Characters
William Warwick: main character.  Has always wanted to be a police officer, and in this book is the new DC (Detective Constable) for the Arts & Antiquities Division.  At the end of the book, Hawksby tells him that he will be sent to the graduates’ promotion programmed, and promoted to Sergeant, and that he will be transferred to another department.

Commander Hawksby:  head of the department

DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Bruce Lamont:   Warwick’s direct supervisor

DS (Detective Sergeant) Jackie Roycroft:  a colleague.  She botches a takedown of a presumed art theft, and is demoted

Miles Faulker: presumed art thief.  The department has been chasing him for years for the theft of a Rembrandt painting for the Fitzmolean Museum.  At the end of the book, he is found not guilty of theft, but guilty of receiving stolen goods, and is sentenced to 4 years, suspended sentence.  On the final page, at a ceremony where the museum celebrates the return of the Rembrandt, and his donation of a Rueben, he whispers in  Warwick’s ear that he’d love to show him the original.

Christina Faulkner:  Miles’s soon-to-be-ex wife.  She’s clearly up to something, apparently trying to steal all of Miles’s art before he can do anything, but her plan goes wrong when he finds out.  At his trial, it’s unclear who’s lying more–her or Miles.  She sneaks into William’s bed one night while he’s supposed to be supervising the transfer of paintings, and he goes along with it since she seems to be a valuable ally against Miles.  He doesn’t tell Beth about this.

Sir Julian  Warwick:  William’s father, a very successful and well known defense attorney, which is partly why William wants to be a police officer, to catch criminals instead of set them free, like his father

Grace Warwick: William’s sister, also an attorney

Booth Watson: Faulker’s attorney, and longtime nemesis of both Sir Julian, and the Arts and Antiquities Division

Beth Rainsford:  Warwick’s love interest. She works at the Fitzmolean Museum, so she’s very interested in getting the Rembrandt back.  Her father is in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Arthur Rainsford:  Beth’s father.  His verdict is overturned in an appeal trial, thanks to Sir Julian and Grace Warwick.