From another perspective, the circumstances around Abath raised enough questions to keep investigators interested for decades.
Investigators noted that Abath had, in the period before the theft, repeatedly violated museum protocols in small ways. He had allowed unauthorized visitors into the museum during his shifts. On at least one occasion before the theft, he had approached a side entrance that opened onto the area where the thieves were later seen waiting—a movement captured in surveillance footage from a different night, footage that the FBI released publicly years later. That release caused confusion: the footage showed a night before the theft, not the night of the theft itself, and the man who had parked a car in the footage was later cleared of involvement. But the footage’s release, over the objections of some investigators, created years of misdirected public attention.
The detail about the Manet—*Chez Tortoni*, taken from the Blue Room in a specific trip that required the thieves to go to the first floor—was noted by investigators who believed inside knowledge might have been involved. The absence of the mother’s portrait from the Blue Room wall on that specific night was unusual. Someone who knew about it might have known the wall configuration. Or the thieves might simply have cased the first-floor gallery at some point and noted the Manet’s presence independently.
Abath consistently and categorically denied any involvement in the theft. He denied providing information to the thieves. He denied knowing the thieves. He maintained his innocence for the remainder of his life.