going to find the money if you can’t even afford a shard from the jar?”

Doubt filled Victoria’s mind as the men mocked Casper. She was impressed with his gut feel. However, his evaluations on the two items made no sense. Her interests were at stake because the vase and jar were finale items at the auction.

Tony pounded the table with his fist. “This is preposterous! Do you think you can act impudently because you’re rich? I don’t care about your finance. You owe us an explanation for claiming the jar to be a fake.”

He set the jar down and asked, “Mr. Lane, can you lend me your high-definition magnifying glass?”

Tony took one out of his toolbox reluctantly and gave Casper.

He felt a sense of familiarity during the examination. It felt different from the genuine antiques he had at home, more like the high-quality forgeries produced by his mentor.

Could this be one of his works?

certain the enamel temple jar was

knew every piece like the back of his hand. A knowledgeable and gifted assessor with acute observation, he had surpassed most of his peers. Spotting an imitation at one glance

to test the two men to clear his doubts. Pretending to smash

expressions confirmed his

forger, to mentor him. The man made seventy-two replicas that were

antiques. Some loved him, while others hated

Crane destroyed all his works and retired with a different identity. Finally, the Simpsons hired him to be Casper’s mentor. The man imparted everything about appraising

as the real thing to fool

all his works, there weren’t many left in circulation. The jar wasn’t one

has two apprentices. One became the director of the National Museum while the other was missing. Did

trademark on his work. Mr. Crane would carve a pin-sized crane camouflaged amongst the motifs. The apprentice

“Bingo!”

signature hidden in a bird’s-eye. The galloping

ingenious!” He smiled at Tony,

what did you

you have heard of a legend in the

dumbfounded. He didn’t expect the young man to know this. “Are you talking about the best master forger, Mr. Crane? I heard his workmanship

smirked. “These men couldn’t find Mr. Crane, but their piece

Tony the jar and the

saw a fawn hidden in one of the bird’s

Despite his competency in the field, Tony was clueless about the origin of that mark. He

well-respected appraiser in Horington. Did

his mentor’s practice when he left a carving of his signature on his work. And that is the fawn on this

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