Boris Discovers the Painting

One night, while very drunk, Theo shows Boris the painting he has hidden. Boris is stunned to see the famous, presumed-destroyed masterpiece. He recognizes its value and the danger it represents. In a moment of drunken impulse and perhaps a desire to protect Theo, Boris later switches the painting with a civics workbook, hiding the real Goldfinch in his own locker at school. This act of theft sets in motion a chain of events that will define the rest of their lives.