Gabriel travels to London to meet with Sarah and her husband, Christopher Keller. Christopher works on top-secret projects for British intelligence. Gabriel shows the couple his finished copy of the Leonardo. They discuss the mysterious bidder, who turns out to be a Russian oligarch named Alexander Prokhorov. Although his assets in England have been frozen, Alexander has a French passport and a villa in Antibes.

While Gabriel intends to steal the real painting, he also plans to reroute the sum that the oligarch will pay for it. Sarah suggests sending the money to Ukraine, and her husband agrees: “Christopher smiled. ‘What a fine idea. Three hundred and twenty-five million dollars would buy a lot of badly needed bullets and antitank weapons’” (215). Such a use of the oligarch’s funds will add insult to injury. Sarah then proposes to raise the price for the painting to half a billion dollars.

The next day, Gabriel goes to Julian’s art gallery and shows him the Leonardo reproduction. He suggests that Julian should take several influential members of the art world into his confidence. Gabriel meets the assembled group and explains that he needs fake bidders to increase the price of the lost Leonardo. They all gleefully agree to participate.

Several hours later, Gabriel asks for the assistance of Jacques Ménard, head of the French art crime unit. While Ménard baulks at defrauding the oligarch, Gabriel merely asks him to look away while Gabriel and his team commit the crime: “After thirty minutes they had an operational plan in place, one that achieved the desired result while at the same time protecting Ménard’s political and legal flank” (220).

Gabriel’s next move is to approach Martin about substituting a flight attendant on the private jet used by the Camorra group. He wants Ingrid to take the assignment. Martin has some influence over the company manager and agrees to make the switch.

Several of Julian’s friends pose as interested buyers of the lost Leonardo. The Camorra arranges showings for each one. Meanwhile, Sarah leaks the rumor to Amelia March of ARTnews that several prominent gallery owners are bidding on a major piece that has just come on the market. The real contenders for the lost Leonardo get wind of the story and increase their bids accordingly. Alexander eliminates the competition by offering $500 million and agrees to pay for the painting on the spot once it is brought to his villa for inspection. After the agreement is reached, Gabrial springs into action to assemble his team for the day of the heist.

Sarah and Christopher are in Lugano, watching the movements of the Camorra group as they travel to the airport. Once they verify that the painting and its captors are en route to Antibes, they phone Gabriel to set the next phase of his plan into motion.

Ingrid keeps a watchful eye on the plane’s passengers during their flight to Nice and casually fields questions about her presence among them rather than the regular flight attendant. When they are about to land, she texts Gabriel to alert him of their arrival. He remains concealed in the terminal as Ménard and his crew go outside to meet the plane and its passengers.

Ménard and his team perform their inspection, but Ménard insists on taking photographs of the picture because of its high value. He carries it inside the terminal while the Camorra passengers remain on the plane. Ménard brings the lost Leonardo to a room where Gabriel waits with the reproduction. The French art sleuth can’t tell the difference between the two paintings, even though Gabriel can. The reproduction is taken back to the plane. The Dutch art dealer inspects it and can’t detect anything wrong. Meanwhile, Gabriel takes the real painting across the Italian border, escorted by the police.

As Ingrid prepares to leave the plane, she is forestalled by the Camorra. Franco Tedeschi, the CFO of Camorra Inc., confronts her about the painting: “Why did that French policeman photograph my Leonardo, Rikke? Why today of all days?” (248). Ingrid says she doesn’t know, but Tedeschi isn’t convinced. Now suspicious of her involvement, he insists that Ingrid accompany his group to Alexander’s villa.

Gabriel and an Italian police escort wait tensely on the outskirts of town, monitoring the transaction occurring in Alexander’s villa. Ingrid also waits outside in a car attended by two Camorra bodyguards. Despite Gabriel’s misgivings, the painting is authenticated by Alexander’s art expert, and the money is transferred as agreed.

The Camorra group departs happily for their plane, with Tedeschi apologizing to Ingrid for his suspicions. In a celebratory mood, they drink heavily during the flight back to Lugano. After they leave the airport, Ingrid goes to Martin’s private jet and sets up her computer to transfer Alexander’s funds out of the Camorra bank. Sarah and Christopher are also on hand because Christopher must reroute the funds to his contact at a bank in Ukraine: “Another minute passed, then the Ukrainian bank executive announced, ‘We have the money” (258). Alexander’s ill-gotten gains will now be put to good use as a generous donation to Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.