Within a short time, McCann's lawyer arrived.
Seeing the situation at the scene, the lawyer had no choice but to declare McCann's rights and temporarily ensure his personal safety.
The discovery of Braque's "Olive Trees near Estac" has completely established the fact that McCann is an art thief, which is irrefutable.
In fact, McCann does not expect lawyers to help him exonerate himself.
His biggest wish now is to survive, even if he spends the rest of his life in prison.
As long as you are alive, there is hope for a comeback!
With the identity of their top art thieves exposed, there are probably more people who want to kill them than they can count!
These include gangs from various countries that have cooperated with them, large and small art theft gangs, as well as various snitches, etc.
In order to protect themselves, these guys will find ways to kill them and seal their mouths!
There are also some stolen persons who cannot see the light of day, and they will try their best to silence them!
For example, government officials and parliamentarians who accepted bribes from antiques and artworks and then were robbed by them.
All of these are deadly threats that McCann and Miles will face in the future!
Under these threats, it will be very difficult for them to live well!
Xiao Ran ignored McCann and his lawyers and asked a Philadelphia lawyer and a security guard to keep an eye on them to prevent the FBI and Philadelphia police from playing tricks.
He himself took Peggy and Timothy to quickly check out other paintings in the gallery.
Soon, they arrived at McCann's personal exhibition hall and studio on the second floor.
After entering the studio, Xiao Ran quickly scanned the many paintings displayed in the studio, trying to find the target.
The paintings displayed here are all works by McCann, with different sizes and various artistic styles, but the level is relatively average!
Peggy and Timothy were shocked when they looked at the many paintings displayed here.
"Sean, please don't tell me that there is a stolen piece of art hidden under every painting here."
"If that's the case, that would be amazing!"
"How many museums and cultural institutions, as well as collectors, have these two guys, McCann and Miles, stolen, and how many valuable antiques and art have they looted?"
Timothy said with emotion, his eyes full of shock.
Frank and Scott, who followed, were so shocked that their eyes shone with excitement.
In their view, every piece of stolen antique art here means political achievements and a lot of income!
Of course, the biggest beneficiary is Xiao Ran.
"Gentlemen, only some of the paintings displayed here have stolen art hidden behind them, not all!"
"What we have to do is find the stolen artworks and identify them one by one."
"Even so, the number of stolen antiques is still staggering."
"Based solely on the stolen antiques hidden in this gallery, Mike and Miles are arguably the biggest art thieves in recent decades!"
Xiao Ran smiled and explained a few words.
Before he finished speaking, Frank suddenly interrupted.
"Sean, can you give us a detailed introduction to this technique of forging and hiding paintings, especially the identification method, and can you teach it to the FBI Art Crime Unit?"
"It would be best to teach us how to prepare this special pigment and cleaning potion."
"If we encounter similar art theft cases in the future, we will be able to quickly detect them."
Xiao Ran turned to look at this guy, pondered for a moment, and then shook his head.
"Frank, I believe you can get this technique of forging and hiding paintings, as well as the formula of the cleaning potion from McCann!"
"But I can't tell you this identification method. I promised the old man who taught me the identification method not to leak it to the outside world!"
Frank was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"In that case, let's forget it!"
Although this result made him feel a little regretful, today's harvest was already amazing!
As Xiao Ran said, the FBI Art Crime Team can pry out a lot of things from McCann and Myers, including this magical technology of forging and hiding paintings!
Next, Xiao Ran continued to look at the paintings displayed in this display area.
After a while, he selected the target, took a painting from the display wall, and placed it on the easel.
This painting is small in size and is a neo-realist landscape painting of the rural landscape of Pennsylvania.
However, underneath this painting, there is another painting.
While placing the oil painting on the easel, Xiao Ran also gave a brief introduction.
"Gentlemen, the condition of this painting is the same as that of the previous Cubist painting."
“Underneath the neorealist landscape on the surface, there is another painting hidden. As for what that painting is, we don’t know!”
"I chose this painting because of its size."
"The size of this painting is very close to the two paintings stolen from the Gardner Museum, so I gave it a try."
Before she finished speaking, Peggy continued excitedly:
"Yes, the size of this oil painting is very close to two stolen paintings by Degas."
"Those two paintings by Degas were cut directly from the frames by McCann and the others. They are really two damn bastards!"
"Except for the frame, it is exactly the same size as this painting."
Just as he said these words, Xiao Ran started to take action.
As before, he still put on plastic gloves, poured the special liquid on the white cotton cloth, and began to gently wipe the surface of the painting!
In a moment, he wiped off a piece of paint on the surface of this neo-realist landscape painting.
What was then exposed was a layer of varnish similar to a protective film!
Under that layer of varnish, a slender woman's foot wearing ballet shoes stood on the floor on tiptoes, clearly visible to everyone!
Seeing this scene, everyone at the scene immediately cheered.
"God bless! It's really Degas' "Ballet Studio". This top-notch work of art is still in the world!"
"Wow! The feet of this ballerina are so beautiful. They are indeed a masterpiece!"
While everyone was cheering, Peggy and several senior officials and appraisal experts from the Gardner Museum were so excited that they almost went crazy!
"It's been 30 years! We've been waiting for this day, and it's finally here. It's a miracle!"
Peggy choked up and said.
Xiao Ran looked at these guys, smiled softly, and then continued to wipe the paint on the painting.
After a while, the neo-realist landscape painting on the surface was completely erased.
The painting hidden underneath is one of the top works of art stolen from the Gardner Museum by McCann and others 30 years ago, the masterpiece of the Impressionist master Degas, "Ballet Studio"
To be more precise, it is one of Degas's "Ballet Studio" series of paintings and one of the most outstanding works.
Although this result was expected, everyone at the scene was stunned and excited when they actually saw this top-notch work of art that had disappeared for 30 years.
Xiao Ran was the same, excitedly admiring this top-notch oil painting.
According to the cooperation agreement he reached with the Gardner Museum, this Degas' "Ballet Studio" now belongs to him. Can he be unhappy?
After being stunned for a moment, everyone finally woke up!
"Wow! This "Ballet Studio" is so beautiful!"
"There is no doubt about the authenticity of this painting, and the damage was not very serious. I am really lucky to have it back!"
With a burst of exclamations, Peggy and Timothy immediately rushed up and began to admire this top-notch oil painting.
Xiao Ran took two steps back, took off his gloves, and put away all the tools for cleaning the paintings.
After admiring the oil painting for a while, he glanced at some other paintings in the display area.
After a moment's pause, he said:
"Gentlemen, the discovery of Degas' "Ballet Studio" is enough to explain many problems, and it is also enough to convict the two art thieves McCann and Miles."
"Next, I will quickly check various places in this gallery to see if there are any secrets hidden here."
"If I'm not wrong, there must be many good things in McCann's safe and vault, and many important clues can also be found."
Hearing this, Frank and Scott both became more excited.
yes! There are also safes and vaults here!
There must be a lot of top-notch antiques and art hidden in those places, and even large sums of dollars and jewelry. You must search carefully!
Thinking of this, Scott hurriedly said:
"Sean, let's start and search this place thoroughly!"
"There must be many secrets and treasures hidden in this gallery. This is a huge treasure!"
Following his words, Frank and Peggy both nodded.
However, Xiao Ran shook his head gently.
"There's no need to worry, gentlemen. I'll check the situation throughout the gallery first. I'll do a thorough search later!"
"After I finish checking the situation in the gallery, we will rush to Miles' music store to see what's going on there."
"As expected, Miles' music store also contains some top-notch works of art, and even hides even bigger secrets!"
"Next, we have to go to several other target locations to determine the conditions in those places!"
"In the meantime, my staff and the staff at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will clear out everything in this gallery and then box it up and ship it to the museum."
"When we come back here, we can explore more deeply and see what we can find."
After hearing what he said, the others thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
This joint operation was originally led by Xiao Ran, and they only agreed.
Next, Xiao Ran gave Frank and Scott a few words.
Ask them to arrange manpower to guard the gallery. No one is allowed to enter, and no one is allowed to touch anything in the gallery.
Naturally, Frank and the others would not refuse, and they all agreed, patting their chests.
After the arrangements were completed, Xiao Ran pretended to be serious and checked the situation on the second floor first.
In fact, he already knew the situation here clearly.
During the investigation, he easily found the safe hidden in McCann's office.
But the safe was locked and no one knew what was inside.
He did not point out several hidden compartments and a wall that were also located on the second floor.
After exploring the second floor, he went to the first floor and basement and quickly checked all places.
The door to the vault located in the basement is also locked, and a security guard under Xiao Ran and an FBI agent are guarding the door!
The rest of the company employees and the art museum staff were busy counting the various items in the gallery, registering them, shooting videos, etc.
During the investigation, Xiao Ran did not forget to tell his employees and security personnel what to do next and pay attention to protecting the company's interests.
Soon, Xiao Ran walked around the gallery and then returned to the first floor.
They just came up from the basement and saw McCann being escorted by several FBI agents and homicide detectives, walking out of the gallery and preparing to be taken to the Philadelphia Police Department.
McCann's lawyer followed, planning to go to the police station together.
Before leaving the house, that guy McCann looked back and happened to see Xiao Ran and the others.
As soon as he saw Xiao Ran, this guy's eyes suddenly turned blood red, filled with endless resentment and hatred!
Then, he gritted his teeth and roared.
"Fake U! Sean, I'm not done with you!"
"Sooner or later, I will pay you back tenfold, so just wait for me!"
Xiao Ran looked at this guy, sneered disdainfully and said:
"Want to take revenge on me? I hope you have such a chance!"
"While you're cleaning your butt and going to jail, you'd better pray every day that no one will silence you!"
Hearing this, McCann couldn't help but froze for a moment, his eyes instantly filled with fear!
Others at the scene felt a chill to the core!
In Xiao Ran's words, everyone heard the undisguised murderous intention!
"Ballet Classroom"
