“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?

was certain the enamel temple jar was

day to hone his skills. Over time, he knew every piece like the back of his hand. A knowledgeable and gifted assessor

two men to clear his doubts. Pretending to smash the jar was a ruse to

worried expressions confirmed his

a famous master forger, to mentor him. The man made seventy-two replicas that were appraised to

him, while others hated him. His forgeries had caused men

mentor. The man imparted everything about appraising antiques to his student. However, he never

a replica that could pass as the real thing to fool the experts, a forger had to possess

wasn’t one of his, but there were some similarities in the craftsmanship. It

two apprentices. One became the director of the

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

“Bingo!”

hidden in a bird’s-eye. The galloping fawn was barely

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

what did you

have heard of a legend in the antique world. There was a master forger who went by Mr.

to know this. “Are you talking about the best master forger, Mr. Crane? I heard his workmanship was unmatched. His replicas were flawless, even experts couldn’t tell

head at the sellers and smirked. “These men couldn’t find Mr. Crane, but

the jar and

saw a fawn hidden in one

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

The consultant was a well-respected appraiser in Horington. Did

is continuing his mentor’s practice when he left a carving of his signature on his work. And

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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