Chapter 1

Summary

• Stéphane Breitwieser and his girlfriend Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus approach a museum ready to embark on an art theft adventure at the Rubens House, a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, in February 1997.
• Brietwieser scouts the museum's layout and security measures, focusing on a plexiglass display box containing an ivory sculpture of Adam and Eve, which he first discovered during his solo scouting trip weeks prior.
• Brietwieser eventually devises his plan to unscrew the plexiglass box and remove the sculpture while museum staff members are on lunch break and visitors are engrossed in other exhibits.
• With plenty of intense moments, Breitwieser manages to remove the screws and is ready to retrieve the artwork when Anne-Catherine signals him it's time to leave, having calculated the timing of the security guards' rounds.
• Despite the presence of a group of tourists wearing headphones, he decides to take the critical step to remove the sculpture by hiding it in the waistband of his pants and covering it with his overcoat.
• Brietwieser, leaving the plexiglass box aside, exits the gallery, walks through a staff door he'd pre-scouted, and eventually reaches the main entrance, from where he walks out unabated and meets Anne-Catherine on the streets.
• They get into their car and successfully escape from the area, keeping a calm driving demeanor until they get closer to the highway and can speed up, escaping as a pair of 25-year-old art thieves who are exhilarated with their theft.