Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?

The Picasso fell off the proverbial truck. It vanished from a loading dock at Logan International Airport in Boston and wound up where it didn't belong, in the modest home of one Merrill Rummel, also known as Bill.
In fairness, this forklift operator had no idea that the crate he tossed into his car trunk contained a Picasso until he opened its casing. In fairness, he didn't care much for it; he preferred realism.
But now things had turned all too real. FBI agents were hot on the trail of a hot Picasso unavailable for public viewing, as it was hidden in Rummel's hallway closet. He and his fiancee, Sam, began to panic.
"How do we get rid of it?" she recalls thinking. "We couldn't just give it back.
It was a pain in our butt." Fortunately, Rummel knew a guy.
Someone particularly skilled at making problems melt away. A fixer.
He dialed a number he knew by heart.
THE CASE OF THE MISSING PICASSO goes back. Back before the far more notorioustheft of 13 works of art from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Back, in a sense, to a time before Picasso had even painted the piece.
Back to the 1950s of Waterville, Maine, where the Rummel boys-Bill and his younger brother, Whit-were testing their hometown's Yankee forbearance. If one boy was looting parking meters for his coin collection, the other was pilfering pens from Woolworth's. If one was stealing radios from junked cars, the other was racing his car so recklessly that it seemed destined for the junkyard.
But their father, Whitcomb Rummel Sr., always managed to calm the aggravated constabulary with assurances that he would handle it. And he did: When a 12-year-old Whit-known in the family as Half-Whit―was caught stealing from
Woolworth's, his father forbade him from entering any shop for a year.
この記事は Reader's Digest US の June 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Reader's Digest US の June 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン

MOOSE ALERT! (THAT'S NO BULLWINKLE)
We thought we were prepared for any wildlife encounter. But not this one.

KEEPER of the FLAME
His best friend died a hero's death in Vietnam. Six decades later, he won't let us forget.

WELCOME HOME!
The best part about leaving? Coming back.

HOW NATURE HEALS
Getting outdoors is as close to a cure-all as you'll find. It's fast and free, with few (if any) side effects.

Paying Attention to Adult ADHD
New awareness and diagnostic tools are helping more of us understand how our brains work

News FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE
WHY IT'S SMART TO GET THE EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL

My Forever Tree
A beloved sugar maple slowly succumbed to disease. Today, she lives on in a new form.

New Ways to Relieve Pain
Don't resign yourself to a life of discomfort. Here's how to stop hurting.

THE SQUATTER IN MY HOUSE
YOUR HOME IS YOUR CASTLE-UNTIL SOME STRANGER INSISTS IT'S THEIRS

Serving Some Tennis Facts
A GRAND SLAM isn't just a four-run homer in baseball or a breakfast order at Denny's. It also refers to winning tennis's four major tournaments, two of which are about to start: the French Open (May 25 to June 8) and Wimbledon (June 30 to July 13).