The problem with innocent explanations is that they are usually impossible to prove. The problem with valuable artifacts, where there is both an incentive and h

The problem with innocent explanations is that they are usually impossible to prove. The problem with valuable artifacts, where there is both an incentive and history of theft, is that there is a tendency to presume guilt. Even if the innocent explanation is proven true in the end, the lives of those involved would probably be a living nightmare until it is resolved. Academic institutions are full of people who want to live a quiet life or build a reputation for the right reasons. They are full of people who come and go, most of which wouldn't know what they are looking at or whether it belonged there or not. Libraries and archives are among the few places that will properly inventory and catalogue what they have, and even the Cambridge University Libraries performed several searches to verify an error was not made on their end since it does happen. It may be unlikely, but I think that it is possible that the process for handling these materials failed somewhere and it took twenty years for someone to come across them. Their desire to drop them anonymously may have been for any number of reasons. Regardless of their reasons, I don't think that doing the right thing should be punished. I could also understand why someone would rather burn something than deal with a slow and possibly misdirected justice system.