At this point, a wealthy family is implicated by both thieves as the client. The family admits that they hired multiple art thieves to recover the painting. They state that this painting was stolen from them during World War 2 in Germany and is the rightful property of their family. They have tried to recover the painting through legal channels, but have not been able to make headway in retrieving the long-lost artwork belonging to their grandparents. Upon investigation, the first name of the grandmother is written on the back by the original painter with no other inscription. Several photos from that time period show that the grandparents were acquainted with the painter.
The museum contends that they purchased the painting from a reputable company in New York within the last 10 years and have a valid receipt. A trail of receipts shows that the painting was bought from an art vendor just after WW2 with the note that the family sold the painting to him as they fled to America.
You will produce an article for a news article (think of conventions and audience) that covers the event from start to finish that includes your team’s editorial analysis that tries to build a narrative of what actually or likely took place (pulled from the various sources you have, from police reports, suspect statements, to this latest revelation about the client), where possible blame or criminal intent falls, and what should be done about this event. The goal here is to synthesize your various sources to cover this event from theft, how innocent/suspects were questioned (was this ham-fisted to round up everyone for questioning?), the likely night of the robbery as told by both suspects and police, and what your team thinks is meaningful about this client, their claim, and what a reasonable outcome should be (assuming their claim is further investigated, what do we do if they are correct and the painting was stolen from now-deceased ancestors, decades ago in a foreign country?). Briefly, explain why your team thinks this is the best outcome.
This should be around 1 page double-spaced (more is fine). Include the names of your team members. Format this work to have the conventions of an online news article, such as a catchy title in stylistic font, your names as authors (smaller font to not distract), indents, font types, hook, and conclusion. Include a graphic of your choice, such as a painting that your team chooses. This graphic can be anywhere and used creatively, hopefully to help hook the audience or provide details to your story. Your audience is news-readers in a city, so mostly adults and mostly looking for facts with some opinion (expository). They have no clue what has occurred, so your team needs to be comprehensive in explaining the event to a stranger without prior knowledge or insider information such as you have.
At all times, feel free to add to this story to make it your own or create tension. Avoid adding details that make this an open/shut case, as the point is not about right/wrong.
