LOOSELY BASED ON A TRUE STORY
ANTWERP VALENTINE'S NIGHT
Who has never had the urge to steal something?
And, sure... Some are able to resist the temptation.
Others...
Where the hell is he?
Get a move on.
He got lost for sure.
We'll have to go looking for him
and I'm sure the police will show up too.
Give it a rest!
-You're stressing me out. -Fine.
-Guys. -Albi, where are you?
Below you. I'm coming up.
-We're coming. -Finally! Stay here.
I'm staying.
-Help! -Help him up.
-Help me. Wait. -Come on, out you come.
Wait, wait!
Ouch! Lift me up!
I'll send you my physiotherapy bill.
Guys, this is definitely my best Valentine's Day ever!
-It sure is! -Yes!
No, it's not over yet!
In less than three hours, half of the world's cops will be after us.
Right! And if they catch us, it'll be our worst Valentine's Day ever.
-Go! -Come on!
Oh, shit!
-Leo! -What is it?
Shit, shit! There's a police car tailing us!
-Fuck! -Shit!
Where did these guys come from?
What do we do? Leo?
Don't speed up.
-Fuck, fuck, fuck! -I knew it.
Damn, I almost had a heart attack!
Oh, my God...
Come on, quickly.
Come on.
SANDRA THE LOCK PICKING QUEEN
ALBERTO THE HACKER
GHIGO THE ALARM GURU
Throw your phones here.
From now on, zero communication between us.
For emergencies, call Alberto.
If you dial 22 22, it'll look like a customer service call.
Here are your new IDs.
Do you realize how close we came to giving up?
How terrified we were of our plan failing?
Now look at us! We made it! We're at the last mile, guys.
-It's done. Stay focused. -Yeah.
-Stay focused till the end. -Let's go.
Get rid of these bags. You have 48 hours.
Come on.
-Bye. See you later. -Leave it.
-I'll take it. -Go, Sandra.
LEONARDO THE MASTERMIND
Here?
Put it on the back seat!
Go, come on!
Leo!
Try to be careful. It'd be a shame to lose sight of one another again.
See you soon, kid.
BRUSSELS ROYAL PALACE
Now the officiant will read the motivation for the award.
The King appoints Albert Mertens
as Member of the Order of Leopold II
for his exceptional merits as Head of the Diamond Squad,
and for his dedication to the protection of the World Diamond Center
and the nation's interests.
Once he gets here, the King will take the medal and...
Excuse me.
As I was saying, the King will take the medal...
That's your...
Khadir, I told you I would be at the Royal Palace!
What are you saying?
Fuck.
Don't let anybody touch anything until I arrive.
Excuse me.
ANTWERP
There are dates that mark the life of a nation.
Valentine's Day risks becoming one of the darkest days in Belgium's history...
This morning, Antwerp woke up without its diamonds.
Thieves broke into the World Diamond Center,
one of the most secure places in the world. The city is in shock.
The World Diamond Center in Antwerp was broken into last night.
More than a billion dollars' worth of diamonds
were stored in its safe deposit boxes.
This robbery is hard to believe.
The WDC was considered impenetrable.
The World Diamond Center in Antwerp, symbol of the global diamond trade,
whose advanced security systems make it one of the safest places
in the world, has been robbed.
OVERNIGHT HEIST AT WDC
DIAMOND CENTER ROBBED
THE THEFT OF THE CENTURY
SECURITY CAMERA
MOTION SENSORS
HEAT SENSORS
Everything is intact.
No signs of tampering.
The main entrance and the side doors as well. No signs of forced entry.
Did you speak with Debour?
Yes, but he's delirious. He's still in shock.
POLICE
The door is still intact.
They messed with the alarms.
They're incredible. The lock has 100 million combinations.
They didn't guess the combination. Someone must have given it to them.
Use your brain!
I won't be the man who let the World Diamond Center go bankrupt.
Time for the main course.
I've always guarded those diamonds as if they were mine, I swear.
And now they're gone. They took them. Bastards!
JUDITH DEWITT WDC DIRECTOR
JAN KOVAC INTERIOR MINISTER
ALBERT MERTENS DIAMOND SQUAD CHIEF
On the contrary, my dear man.
It is you who will no longer sleep well.
Wait.
An Italian, even in the darkest times,
must always be a gentleman.
Good luck, Leonardo.
Bye bye, little girl!
-Hello, my love. -Well? Did they recover any diamonds?
They might not be ours.
TURIN
Before leaving Paris this morning, I was so happy.
I was even handling important clients.
Now it all seems pointless. I don't know how you can cope so well.
I can't even go into our jewelry store.
Don't worry about it. With everything that's happened,
one setback won't destroy us.
Perhaps you're right.
My father wants to speak with you.
-Leonardo? -General?
I've been in similar situations.
In my experience, it's a good sign when investigations start off well.
And one more thing.
My sources assure me that this Mertens
knows what he's doing, he's tough.
I must say, these robbers...
They certainly pulled off an incredible feat, did they not?
Yes, but they won't come out on top. All it takes is a small mistake.
I must be going. I'm expected at the base.
Go fuck yourself.
We have to check those diamonds one by one.
This is an absolute priority. Get the bag analyzed. Look for traces, origin...
-This could be the key. -Okay. Anything else?
-Just start with that. -Detective Mertens!
-Yes. -This just arrived.
Thank you, Michel.
A finding in Beveren. Khadir, you deal with it.
Nadine, get moving. These are not people who get caught off guard.
CHAMPOLUC AOSTA VALLEY
Hey, you! Hold on.
My apologies.
It doesn't recognize season cards.
BUSSOLENO SUSA VALLEY
-Bye. -Wait!
Wait, I made you coffee!
Oh, Lord! What did you do?
It's nothing, a client says he's allergic to hair. I don't know...
-Already leaving? -Yeah.
I was hoping you'd stay longer. When will you be back?
I don't know, Mom.
It's a big job, an important one. Luckily, it pays well.
If you need money, I can help.
-How much do you need? -One billion, okay?
A billion might be enough to provide for your families.
Don't come back with a fourth daughter-in-law.
There's no danger of that.
Bye.
TURIN LE VALLETTE PRISON
How are you?
Good. You?
My little girl...
I'm proud of you.
You were a good teacher.
I always knew you would do great things.
You know something, Dad? I finally feel strong.
I don't need this anymore.
You keep it. I'll be away for a while.
-And Leo? -What about him?
-How was he? -Like always.
He gets wild ideas sometimes. But in the end, he knows his stuff.
Yeah.
You found time for me?
I couldn't leave without saying goodbye. You're my mentor.
Are you leaving for Turin?
Yes, tomorrow. There's nothing more for me to do here.
I can imagine.
Though I want to see you on your feet next time I visit.
We'll go to the Diamond Center together.
Good luck, Leo.
Good luck.
Goodbye, Roberto.
Yeah? Mertens.
Good evening, detective Mertens.
Sorry to inform you His Majesty has decided to suspend the ceremony,
given the circumstances.
This is not the moment to celebrate.
Yes, of course, I understand. But...
Please reassure His Majesty, we're on the right track.
I don't doubt that. You'll hear from us when the time is right. Good luck.
Thank you.
-We have analyzed the diamonds. -And?
LUDWIG FURTMEIER RENOWNED GEMOLOGIST
They look exactly like natural diamonds. Identical!
To the naked eye, they're indistinguishable.
But the difference is remarkable.
You see...
It takes at least 800 million years for a natural diamond to form.
To obtain it, you'll have to extract three to four tons of earth and rock.
In short, it's a lot of hard work.
To make a synthetic diamond,
you need a small diamond seed, just a few millimeters large,
a bit of hydrogen,
a bit of methane...
Wait for a week, and...
The seed has become a diamond.
A synthetic diamond can cost up to 60% less than a natural one.
As we know, the market caters to the less fortunate.
It's more than happy to help the underprivileged live the dream.
Will you marry me?
You're crazy!
-It must have cost you a fortune. -Come on, don't worry about it.
Nothing. It's synthetic.
So it's synthetic?
No. No, I swear. I don't even know what "synthetic" means.
Hello, Minister.
The thieves have fooled you. And you fell for it, Mertens!
You lost a lot of precious time.
And you gave those criminals the chance to escape and to hide the diamonds!
The future of Belgium is at stake, God damn it!
Yes, of course, Minister.
You either give me something to calm down the market and the investors,
or you can say goodbye to the King and that beautiful medal.
Because I'll reassign you to the department
of exotic and endangered animals!
He found it during the walk.
BEVEREN 16 KM FROM ANTWERP
They threw it away as they ran.
They thought this place was abandoned.
Look at this.
A hardware store receipt for the purchase of burglary tools.
There is a name on it.
Khadir.
TO THE MOST PRECIOUS DIAMOND OF MY LIFE. I LOVE YOU.
Amazing! We were amazing!
Magnificent! Magnificent...
The diamonds were found to be synthetic. The city and the World Diamond...
-Leonardo? -Good evening, General.
-Have you heard the news? -Yes.
I'd been holding out hope.
-We have to keep a cool head. -Yes.
These robbers... They sure turned out to be
extremely talented professionals.
-Don't you think? -Sadly, yes.
These people are very astute. They're not to be underestimated.
Excuse me for just a moment.
I wish I could tell him.
"It was me! Me! I did it. I'm the one behind this masterpiece!"
But I can't.
Here I am. Sorry.
-It is what it is. -It's not over yet.
-Be brave, Leonardo. -Is it Leo?
-Yes. Anna's here. She wants a word. -Thanks.
Thank you.
-Hi. -Hello, my love.
-How are you? -Well...
I got a blood test. Cholesterol's high, but everything else is fine.
-What are you going to do? -Nothing, Anna.
There's nothing else to do.
I'm coming home to you and the kids.
Listen, Leo. I...
I know it's not the best time. I don't want to add to the stress.
But I'm scared. I'm very scared.
We lost everything. What are we going to do?
Anna, my love, listen to me.
It's a difficult situation,
but we'll pull through.
Yes.
-Halt! -Go inside.
-What the fuck? -Leonardo?
What the hell... What the fuck's going on?
-Leo? -Can somebody tell me what's going on?
Leonardo Notarbartolo.
Are you okay? Feeling all right?
You don't look entirely well, Mr. Notarbartolo.
What the hell do you want from me? Go fuck yourself, asshole.
Finished.
Khadir.
Take him to the city prison.
Throw him in the dirtiest, stinkiest cell you can find.
In isolation. I want him to suffer.
He'll grovel.
Okay, fine.
They say dreams come at a price.
That, if you raise your head, someone will try and chop it off.
That we should all behave and know our place.
The place assigned to us by fate.
And so, sadly,
we're to go through life until the day it's extinguished,
and make do with the crumbs that fall our way.
You're leaving? You said you'd stay.
I have to get back to Marcello.
But I won't be satisfied.
On the contrary, I want to prove to the whole world
that in life, you should dream big.
And since this isn't the ending I had imagined for myself,
I will not give up.
The World Diamond Center heist is my life's dream.
And I won't allow anyone to ruin it.
Whoever betrayed me made a big mistake.
IN THE NEXT EPISODE
Leave no stone unturned. I want to know who that bastard is.
-I've got an idea for a job. -We said we were done.
The Diamond Center? Holy shit. You're insane.
It's not easy to get an office there.
It's a closed circle. You get in if you're one of them.