British art curator Harry Deane decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss Lord Shabandar by conning him into buying a fake Claude Monet (''Haystacks (Monet) at Dusk''), to complement the one he already has (''Haystacks at Dawn''). He teams up with a master art forger, the Major, and travels to Alpine, Texas. He searches for rodeo queen PJ Puznowski, the granddaughter of the sergeant responsible for capturing Hermann Göring in 1945. Harry explains that PJ's participation will lend authenticity since the Monet was last seen at Carinhall after being Nazi plunder. She agrees and the next day the three drive out to PJ's grandmother's mobile home out in the desert. They hang the fake Monet on the wall and take a picture with the painting in the background. The picture is to appear with an article on the rodeo queen that will be published in a magazine that is part of Shabandar's media empire.