John Dortmunder, professional thief, went out to rob a pawn shop and just happened to pick up the world's most valuable ruby, which just happened to have been heisted (by somebody else) hours before. And while the rest of the world goes ga-ga, Dortmunder doesn't even know he has the Byzantine Fire until it's too late. But now everyone from bomb-toting terrorists to Chief of Detectives Francis Mologna, from the Turkish charge d'affaires to the guys in the O.J. Bar and Grill--everyone in the free world of New York City agrees that whoever took that ruby ought to have his neck twisted. Now Dortmunder must find a way to unsteal the heist of a lifetime.