Robert Wittman idolized law enforcement as a child, and he was thrilled when his wife urged him to apply for admission to the ranks of the venerated Federal Bureau of Investigation. It beat sales work, even though the pay was less. Luckily, his first assignment landed him in Philadelphia, a mecca of art. He loves art, so fighting art theft and crime was second nature to him. Undercover work allowed him to utilize his training in salesmanship. He eventually spearheaded an effort to create the FBI Art Crime Team in 2004, though he was the only agent devoted full-time to solving art crime and recovering priceless works.

There is a cardinal rule in undercover work: tell as few lies as possible because they are hard to remember. Wittman used his real first name in dealings with art thieves in order to make things less complicated. He assumed a role that was to deceive and betray, but he called his wife to remind himself not to play the hero and get killed. He haggled with people on prices for the stolen art, he held the Bill of Rights in his hand, and he was mistakenly arrested during a SWAT take-down. But most of all, the adrenaline and satisfaction of saving irreplaceable art is what drove this agent to persist in his international dangerous ventures into the underbelly of the criminal world.

Unfortunately, many museums do not maintain accurate inventories, so it is impossible for them to determine which items have been stolen or have simply been moved into storage temporarily. Also, theft of art was not a felony until recently. It was treated as theft of money or any goods. Given the unique value of art in our society, however, the laws have been changed.

The FBI work did had its downsides. There were many hairy moments where a careless lie almost brought Wittman down. Any error could result in him losing his life. He also dealt with supervisors who micro managed and refused to make waves in order to advance their own careers. The FBI is definitely a "good old boys" organization.

Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert Wittman, 2010

• Robert Wittman's Art Security Company
• FBI Art Crime Team
• books about art crime