Rome: In the small church of Santa Giuliana, a magnificent Caravaggio altarpiece disappears without a trace in the middle of the night.

Paris: In the basement vault of the Malevich Society, the curator is shocked to discover the disappearance of the Society's great treasure, White on White by Suprematist painter Kasimir Malevich.

London: At the National Gallery of Modern Art, the museum's newest acquisition is stolen just hours after it was purchased for £6.3 million.

Three apparently unrelated art thefts have more in common than anyone imagines. As a renowned art investigator, a police inspector, and a Scotland Yard inspector take up their separate investigations, a trail of bizarre clues and intellectual puzzles reveals forgeries, over-paintings, and double crosses in an ever-deepening conspiracy.