Chap­ter 14 delves deep­er into the auda­cious world of art theft, with Bre­itwieser and Anne-Cather­ine skill­ful­ly nav­i­gat­ing the chaos sur­round­ing the pres­ti­gious Euro­pean Fine Art Fair in Maas­tricht. The nor­mal­ly tran­quil event is shak­en when a thief is caught and restrained by secu­ri­ty, attract­ing the atten­tion of the onlook­ers. Richard Green, a promi­nent art deal­er, wit­ness­es the spec­ta­cle as the thief is appre­hend­ed, but what draws even more atten­tion is the sud­den empti­ness of Green’s booth. In the midst of the dis­trac­tion caused by the com­mo­tion, Green’s prized art­work is left unat­tend­ed, pre­sent­ing a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty for some­one as metic­u­lous as Bre­itwieser.

The cou­ple, now dri­ving away from the scene, feels the thrill of suc­cess as they car­ry with them a mag­nif­i­cent 1676 still life by Jan van Kessel the Elder. This mas­ter­piece had cap­tured their atten­tion ear­li­er in the day, and now, it is theirs. The rush of adren­a­line from their heist is mixed with a sense of sat­is­fac­tion, espe­cial­ly giv­en their past encounter with Green, who had cold­ly dis­missed their ear­li­er inter­est in a paint­ing. Though the event was high­ly secured, the chaos that ensued pro­vid­ed the per­fect dis­trac­tion for Bre­itwieser and Anne-Cather­ine to exe­cute their theft with­out any­one notic­ing. The stolen art­work is soon hid­den safe­ly in France, but Breitwieser’s mind is not entire­ly at peace. Despite their suc­cess, the uncer­tain­ty of their actions con­tin­ues to linger.

Breitwieser’s method­i­cal and cal­cu­lat­ed approach to art theft speaks vol­umes about his ded­i­ca­tion to min­i­miz­ing risk. His crim­i­nal endeav­ors are marked by sur­gi­cal pre­ci­sion, with each heist care­ful­ly planned to avoid detec­tion. For him, the per­fect theft is one in which no one real­izes any­thing is amiss until it’s too late. This care­ful con­trol over his actions allows him to main­tain the illu­sion of nor­mal­cy in his life, while secret­ly engag­ing in increas­ing­ly com­plex crimes. Breitwieser’s desire for pre­ci­sion not only stems from a desire to escape detec­tion but also from a belief that art should be appre­ci­at­ed with­out con­se­quence. His work is delib­er­ate, and the heist becomes less about the thrill and more about the metic­u­lous exe­cu­tion of a well-planned crime.

Breitwieser’s career as an art thief grows more sophis­ti­cat­ed with each theft. His abil­i­ty to oper­ate in the shad­ows, tak­ing art with­out imme­di­ate notice, reflects the deep­en­ing nature of his obses­sion. Every stolen piece strength­ens his sense of accom­plish­ment, and the thrill becomes less about the chase and more about the pur­suit of some­thing that feels increas­ing­ly per­son­al. When faced with risky oppor­tu­ni­ties, he pulls back and adapts, ensur­ing that each theft is cal­cu­lat­ed and under con­trol. He and Anne-Cather­ine, keen on main­tain­ing a low pro­file, often blend in with muse­um tours, allow­ing them to steal while appear­ing like any oth­er group of art enthu­si­asts. This adapt­abil­i­ty keeps them elu­sive and helps them remain unde­tect­ed for longer, adding anoth­er lay­er of com­plex­i­ty to their crimes.

In the long run, Breitwieser’s meth­ods become even more refined, such as using tools to unlock dis­play cas­es. His obses­sion with col­lect­ing art con­tin­ues to grow, and each theft only fuels his desire for more. His focus, how­ev­er, is not just on acquir­ing art for finan­cial gain but rather on a deep­er, more per­son­al con­nec­tion to the pieces he steals. This dual­i­ty is evi­dent in the way he treats his stolen mas­ter­pieces, view­ing each one as a piece of his­to­ry that he, in his mind, has some­how “lib­er­at­ed.” As the chap­ter unfolds, it becomes clear that Breitwieser’s crim­i­nal activ­i­ties go far beyond mere theft—they are dri­ven by a deep emo­tion­al need, fur­ther com­pli­cat­ing the char­ac­ter of an art thief nav­i­gat­ing the line between crime and pas­sion.