The events recounted in this book are essentially true. The theft of the paintings in question took place as told; they were hidden in my father's cellar in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx for about two years until my wife and I removed them. My cousin and his partner were arrested for their roles in the crime. I have taken some minor fictional liberties in the reconstruction of dialogue that occurred more than thirty years ago and in the invention of a few details that most likely happened during breaks in the main action of the story, which is why this book can be read as either a memoir or a novel. In June 2007, one of the paintings, Monet's "Nympheas," sold at auction in London for $36 million.