The commission
The Bellweather Gallery has a problem: two paintings, both claiming to be The River at Vesper, painted by Elian Vale in 1891. One belongs to the gallery. The other arrived yesterday from an anonymous lender. During a photography session, their identification tags were mixed up.
The curator has authorised you to examine the fronts, backs and conservation records. Decide which painting is the forgery—and identify evidence that actually proves it.
Cassie: “Two rivers. One very expensive puddle of trouble.”
Wrecker: “I can make them easier to tell apart.”
Cassie: “Not with a hammer.”
All artists, institutions, materials records and provenance in this mystery are fictional. Everything needed to solve it is in the case.
Case file: read before inspecting
- Vale completed the original in 1891. An authenticated 1902 photograph shows a bare hill at the upper left.
- A branch was added during a documented 1936 restoration. Its presence is not evidence of forgery.
- A 1926 conservation photograph records an L-shaped tear, repaired with a stitched linen patch behind the lower-left riverbank.
- The original has never been relined or transferred to another canvas. This is confirmed by continuous conservation records.
- The fictional supplier North Quay Textiles introduced its NQ-08 machine-woven canvas identifier in 2008. The identifier is woven into the canvas itself, not printed on a label.
Inspect the exhibits
The gallery illustration sets the scene. The exhibit diagrams below are simplified inspection views; use the reports for fine details.
Painting B · East wall
Inspection desk
Select a surface or a scan. Cassie records each finding automatically.
Cassie’s notebook
0 of 7 evidence entries collected
- No evidence collected yet.
Make your finding
Collect the case file and all six inspection reports to unlock the finding. There is no timer and no penalty for reconsidering.