The chapter begins by discussing historical accounts of museum heists, from Vincenzo Peruggia's successful theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, to an elaborate 17-person heist at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1975, to various other attempts around the world.
It mentions that stolen artwork is difficult to sell or display and is often eventually recovered.
The book introduces a character named Stéphane Breitwieser, who, along with his girlfriend Anne-Catherine, travels through Switzerland stealing various items from museums. Unlike other thieves, they are refined, dressing in designer clothes to blend in and committing crimes without any form of violence.
Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine carefully monitor news reports on their thefts to gauge how close the authorities are to catching them. Breitwieser delights in rereading such reports, viewing himself as an "honorable" thief.
The couple meticulously plans their heists. Anne-Catherine is good at spotting security strengths, while Breitwieser is adept at finding vulnerabilities. They have a rule: stolen artwork must be small enough to discreetly carry out of the museum.
Breitwieser also goes out alone on solo stealing missions, but he finds that heists performed with Anne-Catherine are safer.
The couple continues their spree through the spring and summer of 1995, stealing at a rate rarely seen outside wartime.
Breitwieser is driven not by rank or monetary gain, but rather by a deeply rooted desire to own beautiful works of art, the desire to possess something better than his father's collection, and the hope of filling an emptiness within him.