After college, I did a law degree at Fordham Law School in New York. I loved the law but I didn’t want to be a lawyer. A lawsuit is like a post mortem, everything is done and you just dissect the body. I wanted to get out there and catch the bad guys.

In 1968, fresh out of Fordham, I joined the FBI. After my training, the bureau said it needed undercover agents, assigned to the art crime team. Most of the guys weren’t interested. They wanted to kick in doors, arrest bank robbers and catch spies. But to me, undercover sounded like a dream job. I could get right next to the bad guys. I could go to all the famous hotels - The Plaza, The Warldorf - and wear fancy clothes.