Real life Da Vinci code
It’s like something out of The Da Vinci Code. Only this story is not a best selling novel, but a real life tale.
It involved an undercover policeman who alerted colleagues to a stolen Da Vinci painting using code and sparked a raid to recover it.
The policeman was posing as John Craig when he spotted the painting in the boardroom of a law office. He pretended that he was phoning the Duke of Buccleugh who owned the Madonna of the Yarnwinder painting when really he was speaking in code to police officers.
Marshall Ronald, a solicitor was standing with Craig at the time of the call and he is accused of trying to make £4.25 million from the return of the artwork.
Police raided the building and the painting, which was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in 2003 was recovered. All men involved denied trying to extort money.
