A Death in Cornwall

After dinner, they go out on the balcony and debate whether Amadou Kamara can be trusted as a source, given his arguably dishonest work selling fake luxury handbags. Chiara suggests that Gabriel work with Anna Rolfe, whose father bought paintings that were stolen from Jewish families. They plan for him to paint six forgeries, which Anna will sell to Ricard.

Ten days later, Gabriel talks to Adrianna Zinetti about Gennaro as they leave the restoration site at the church. Adrianna texts Chiara, but Chiara doesn’t mention it over dinner. The next day, Gabriel takes his son, Raphael, to his math lesson. Raphael is much better at math than Gabriel or most other people. Gabriel hopes that Raphael will want to paint someday, but Raphael is intimidated by Gabriel’s talent for art. After the restoration project is finished, Gabriel travels to Austria and calls Anna.

Gabriel, traveling under the name Johannes Klemp, picks up VIP access tickets at the titular Munich theater. As he is led backstage to Anna’s dressing room, he thinks about their brief love affair and her subsequent divorces. As she warms up on her violin, Gabriel asks for her help, and they agree to talk about the details over dinner at Anna’s hotel suite after the performance. Anna gives Gabriel a ride to her hotel.

After Anna and Gabriel get to the hotel, they watch a news story about the resignation of Lord Michael Radcliff. The story notes that Hillary Edwards is also planning to resign over the Russian financial contribution. Anna and Gabriel reminisce, drink, and flirt. Eventually, Gabriel tells her about the stolen painting and her part in the plan to recover it: She is supposed to find six paintings (which Gabriel will forge) in her father’s collection and sell them to Ricard. He will send along a woman to act as Anna’s assistant during the dealings with Ricard.

Ingrid Johansen, a thief and a hacker, arrives in Mykonos to meet with Gabriel. As they drink together in a villa, Gabriel tells her about his history with Anna and their plan for the paintings. Ingrid is to work as Anna’s assistant during the sale of the forged paintings. Ingrid suggests robbing the Geneva Freeport, but Gabriel says that it is impossible. They reminisce about a case at the Finnish border that they worked on together.

Timothy Peel investigates another murder by the Chopper near the Black Horse pub. There are footprints from a pair of “Hi-Tec Aysgarth walking boots” at the scene (111). Timothy interviews a hatchet owner, Neil Perkins, who claims to wear Wellingtons, not Hi-Tecs, and gives his hatchet to Timothy. Timothy takes it to the police station and writes a report on it. When he has to turn over the case to the Metropolitan Police, Timothy lies and says that Charlotte’s yellow legal pad has gone missing.

Timothy holds on to Charlotte’s legal pad for Gabriel. Gabriel meets with Nicholas Lovegrove and asks him to be Anna’s art consultant. He also tells him about the forgeries, and Lovegrove asks about the Picasso painting. Gabriel agrees to restore Lovegrove’s Gentileschi at a heavily discounted rate, and Lovegrove sends him the money. Gabriel begins forging the six paintings by finding age-appropriate canvases to strip. He also calls Naomi and asks for fake provenances for his paintings. He forges a Cezanne first, and it takes him two attempts to get it right. Chiara mentions that his uncanny gift for forging is what keeps their son from learning to paint. After Naomi sends him the fake documentation for this painting, Gabriel calls Ingrid. She is getting along with Anna better than Gabriel thought she would.

Next, Gabriel forges a Van Gogh, and Naomi sends him forged documentation for it. Third, he paints the Modigliani. His fourth forgery is a Renoir, and the fifth is a Monet. Gabriel’s sixth forgery is a Toulouse-Lautrec. Chiara is the model for this final painting. After they are complete, he sends them to Anna and meets with Nicholas Lovegrove. He points out many holes in the provenances but thinks that the poor reputation of Anna’s father will make Ricard more likely to believe that the paintings are real. Then, Lovegrove calls Ricard and arranges for a meeting.

Ingrid arranges for Lovegrove to travel to Zurich to meet Anna. Gabriel is also at the meeting and points out the real paintings that Anna owns, like a Raphael and a Rembrandt. The Raphael is what brought Gabriel and Anna together; he cleaned it for her father. Lovegrove gossips about the deaths of Anna’s parents as she rehearses on her violin. After her practice, Anna cooks dinner, pretending to cut one of her precious fingers as a prank on her guests. Gabriel explains to Anna that he has Ingrid’s phone set up as an audio listening device so that he can hear what goes on inside the Geneva Freeport. They reminisce, unhappily, about Anna finding a picture of her father with Hitler.

As Lovegrove, Ingrid, and Anna drive though Geneva together, Ingrid recalls past scores and is excited to steal again. When they arrive at Ricard’s gallery, he is thrilled to meet the famous violinist Anna. Lovegrove shows Ricard photos of the forgeries and their forged paperwork. Ricard mentions that Anna’s father’s reputation will lower the price he can get for the paintings. They discuss trading her paintings for a painting from a more reputable collection and keeping the painting in Geneva to avoid taxes. Ricards assures Anna that her name will not be associated with the paintings while they are at the Freeport. They make arrangements to ship the paintings.

Once the paintings arrive at the Freeport, Ricard has them examined. Gabriel’s forgeries are approved by experts; his work is excellent. Then, the negotiations for the trade begin. Ricards offers a variety of paintings, but Lovegrove mentions his preference for contemporary art, which skews the offerings. Eventually, Anna corrects Lovegrove’s mistake and asks to see the Picassos that Ricard can trade. Ricard shows her a number of paintings, but she holds out for the one Gabriel is looking for: “a portrait of a woman, oil on canvas, painted by Picasso in […] 1937” (139). Its owner requires the Modigliani, Van Gogh, and Cezanne in exchange. Then, they negotiate that Gabriel’s other forgeries be exchanged for a Pollock. After the deal is done, Gabriel buys a new phone.

Ricard and Lovegrove finalize the exchange. In Venice, Gabriel and Chiara discuss the resignation of Prime Minister Hillary Edwards. She will stay on until a new prime minister is selected. Chiara thinks that the likely candidate is Hugh Graves. Gabriel plans to destroy his forgeries after recovering the stolen painting and giving it to the rightful owners. Gabriel flies to Geneva. However, Ricard doesn’t answer when they reach the gallery. Gabriel picks the lock to the gallery. His forgeries are there, but the Picasso they are looking for is missing. After picking the lock to Ricard’s office, Gabriel discovers that Ricard has been shot.