The Art Forger

Claire returns to visit Markel despite his insistence that she stay away. She confronts him with the evidence she has found: She is convinced that the After the Bath he purchased is a forgery and that the original is hidden somewhere. Markel seems unconvinced that the information will help him, but he softens when she mentions that it may at least buy him some time out of jail to get the sellers their pay. Meanwhile, Rik is busy preparing for the reinstallation event. Claire is desperate for a moment of his time to discuss the forgery, but she cannot reveal the true nature of her inquiries. Instead, she lies that she is working on multiple projects: the book about Belle as well as a new project about museum architecture. Rik expresses worry about her, thinking she is overwhelming herself because of the stress. Despite this, he agrees to show her the blueprints of the Gardner Museum. She discovers exactly what she hoped to find; a small room below the basement that might be the perfect hiding place for the original Degas.

Claire and Rik set out for the reinstallation event. She is nervous but tries her best to hide any suspicious behavior. Upon seeing After the Bath for the first time back in its original setting, she feels weak and faints in Rik’s arms. He is confused but brushes it off, joking that Claire must really like the painting. After she recovers, they wait to file past the painting and get a closer look. Upon viewing After the Bath up close, Claire briefly convinces herself that it is not her copy but the true original. She soon catches herself, realizing that she is seeing what she wants to see. She begins to think about the original languishing in the basement, and Markel sitting in jail with his finger threatened. She tells Rik she has to talk privately and immediately.

In Rik’s office, Claire monologues everything about Markel and the agreement to paint the fake Degas, and about the sellers’ threat to chop off Markel’s finger. She insists that the painting hanging in the museum is not the original, which she knows because she painted it. She tells Rik about the hidden room in the basement and says that they have to go find the room immediately. He is hesitant at first, and she gets up to leave saying she is going to tell the museum director everything. At that, Rik agrees to accompany her, not wanting to involve the higher-ups just yet. He agrees to meet her in the morning. The next day, the pair make their way to the basement, where they struggle through dust and assorted debris to discover a strange opening, built seemingly in haste and in a different style than the rest of the basement. Claire climbs into the opening. At first, she is disappointed, as the walls appear to be solid concrete. However, she can see through a gap in the wall and notices a set of double doors hidden still further beyond. Before the pair can venture further, they are intercepted by a police officer.

Rik argues with the police, telling them to call the museum director, who will sort everything out. He claims he was simply helping a friend with research for her book and that, as an assistant curator, he has a right to be in the museum. The police are unsympathetic but agree that the director, Alana Ward, should be called. Alana is furious at Rik and confused as to why he decided to sneak his friend into the basement on a Sunday morning. He does not have a satisfying answer. Eventually, Claire blurts out that the original Degas is probably in the hidden room. She admits to painting the copy that hangs in the museum, saying that she was hired by Markel to do a reproduction based on a different reproduction, and that the original work has still not been found. After much back and forth with Alana and the police, they agree that they will visit Claire’s studio and watch her paint another version of a portion of the painting, showing the same techniques that she used to create a convincing copy. Claire agrees, despite recalling the last time she was asked to complete such a task, and how poorly it worked out for her that time.

Alana and two art experts arrive at Claire’s studio, ready to watch her paint another Degas reproduction. Alana provides a small canvas with a waterfall painted on it. Claire is to remove that painting and replace it with one of the figures from After the Bath. Claire attempts to he friendly, offering coffee to the experts, but they refuse, saying the visit is all business. When the first day of work is complete, Alana takes the canvas as well as Randall’s sketchbook and Claire’s copies of Degas’s sketches. Alana and the crew return the next day, and Claire finishes the painting. Upon application of the final layer of India ink, meant to make the cracks on the painting appear old, Alana is shocked to see how much the painting looks like a genuine Degas. Claire is relieved but must immediately start working to catch up on promotion for her Markel G show. She calls Markel’s assistant, Kristi, who gives her a list of interviews she is scheduled to attend. They also need to set up the gallery for the show, which Claire completes in a frenzy with Kristi and Markel’s other assistant, Chantal. Meanwhile, the FBI and police officers begin the work of uncovering the hidden room in the Garden Museum basement, where Claire has claimed the real Degas is stored.

As she returns from hanging her paintings at Markel G, Claire is arrested. Suddenly, she finds herself alone in a cell, facing a list of charges similar to those leveled against Markel. She calls her friend, Mike, the one lawyer she knows, who promises to help her as long as she does everything he says. She sits in the holding cell, pondering how she has gotten herself into this position. She is confident that she hasn’t actually committed most of the crimes she is accused of, but she worries that she might be guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud. Mike arranges for her to be released pending arraignment, and the two meet to discuss her case. He is worried that she is not taking the charges seriously.

Mike and his associate, Emma, escort Claire into the courthouse, which is surrounded by media. Mike has instructed her to say nothing and is angered when she responds to one short question from a journalist. Despite Mike’s warnings that the judge is a “witch,” Claire finds her sympathetic to her case and is glad when the judge decides that she is not a flight risk and should be allowed to return home. She is skeptical of the police, who do not appear to have much evidence beyond speculations about Claire and Markel’s involvement with each other. Mike attempts to have the judge dismiss the case immediately, but she refuses. Claire’s probable cause hearing will occur the following week.

Claire decides to walk home from the hearing after the judge graciously allows her to leave the courthouse from the back to avoid media attention. On her way, she receives a call from Agent Lyons, an FBI official who seemed to believe her story when she first met with the Gardner director. Lyons attempts to be friendly, complimenting her painting that hangs in the front window of Markel G. He asks to meet with her lawyer, and the two make their way to Mark’s office. Lyons tells Mike and Claire that he believes that Alana and the Boston police were too hasty to arrest her, and that they don’t really have a solid case against her. He believes that she can be helpful to the investigation into the original fraud, due to her diligent work finding Rendell’s sketchbook and identifying After the Bath as a fake after many experts and thousands of Gardner Museum visitors had failed to do so. He agrees to let her visit the basement, where his team are diligently working through the grime and clutter to access the secret room. She is worried that they will not finish quickly enough to save Markel’s finger.

Rik calls Claire the next morning with surprising news; the hype surrounding her arrest has led to widespread demands to open Markel G, which has been closed as part of the investigation. Her show is suddenly gaining interest, albeit for reasons that she did not predict. Claire is skeptical that this is a good thing, as she is no stranger to negative attention. Rik tries to reassure her, saying that even her story about 4D seems to be gaining more believers. Claire tells Rik about her meeting with Lyons and her upcoming visit to the Garnder Museum basement. Claire hurries to the museum, imagining being present when the long-lost Degas is discovered. To Claire’s surprise, the team has almost entirely demolished the concrete wall, despite estimates that it would take weeks. She waits in anticipation as the last pieces of debris fall away and the doors are able to be opened. To everyone’s surprise, the room behind is empty.

After the room is found empty, suspicion again turns to Claire. Lyons believes that the basement theory was a distraction and that she likely knows something about not just the forgery, but the original heist. She visits Markel in jail and tells him the bad news. He responds by breaking down, telling her that he planned to keep what he thought was the original After the Bath in his own possession. The plan to return the painting was a ruse to get her to agree. Claire is horrified at his deception and begins to believe that everything was a lie, including his affection for her and his genuine interest in her original works. He insists this is not true, but she leaves in disgust. She makes her way immediately to Sandra Stoneham’s house. Sandra’s house contains a locked room that Claire has never been allowed to see, and when Sandra leaves to make tea, Claire unlocks the door and walks in. In the room are just two things: an armchair and the original Degas rendition of After the Bath, with Belle as the central nude figure.

Sandra begins to cry, saying that her family could not give up the painting after the way they were treated by the Gardner estate.

Six months later, Claire’s Markel G show is finally allowed to open. It is an immediate success, and she has already been offered multiple sales and places in other prestigious exhibitions. All her old detractors are in attendance: her professors who derided her MFA work, Karen Sinsheimer, and Crystal Mack. Only Crystal is still hostile to Claire; everyone else apologizes for their poor treatment of her and agrees that she is extremely talented. As the night progresses, Claire receives high-profile offers to buy her paintings, including from the Whitney Museum of American Art, which adds Nighttime T, her favorite painting from the series, to its permanent collection. Claire wonders about Markel, who is still in jail and to whom she has not spoken since the visit where he told her his real plan.