Lost Corot

I'm still puzzling over the unbelievable loss of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot's Portrait of a Girl, which vanished after it was taken to a Manhattan hotel so that a potential buyer from London could appraise it. This part sounds more like an FBI sting than a genuine attempt at a sale, but it gets worse. After the London dealer declined the offer, art courier James Haggerty knocked back a few consoling drinks too many in the hotel bar before leaving. CCTV supposedly shows him carrying the painting out of the hotel. Why wasn't it wrapped to hide it? Despite being sozzled, Haggerty refused a taxi and drove himself home. When he arrived, the painting had vanished! He is now being sued in a New York court for the cost of the lost painting, estimated to be worth £840,000 ($1.3m). But the person suing him owns only a share of the painting! The lawyers will have a field day with this one.