Someone shoots an art museum security guard and steals a Camille Pissarro painting worth $20 million.
FBI Special Agents Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and David Sinclair (Alimi Ballard) learn that the painting was to go on tour within the month.
The team learns that the court ruled that the painting belonged to current owner Peyton Shoemaker (Zach Grenier), whose father bought it in an art store in Germany after World War II.
Charlie and his friends and colleagues Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol), and Dr. Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat) trace the countries in which the painting could be, but their analysis shows that it must still be in the United States.
The team quickly eliminates three potential forgery suspects: one is in jail, and two are dead as one was murdered during the current investigation.
The case is inspired by the real-life instances in which Holocaust survivors attempt to prove that various pieces of artwork have been taken by the Nazis during World War II.
[1] Series creators Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, when writing the show, wanted the Eppes family to be Jewish.
[2] Meanwhile, series regular Rob Morrow wanted to explore the impact of Judaism on the Eppes family and/or Don.