Jim, I can't comment on artifacts because it's the first I've heard of them, and would only be interested if they were referenced to time, place, authenticity, principals involved etc.
As Sergeant Friday used to say, "Just the facts, m'am."
When I have a lead on a story, I start at the most obvious place to check it out, in the same way when the tractor won't start I check for gas instead of tapping on the solenoid.
An editor told me when I started on a provincial daily 60-plus years ago to forget motives, don't impute motives, just get the who, what, where, when and how and the motives will look after themselves.
