“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

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

worried expressions

was once a famous master forger, to mentor him. The man made seventy-two replicas that were appraised to be authentic by

him public enemy number one in the world of antiques. Some loved him, while others hated him. His forgeries had caused men to lose every penny, but there were also men who made a

different identity. Finally, the Simpsons hired him to be Casper’s mentor. The man imparted everything about appraising antiques to his student. However, he

as

many left in circulation. The jar wasn’t one

of the National Museum while the other was

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

“Bingo!”

found the forger’s signature hidden in a bird’s-eye. The galloping fawn

workmanship is ingenious!” He smiled at Tony, who felt a chill

what did you

heard of a legend in the antique world.

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 was unmatched. His replicas were flawless,

men couldn’t find Mr. Crane, but their

Tony the jar

and saw a fawn hidden in one of

Despite his competency in the field, Tony was clueless about the origin of that mark. He turned to Casper for an

consultant was a well-respected appraiser in Horington. Did he really

to have an apprentice named Mr. Buck. I believe he is continuing his mentor’s practice when he left a carving of his signature on his work. And that is the fawn on

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