Chapter 29

Summary

• Interrogator Meier shows Breitwieser a photograph of a gold-plated medallion that he had stolen in Switzerland; the investigator is trying to determine if Breitwieser has committed more thefts than previously admitted.
• Meier tempts Breitwieser into confessing to the theft of the medallion by offering to release him and let him go home.
• Desperate after more than two months in jail, Breitwieser admits to stealing the medallion.
• Meier then presents yet another photograph, this time of a gold tobacco box stolen from a Swiss castle; Breitwieser also confesses to this theft.
• Meier reveals a series of photographs depicting various objects stolen from different countries, including an ivory flute, a bronze figurine, and a silver goblet.
• Realizing the depths of his situation, Breitwieser confesses to stealing all of the objects. In total, he acknowledges having committed 107 thefts.
• A week after his arrest, Breitwieser finds out that most of his stolen items have been discovered at the bottom of the Rhône-Rhine Canal in eastern Alsace.
• Police recovered 107 stolen items from the canal and brought them to a secure storage area at a museum in Colmar, each item estimated to be worth 50 million dollars total.
• After inducing Breitwieser's confessions, Meier sends him back to jail after 79 days in Lucerne; disheartened and malnourished, Breitwieser is excessively worried about his future.