In 1976, JOE MEDEIROS, a ruthless contender in Trivial Pursuit, was shocked to uncover a piece of history he knew absolutely nothing about: the 1911 theft of the MONA LISA. Acting alone, an Italian immigrant housepainter named VINCENZO PERUGGIA swiftly removed the painting from The Louvre and held her in his one room apartment in Paris for over two years. Peruggia was never apprehended until he returned the Mona Lisa to Florence through an Italian art dealer, claiming he stole her to return her to her rightful owners - the Italian people.
The Missing Piece tells the story of Joe Medeiros' 34-year quest to find the facts about Vincenzo Peruggia's involvement in the theft of the Mona Lisa. His search takes him to the thief's 84 year-old daughter, Celestina Peruggia, whom he hopes will tell him the secret of her father's reason for the crime. What he encounters instead is a daughter who knows little about her father's life. But Medeiros gets a mandate from her to find the truth about Vincenzo Peruggia and his unthinkable theft of the Mona Lisa.