章 6: Counterfeiting a Cezanne
I am sitting on the balcony of Michelle's house. I was painting something.
I heard steps coming from the stairs.
No surprise, soon enough I saw Michelle coming over.
"What are you painting? It looks beautiful?", she asked curiously.
"A Cezanne", I calmly replied still painting.
"Is that a kind of painting like an oil painting?", she asked again.
"No, Cezanne was a famous painter. He died a long time ago. This is a famous painting of his. Still Life with Apples"
"Then why are you painting it if it already exists?", she didn't stop asking me things.
"I try to hone my art skills"
After that, she left.
I lied to her.
Well partially. I really tried to hone my art skills with that painting, but my main purpose was to sell it to someone for a high price and that needs a high precision of work and some chemical materials I had already bought.
After doing everything I went to sleep.
The next day I went to an abandoned warehouse, where I bought an old industrial furnace.
I let the painting dry down in there.
After putting it out of there it looked like a real Cezanne. You almost couldn't tell the difference. Even with a microscope.
I looked satisfied with that and went home with the painting.
I took out a fake ID of mine and went to the closet.
I took out one of the more expensive suits and started to get dressed.
After dressing up, I started to look like a rich person. That would be needed to add to my believability.
I took the suit off again and went into a hoodie. The suit was then packed up in a small bag.
I took the bag with me and went around the neighborhood to look for a car.
After 5 minutes of walking, I found it.
It was a Maybach, with no cameras near it.
It would park here every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
I observed it for quite a long time.
I broke into the car and started to short-circuit it. It started driving. I drove to a parking house.
In the parking house, I called someone I organized as a private chauffeur from the black market. He was pretty expensive, but he would keep his mouth shut.
I also started to change the license plate to a counterfeit one to avoid tracking easily to the stolen car.
After all that was done and my private chauffeur came, I started to get into the suit.
"We are there boss.", Kalinov, the chauffeur said.
"Ok, come in with me and take the painting out of the trunk.", I ordered him.
"Yes, boss", he said while taking out the case in which the painting was wrapped.
We then proceeded to go into the Heritage Auction House in Midtown East.
We went in front of the reception desk.
A guy was already waiting there.
"You must be Mr. Beaumont?", the professional asked with a smile.
"Yes, I am Mr. Abramow", I replied. I have forged the ID of course I knew that was my name.
"Let us go to a special room for authentication then Mr Beaumont."
"Let us go fast. I am in a hurry", I replied knowing I needed to be back fast before the car owner noticed anything.
"Of Course, we just need to be sure it isn't a counterfeit. If it is the real "Still Life with Apples" by Paul Cézanne that would be big news and big money. We won't be slacking in that respect. Due to that we got one of the best counterfeit experts in New York", Mr Abramow said.
"That is good", I told him with a smile, not worried as the painting was almost 100% real.
Shortly after we arrived in a room with a special appraiser.
I waited for about half an hour and Mr. Abramow came out.
"The Cezanne is real. The Heritage Auction house would love to work with you to sell it. Would you like to discuss the selling details right now?", Mr Abramow told me with a genuine happy smile.
"I only have an hour", I told him.
After half an hour I walked out of the room with a satisfied smile.
We agreed with 12%, which was pretty low for an auction house.
After that, we parked the car in the parking house and started to change everything back and install a new circuit as the old one wasn't repairable.
It didn't take long and the car was back to its usual position like it never left the place.
After that, I gave Kalinov his money and we parted ways.
Some might wonder why I spent so much money and effort just selling a painting.
If it blows up that it is fake I would be in real trouble. Due to that, I decided to hide every one of my steps to make it untraceable.
I already created an empty company in the Carribics for the money.
After getting it I would launder the money and put it in there.
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