Summary

In mid-May 2002, the story leaks to the media, and suddenly the quiet case is being aggressively reported on. Now Stéphane understands why his mother was being so vague and cryptic about the paintings, because, it is revealed, she literally destroyed them. Various publications begin to estimate the value of everything Stéphane has stolen, placing it somewhere between one and two billion dollars. Stéphane had always personally significantly underestimated the value of his collection, to take the psychological pressure off. Hearing its real monetary worth is a jolting experience. Now, he fears, he will be expected to pay that amount back to the different cultural institutions he stole from, an impossible sum that he could never afford.

By watching the news, Stéphane learns that his mother has been imprisoned, though Anne-Catherine is free, and awaiting trial. Anne-Catherine continues to deny...