A/N: Okay, I don't know a lot of paintings and I'm to lazy to Google any, so I'm making them up along with the artist. And same with the museam. Sorry! Hope you like it though. I own nothing but my OC's. -A

Chapter 11: The Forgery

They made it to June's not long after. Peter came in with them, files tucked under his arm. After throwing her bag in her room, she followed them up. By the time she got there, they already had the files open and spead out on the table.

"I still don't see why they would take the paintings they did. They weren't worth much, and there's not much appeal for them on the black market," Neal said. Curious, Chris walked over and sat down, looking at the files.

"What paintings did they steal?" she asked. Neal pushed over a file full of pictures of paintings. She looked them over, recognizing a few. He was right, not very valuble.

"They were so close to the most valuble paintings in the museam, but didn't go for them," Peter said. "Why?"

"Didn't want to risk it?" Neal asked.

"What's the most valuble painting in the museam?" Chris asked. Neal looked through the pictures in front of him until he found the right one. She looked at it. "The Angel's Kiss?"

"You know it?" Peter asked. She gave him a look that said 'do you really have to ask?' She went back to studying it.

"We went on a school trip to the Bremming's Gallery in eighth grade. This was my favorite." Then something caught her eye. "Wait a sec..."

"What?" Neal and Peter asked together.

"Is the museam still open to the public?" she asked.

"They only closed the section where the paintings were stolen from. Why?"

"Because something's not right about this."

"How do you know that?" Neal asked. "It's been two years since you saw the painting."

"I have an eidetic memory," she said. Peter was obviously confused. "I remember everything. And I need to see this painting." Nodding, Peter stood. Shrugging, Neal stood too, followed by Chris.

WC

Chris was studying the painting intently. Her eyes scanned every inch, taking in every detail. Her face was inches from the canvas at one point.

"Well?" Peter asked. She turned and looked him in the eye.

"I'm almost positive it's a fogery."

"What makes you say that?"

"First, Michal George had a more flowing brushstroke, this is choppy and sloppy. Second, the Angel is supposed to have a gold halo, this one has a silver halo. Third, in the bottom left corner, where Michal George always signed his work, are the inintals GT. And, last, you can still smell the paint because it isn't fully dry yet." With a look at each other, Peter and Neal stepped over to the painting and inhaled. She was right, they could smell the paint.

"The other paintings were a smoke screen," Neal said. "They didn't want anyone to find out about this, so they stole the others and replaced it with a forgery."

"A forgery that would have gone unnotcied without Chris," Peter added. The agent sighed. "Let's go tell the curator (A/N: My mom gave me that spelling, if it's wrong, sorry. -A)."

WC

"You're sure it's a forgery?" Mr. Bremming asked.

"We'll need to run some tests to be absolutly positive, but it's not looking good."

"And the other museams?"

"We have yet to look into that, but if it's the same person, there's a good chance their most valuble painting has been replaced with a forgery."

"Will you be able to get the painting back?"

"We will do everything we can," Peter assured him. This seemed to put him at ease.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you discover that it was a forgery, Agent Burke?" Peter shot a glance at Neal and Chris.

"We had some outside help from someone who knew the painting very well."

WC

"Hello?"

"Hey, Geo, it's Chris."

"Hey kid!" an excited voice boomed from the speaker. "How's it going?"

"We need to talk. In person," she said, ignoring his question.

"Why?"

"Because, either you're the worlds biggest moron, or someone has a grudge against you and wants your ass thrown in prison." This sobered him up really quick.

"When and where?"