Chapter 17

Summary

• Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine visited the Royal Château of Blois where the portrait, Madeleine, was displayed, finding it heavily guarded and seemingly impossible to steal.
• Even though they considered stealing Madeleine to be madness, they returned to give it a second look before leaving the museum.
• The room where the painting was exhibited was filled with visitors and guards. Additionally, a double frame had been added to the painting, adding an extra challenge.
• There was an unplanned gathering of guards, during which none of them paid attention to the painting. Seizing the opportunity, Breitwieser removed the painting, which was fastened to its frame by strips of Velcro, and hid it down the front of his trousers.
• Breitwieser exited the room without arousing any suspicion. He compared the heist to threading a needle, implying it required finesse and a steady hand.
• This was not the first heist Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine had committed, they had conducted nearly 100 similar thefts by this point. The theft of the Madeleine, one of France's premier paintings, was not even their only theft of the day.
• Prior to stealing Madeleine, they had already plundered the Château de Chambord, using a specific Swiss Army knife trick to take a folding fan and two tobacco boxes.