World Breaking News, "Rapley of the Yard" Offers to Privately Recover Madonna, With His Own Comfort Letter !! !!

An amazing turn of events, if true, could see the Madonna safely recovered and back on the wall of its Scottish Home.

Detective Vernon Rapley head of Scotland Yard's Art and Antiques Unit has offered to privately recover the Madonna, write himself a Comfort Letter, pay the current handlers £100,000, then once the Madonna of the Yarnwinder by Leonardo DA Vinci, 1501 has been recovered, the newly semi-privatised Scotland Yard Art and Antiques Unit will put in a bill for £1.9 million, as their reward for privately recovering DA Vinci's Madonna.

A new policy of "if you can't beat them, join them" is about the be adopted.

If the powers that be want to see a private Art and Antiques Unit within Scotland Yard, then fine, the private side can make private recoveries without arrests and collect rewards, £2 million in the Madonna case, $5 million in the Gardner Case, etc

The issuing of Comfort Letters is being kept in-house perhaps !! Turner Recovery has left a bad taste in the mouth, perhaps former Detective Superintendent Mick Lawrence and Detective Sergeant JurekRokoszynski (known as Rocky) below, should have used some quiet discretion and not gone public.

Mick, left, the Thief Taker and Rocky, right, Serpico, mixed with Donnie Brasco eat, breath, sleep, and act like Gangsters, true Miltonesque undercover cops.

However, sometimes it is hard to see where the legal line is, often it is far away behind them in a John "Zip" Connolly manner !!

A classic case of the Foxes Guarding the Hen-House, being led like Moths towards the Media flame with promises of Golden Hello's, fame, fortune, and the prospect of becoming a Reality Idol for high value stolen art recovery.

"Art Sleuth Reality Idol"

This is all very well, but counter productive for art loss recoveries in the future as criminals expectations are increased to a level that is regarded as fantasy land by Law Enforcement.

The Turner and Titian recoveries, because they were made public, showed high value stolen art handlers and criminal venture capitalists, millions of dollars/pounds/euros can be paid, have been paid to buy back Stolen Art.

When "Secret deals" are done they need to be kept, Bloody secret, its not Rocket Science !!