Cover of The Art Thief

The Art Thief

by Michael Finkel


Genre
Nonfiction, Biography, Crime, Art
Year
2024
Pages
241
Contents

Chapter 26

Overview

Breitwieser steals a historic bugle from the Richard Wagner Museum in Lucerne, violating Anne-Catherine’s two rules and their Swiss ban. Determined to erase his fingerprints, they return, but police arrive and arrest Breitwieser outside while Anne-Catherine goes unnoticed. The arrest escalates their legal peril and deepens strain in their partnership.

Summary

Breitwieser brings home a four-hundred-year-old bugle and boasts to Anne-Catherine about the stylish theft. He had climbed a radiator to reach a sealed display, unscrewed the front panel with a Swiss Army knife, created floor noise to reassure the cashier below, shoved aside a swinging light, cut nylon cords, concealed the bugle under his dark green trench coat, and exited.

Anne-Catherine is unimpressed, noting they already own a better bugle. She demands to know if he wore gloves; he admits he did not, breaking her core rule. She then learns the theft was in Switzerland—specifically Lucerne, where they had previously been arrested—compounding risk with fingerprints and a ban violation. Furious, she rejects his plan to fix it himself and decides to clean the prints.

The next morning she takes the day off, and they drive—tense and silent—to the Wagner Museum by Lake Lucerne. She instructs Breitwieser to stay in the car, but he gets out for a walk, hands her the keys, and kisses her before she enters with alcohol and a handkerchief to wipe his prints.

From outside, Breitwieser watches her move room to room through the mansion’s windows. An older man with a dog glances at him; the lakeside scene is calm. Suddenly Anne-Catherine exits, moving quickly and gesturing, as a police car pulls up. Two uniformed officers confront Breitwieser, and though he has no loot and does not resist, they handcuff him.

As he is led to the squad car, he locks eyes with a frantic, confused Anne-Catherine. The officers do not notice her, and she remains free while Breitwieser is taken away, arrested outside the very museum where he hoped to erase his traces.

Who Appears

  • Stéphane Breitwieser
    Art thief; steals a bugle in Lucerne without gloves, returns to erase prints, and is arrested outside the museum.
  • Anne-Catherine
    Partner; furious over rule-breaking, attempts to clean fingerprints at the Wagner Museum, avoids detection as police arrest Stéphane.
  • Lucerne police officers
    Arrive at the Wagner Museum and handcuff and arrest Stéphane outside.
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