After a sleepless night in a Lucerne holding cell, Stéphane Breitwieser is escorted to an interrogation room by Inspector Roland Meier. Meier, expecting a petty thief, questions him about the stolen Wagner bugle. Breitwieser denies involvement.

Meier outlines the case: only three visitors entered the museum; employee Esther Jaerg noticed the missing bugle after a man in a green coat left; a retired journalist later alerted staff when he saw a man circling the building; Jaerg recognized the coat, and police arrested Breitwieser on his return. Breitwieser realizes their return trip was needless—the evidence had already been collected.

Meier bluffs that fingerprints match prior records and that Breitwieser was filmed in Lucerne the night of the theft. Knowing he drove straight home, Breitwieser recognizes the lie and holds firm. He notes the police seem unaware of an accomplice and plans to phone Anne-Catherine to surreptitiously return the bugle, hoping this will force his release and protect the attic hoard.

The plan collapses when he is classified high-security and barred from phone calls. Meier, impressed yet wary of Breitwieser’s composure, treats him as a potential serial art thief. With a judge’s approval, Meier keeps him jailed under high-security conditions and secures an international warrant to search Breitwieser’s house in France, escalating the threat to the concealed collection.