It's quite a place.
Hmm.
Should have seen it in the '40s.
Man, this was the place to be.
Yeah, they'd have shows
and professional skaters from all over.
That Wurlitzer...
...It would shake the rafters.
Where is it, Charlie?
I beg your pardon.
You went to war in 1942.
You came home with a very valuable painting.
Looting art from the battlefield is a serious crime.
Tell me where it is right now...
You won't go to jail.
I never looted anything in my life.
And if anyone's going to jail, it's you...
For waving that fake dime-store badge in front of my face.
Fair enough.
But know this --
the man that hired me to get that painting
will hunt you like a dog until he gets it.
Son of a --
Hey, you guys. Is he all right?
'Cause I just don't see
how I.Y.S. Insurance would force you out.
I mean, nobody closed more investigations than you,
- except me. - Gentlemen?
Um, Irish, neat, and, uh -- What'll you have?
Coffee, thanks.
Dereliction of duties.
They just said I was obsessed, chasing a ghost.
And they were right. Until this week.
You found it?
A woman in Dusseldorf
found these in her attic two weeks ago.
They're love letters from a Conrad Becker,
a Nazi infantryman, to this woman's mother.
In them, he refers to a painting he stashed in his gear.
Hmm.
The painting.
Okay, but we -- we have heard these claims before.
Yeah, but this time the facts bear him out.
Look, he was stationed at the Friedrich-Kaiser Museum
on the night of the bombing of Magdeburg.
He helped put out the fire. I know this is true.
He saved the lost Van Gogh.
Where does, uh -- where does this trail lead?
Oregon.
Why don't we, uh, sit down?
Go on.
In 1944, Becker's unit was sent to France,
where he was killed by U.S. troops.
And there, it seems,
the painting was taken by this man --
Charles Lawson.
And what does, uh, Mr. Charles Lawson
have to say about this?
Nothing. He refuses to talk to me...or to anyone.
He was just checked into a local hospital with chest pains.
You know, uh, Owen, I'm out of the art-recovery business.
But you are in the...
People-helping business, right?
The word is out on this, Nate.
The Billionaires' Club wants this painting,
and they're not gonna ask a lot of questions
about how they get it.
I thought I found it years ago in a vault in Kyoto,
but it was a fake.
Yeah, no. I-I chased it, too.
Buenos Aires, Damascus, Kiev.
I mean, it was the white whale of art-theft recovery.
Where's Hardison and Parker?
I sent them on ahead. You'll understand after the briefing.
Sophie.
The "Painter on the Road to Tarascon."
It's a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh
completed in 1888.
It was confiscated by the Nazis as part of Hitler's drive
to accumulate all the great European works of art.
It was hanging in a museum in Germany
when allied bombing set the place on fire
and it was destroyed.
There's always been rumors that it survived,
but it's never resurfaced.
- Until now. - We think.
An old colleague of mine believes it was smuggled
back into the U.S. by an American G.I. after the war.
What's it worth?
Judging by recent auctions, I'd say...
$100 million, give or take.
Which, uh, brings us to your former line of work -- retrieval.
How much trouble do you think this elderly veteran is in?
Finder's fee on an item like this is probably 10%,
so it depends what you think a man will do for $10 million.
Nate, we're in. Target is secure.
Well, if nothing here catches your fancy,
I can always come back later.
Uh, I-I'm fine, thank you.
I-in fact, I've got to get out of here.
Whoa, Mr. Lawson, it's okay. We're here to keep you safe.
Okay?
We're not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise.
Just relax.
It's all right.
Okay, if you need anything else, anything at all,
just call me, okay?
Okay, did you get what you needed from his wallet?
Girl, I had to go down to the hall of records.
You know what the dust does to my sinuses.
I can't half breathe. I'm about to suffocate.
I know.
It's okay. What did you find?
Not much. Birth certificate. Bunch of old addresses.
He left the country in 1945 and never came --
came -- came back.
Thank you. You're welcome.
Come on.
Where you at?
I'm in a damn storage closet!
Smells like mothballs and old people.
Hardison, what can you tell us about Charlie Lawson?
Well, he's 88 years young.
He lived and worked all over the world --
France, Botswana, Australia.
His passport shows that he came back to Willamette City
for the first time since the war.
It's his hometown.
The same week, he's identified
as a suspect in the disappearance of the painting.
Coincidence?
Oh, I think that painting is hidden somewhere in that town.
We need to find it.
Yeah, or that old man is gonna be hurt or...worse.
Or -- but -- not -- no, not -- not a toy.
What, man?
He's telling me to learn technical stuff all the time.
Well, that'll never happen.
We got a plane to catch.
I don't have any painting.
Mr. Lawson, uh, we are not the police.
I don't care if you're Vincent Van Gogh himself.
I can't help you.
Mr. Lawson, this painting is a lost masterpiece.
It belongs in a museum.
The longer you stay quiet about it,
the more danger you're gonna be in.
I've been on my own a long time.
I can take care of myself.
All right, well, if you change your mind,
give me a call.
What? No, wait. Wait.
We can't just leave.
I'll talk to Nate. We'll think of something.
Okay.
Wait.
I'll tell you what you want to know.
But I'll only talk with her.
This is really a job for Sophie.
He didn't ask for Sophie. Yeah, but, I mean, what do I do?
Play the status game, mimic his emotions,
disrupt his timeline to keep him from lying?
All right, you listen.
I have no idea what he's gonna say to you,
but right now he's the only lead we have.
We'll follow his clues.
Just listen.
All right, Nate,
I'm at Charlie Lawson's house he grew up in.
You sure this is worth it?
We got to start somewhere.
Hi.
How you doing, ma'am? I'm with the gas company.
We've had a couple of reports of gas leaks in the neighborhood,
and so, uh, if you wouldn't mind,
just -- might have to get up in there.
Uh, and there we are.
Oh, boy. That's a -- that's a --
that's a level one right there.
You've got 84% L.O.L.
So, if you could do me a favor
and just step out on the porch just for a second.
I'm gonna check the rest of the house.
Shouldn't take but just a minute. Okay. All right.
Wait. You'll have to tell the mold inspector. He's out back.
Is he?
What are you doing here, Frank?
Retiring.
Barbie leave that in her dream house?
Frank.
Sir, is everything all right?
Yeah, your, uh -- your mold inspector just left.
He said you're all clear.
What about the gas leak?
I'm still looking for a source, uh, for that.
I-I need to know what year the house was built.
You don't have any original features
that would help me pinpoint the year, do you?
No.
But I did find some old art.
That might help.
It all started at the Roller Palace.
When I was a kid,
it seems everyone in town was there on a Saturday night.
That's where I met her.
Here you go.
Her name was Dorothy Ross.
She was the daughter of Alfred Ross,
a lumber baron who owned half the town.
She used to have her lessons
on the Wurlitzer at the palace.
Soon we became friends.
What was she like?
She was stubborn as a mule.
She wouldn't listen to anybody.
Her daddy wanted her to be a society girl,
but she was gonna be her own person.
W-when we first met,
I thought Dorothy Ross had -- had it all.
Big house, fancy clothes.
But as I got older, I realized...
She was just as trapped as I was.
The Empire State Building?
The Empire State Building!
That's it? That's where you want to go?
Dorothy, I said anyplace in the world!
New York City is in the world.
I've never been there. Have you?
New York City is a place where you get on a boat.
How about... The Taj Mahal?
Well, sure -- you didn't say
what palaces I wanted to visit.
The Taj Mahal isn't a palace. No one lived there.
It's a mausoleum the Shah built for his dead wife.
How do you know so much about the world?
Oh, they still let me in the library.
I did not mean it like that.
I guess I don't have your imagination.
I don't imagine. I plan.
Nate, this town's crawling with treasure hunters.
I'll do a sweep and report back to you.
But do not let Charlie leave the hospital.
I found this behind a wall when we first moved in. Stand by.
Couldn't bear to throw it away.
Does this help you?
No, but it looks like somebody that lived here
really wanted to visit --
The Eiffel Tower! Yeah.
That's where Dorothy wanted to go, too!
Her daddy was thrilled
she was finally aspiring to the finer things in life.
Oh, so he started giving her French lessons.
What he didn't know -- that she was turning around
and teaching me French, too.
"Please tell me where I can find the nearest bakery."
S'il vous plaît, ou se trouve la boulangerie la plus proche?
Hmm.
"The last boat left an hour ago.
You'll have to take the bridge."
Le dernier bâteau est parti depuis une heure.
Il vous faut passer par le pont.
Oh, for Pete's sake!
I have a private tutor, but you speak better French than I do!
Pour l'amour du ciel, j'ai un professeur particulier,
mais toi tu parles le français mieux que moi.
I just have an ear for languages.
I'd say you're ready to go to France right now.
Maybe we can go together, after the Germans leave.
I said it as a joke,
just so I could take it back, but I meant every word of it.
I was in love with Dorothy Ross.
I'd like that.
Dorothy!
Daddy!
Oh, I dropped my book.
Charlie was just helping me.
Of course. How's your mama?
She still working for Harold Dole's family?
Yes, sir. Going on 20 years now.
Good.
Well, you give your mother my regards, won't you?
Yes, I'll do that, Mr. Ross.
You look splendid today.
Thank you.
Now, Willamette City is not Selma, Alabama,
but it was 1942.
And a black man making overtures to a white woman
was literally a crime.
But I had gotten away with it.
Or so I thought.
Hey!
What did I do?
You know what you did.
And I'm just getting started.
Well, what you waiting on? Hit me! Hit me!
Lewis.
I was wondering what your car was doing here.
Sheriff.
This spook tried to have his way with the Ross girl.
It's a lie! Easy, Charlie.
Now, Lewis, you run Mr. Ross' mill, right?
Yes, sir.
Does that job come with a badge now, too?
You're making a mistake, sheriff.
Well, it won't be my first time.
Now get on.
Hello, Charlie.
I'll be all right.
Now...
Messing with Alfred Ross' daughter --
you are playing with fire, son.
I can take care of myself.
Well, no, you can't.
Now, I'm shipping off to training camp
and, after that, the war.
The deputies that I'm leaving behind,
they don't know you as well as I do,
and they're not gonna give a rat's tail
if those boys come back.
I can promise you that. All right?
And they will come back.
What am -- what am I supposed to do?
Everybody's got to find their own way right now.
I'm just giving you the lay of the land.
At that moment, I realized I had to do something
to change Mr. Ross' mind about me.
Maybe Dorothy was right --
Maybe I was ready to go to France.
Charlie's not here. Huh?
He enlisted this morning.
Now, there weren't a lot of choices
for a black man in the army.
I drove a supply truck as part of the red ball express.
And I was good at it.
And I could use my French
to horse-trade for food and wine and whatever.
Well, not that I got the chance to enjoy it.
It was after D-Day, and we were clearing pockets of Germans
in the French countryside.
Let's hold up here.
Paris was gonna have to wait.
I need another pineapple. This is from that batch of duds.
Need some ammo, too.
Écoutez! Aidez-moi, monsieur, s'il vous plaît!
Faites demi-tour! C'est dangereux! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What is it? C'est dangereux, monsieur!
Great. The day I lose my translator. Un soldat allemand.
Je l'ai vu en train de voler de ma ferme.
- Vous êtes en danger. - What the hell is she saying?!
Hey, supply. You listening to me?
Krauts! She's saying krauts! Get down!
Aah!
Aah! Allez!
He's in the woods!
Lay down suppression fire!
Can you move? Move to me!
Move!
Help me! Help me!
I need a position!
Grenade!
Move it!
Supply. Supply!
Charlie!
Ah, it didn't make sense that he would be alone like this.
In the chaos of the invasion, anything was possible.
Take this. Take his supplies.
Give me the bag.
There might be some intel on the maps.
Go.
Nice shot, Lawson.
Did you hear him mention the letters, huh?
Maybe it is true.
What do you got?
Oh, probably just my sensitivity to dust mites.
It's what happens when you send me
to the hall of records a second -- No, no, no. No.
Dorothy Ross. What do you have on Dorothy Ross?
D-- she died.
Dorothy van Buren, formerly Dorothy Ross --
She died three years ago.
But it looks like she spent her whole life here in town,
playing the Wurlitzer over at the Roller Palace.
She, uh -- she left her house to her daughter. Oh.
Where? That's the address right there.
There's a daughter. Yeah.
Dorothy married some local guy in '57.
He died in the '90s.
I'll check it out. Hmm.
Like hanging here in a hospital is any better.
You know what, man -- if I get out of this job
- without upper-respiratory issues, it will be a miracle. - Yeah.
What? Really? This? What -- nasty.
Don't know where this has been.
Congratulations, private.
He was standing over there, too,
so I didn't have any choice, you know.
Hey. What's going on?
Oh, McClusky got his first kill.
Saved the whole unit.
Lieutenant's putting him in for a medal.
McClusky --
the man who hid behind my truck.
Did I send for you, supply?
I killed that sniper.
You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.
McClusky fired the shot. It's in my report.
It's a lie.
You're calling me a liar?
Yes, sir, I am.
This war is almost over.
Think about what you're doing right now.
Don't you tell me to think, lieutenant.
My thinking saved your life!
But I won't get the credit because I'm a negro,
isn't that right?
That's right.
It's not the policy of the United States Government
to hand out medals to negroes.
Therefore, private McClusky
fired the shot that killed the sniper,
making him, and not you, a candidate for the bronze star.
That's just the way it is, Charlie.
You don't have to like it, but that's the way it is.
When you speak English and French,
German's not that hard.
The letter was to his girl back home,
a girl he'd never see again because of me.
I didn't have time to dwell on this unfortunate situation
because of what I read next.
It was about a painting he had saved from the fire...
...And how it would provide for them
for the rest of their lives.
Take this. Take his supplies.
Give me the bag.
The sniper's gear was in his tent.
Lieutenant hadn't looked at it yet.
I was the only one who knew about the painting.
At that moment, I realized
that I didn't have to be a hero to get Dorothy.
I had the painting.
And I had a plan.
How can they tear down the Roller Palace?
Mm. It's a long story.
The developer paid off the planning commission.
My law firm are trying to help.
Well, you came to the right place.
My mom played the Wurlitzer at the Roller Palace
for 50 years. So I was told.
And anytime someone would try to tear it down,
she would fight them tooth and nail.
She'd sit right there at her old desk,
and she would write a letter to anyone who would listen.
Hmm. This is her.
Ah. Oh.
She's beautiful. She was.
She passed away three years ago.
Oh, I'm sorry. Mm.
It's your accent.
You remind me of my aunt Cecilia.
She was a war bride, and she taught my mom
to play the Wurlitzer organ at the Palace
after the war. Wow.
Ooh!
You know, your father pays me by the hour.
Oh, come on, Cecilia. I'm just taking a break!
My teacher would rap me on the knuckles with a ruler.
Well, that's why I'm so tucky you're my teacher!
The first time I saw Dorothy since I left for the war,
it was like she was floating on air.
Dorothy!
It's okay, Cecilia.
He's an old friend.
Charlie.
When did you get back?
Doesn't matter.
I need to speak with you.
Alone.
Yeah.
I can see the Roller Palace meant the world to your mother.
It did.
Oh, excuse me.
Hello?
Hello, miss Porter?
This is Chad Jones calling from credit services.
There has been some unusual activity on your credit card.
Did you, by chance, purchase a jet ski?
I'm sorry, a what?
I have some more charges I need you to confirm.
Okay, this is ridiculous. Let me get my card.
Just a minute.
I'm sorry. Will you excuse me?
- Oh. No problem. I'll, uh -- I'll just look at the book. - Oh. Okay.
I'm clear.
There's no sign of the painting here,
but I've got a lead.
Ahh.
Hmm.
Hello, little hidden key to a safety-deposit box.
Miss Porter, I'm almost done expunging these false charges
from your credit card.
It will just be another moment.
Guys. Guys, that painting's only 18 inches.
That can easily fit inside a safety-deposit box.
Or she could have sold it and stashed the cash.
Sophie, Hardison, uh, open that safe-deposit box.
Uh, Eliot, I want you to secure the bank's perimeter.
Parker, you're doing a great job. Keep it up.
Remember when I asked you to go to Paris with me?
Well, now we can.
W-we can sell this painting in New York,
never come back to this town again.
We can go to all the places that you want to go, together.
Nobody can stop us.
What do you say?
I say yes.
How do we do it?
Well, you're playing the Wurlitzer tomorrow night, right?
Everyone in town will be here.
That's when we'll do it.
But you'll need help.
She'll do it.
Okay.
Here it is. Step by step.
We can do this.
Someone's coming!
My French. It's still terrible.
I know.
How was your day, sweetheart?
Uneventful.
Really? Something bothering you?
It's the rain. Reminds me of London.
Little homesick maybe.
We'll have to work on that.
Excuse me.
Are you the branch manager?
Yes. I'll be with you in just one moment.
I'm afraid this can't wait.
Can we speak to you in private?
Of course.
- Please excuse us for a moment. - Yes, sir.
What seems to be the problem?
The "problem" is that your bank just failed
a preliminary stress test.
On a scale of 1 to 5 --
1 being best, 5 being worst --
your bank scored...
Risk management, 5.
Delinquent loans, 5.
Cash reserves, 5.
So we're gonna need to see everything --
the back office, the vault, everything.
This is outrageous. Why wasn't I informed?
Go ahead and call D.C. check up on us.
But I'd advise you to keep your voice low
unless you want a run on your broke-ass bank.
Just saying.
Yeah, this is... Marcus Dupree.
Yes, this is the FDIC investigation bureau.
What do you need?
I can confirm that there is a spot inspection
scheduled for today.
That's r-- I got to put you on hold.
Randal.
Singapore, right?
Yeah.
Paul McCartney's Hofner bass guitar.
You owe me $27,000.
Or we can split this fee
and walk away with $5 million each.
What do you say?
You should have paid me, Randal.
I don't understand.
Why couldn't you and Dorothy just run away in the middle of the night?
In whose car? Her father's?
We'd never make it to the county line.
We had to slip away when everyone in town
was watching something else.
You're not nervous, are you?
You can play this piece in your sleep.
Yes. It's just...
There are so many people here tonight.
Oh, honey. You're gonna be wonderful.
As always.
I better go practice.
Any sign of him?
No, sir.
Are you sure he's back?
Oh, he's here.
You find him.
Dorothy.
Charlie Lawson.
I think we need to have a talk.
When I saw Dorothy's father,
my ticket was punched.
You're just back from the war.
Europe or the Pacific?
France.
We landed in Calais after D-Day.
My sweet lord.
We do owe you a debt.
Your mother should be proud.
Don't you talk about my mother. She's no friend of yours.
Now, here's the thing.
Just because you served our nation honorably
doesn't give you the right to speak to me like that.
It seems to me you might have forgotten your place.
You want to beat me...
Go ahead.
Nah.
I don't want to do that.
I just want to ask you one question.
What are your plans with my daughter?
It's locked from the outside.
I have to get out. I have to!
Whatever it is that you and my wife are up to, it stops now.
Now, I saw Charlie here yesterday.
You told my father?
I would never do that.
But you got no business dragging my wife into this!
This is my town! You don't understand.
If my father finds Charlie --
I have to get out there! Please!
Hmm?
Wait, wait, wait! Wait! Wait!
Dorothy and I were going to Canada.
She swiped your keys. We were gonna take your car.
They're right there in my bag.
What?
Grenade!
I need another pineapple. This is from that batch of duds.
Hey! Hey! There they are!
Oh! Get out of here! Go!
Okay, we can jump off in Edmundville,
catch the Westbound.
Your father won't catch us.
That's not true. You know that's not true.
My father will do whatever it takes
to find us and bring me back here.
He'll hurt you. I can't let that happen. I can --
I can take care of myself.
I know you can. But I can't.
I've never been to France, Charlie.
This town, this place --
it's my home.
Here.
What?
No!
No, keep it safe. Keep it safe for me.
Keep it safe.
I love you, Dorothy.
So beautiful.
I love you.
And...
That was the last time I saw Dorothy Ross.
But the painting -- You gave it back to her.
I mean, you could have been set for life.
Yeah, seems like I read that in a letter before.
Didn't work too well for him.
Hmm.
Maybe the painting's a curse.
So you didn't come back to town for the painting.
I got to France on my own.
I even walked the same road
as Van Gogh did in the painting.
I've had a remarkable life.
I came back to this town to see her.
And I was just a couple of years too late.
Where do you think the painting is now?
Does it matter?
Well, we count around $70,000 in small bills.
I told you. Dorothy did sell that painting.
This must be all that was left.
I know where the painting is.
Sophie, Hardison, protect Charlie.
Eliot, come with me. I'll send you the address.
Sir, we're closed.
With the historical society. Here to fix the old Wurlitzer.
How long that one been out?
Oh, as long as I can remember.
The lady who used to play it just figured ways around it.
Hmm.
I'll take that now.
Owen.
What are you doing?
I've spent the last 20 years of my life chasing a ghost.
Lost my family.
Lost everything.
I'm not leaving here without it.
You know, Charlie Lawson said this painting was cursed.
A German soldier died for it.
Look what it's done to you, Owen.
Nate, I know you think you can talk me out of this.
But you can't.
Well, you know, I'm not trying to reason with you, Owen.
I just want you to understand why it is I'm doing this.
Oh, no!
No, no, no, no, no.
This painting's about a man going to work.
That's why you loved it.
Somehow that got lost.
I think the Boston Museum of Art
is an excellent choice, Charlie.
Hmm.
H-how did you figure it out?
You told me.
See, once I knew that Dorothy had the painting,
the key to finding it was understanding her.
My mom played the Wurlitzer at the Roller Palace
for 50 years.
And anytime someone would try to tear it down,
she would fight them tooth and nail.
Now, she was loyal.
Loyal to this town, loyal to you.
She made you a promise.
She said that she would keep the Van Gogh safe,
and that's exactly what she did...
...Watching over it every time she played the organ.
She saved her tips all those years, hoping.
In case I came back. Yeah.
You know...
When I came back here and found out she was gone,
I felt cheated.
I-I didn't know how she would have felt about seeing me.
Now I-I guess I do.
You can't possibly know that's the real story.
No, but it's the best story.
Ah. I guess this is it.
Yeah.
They're gonna be discharging you in about an hour, so...
Take care of yourself, Charlie.
It's the one thing I've always done.
Okay.
There's one thing I want to tell you.
Don't waste time.
Yeah.