In 1969, a Picasso painting titled Portrait of a Woman and a Musketeer vanished from Logan International Airport’s loading dock in Boston and ended up in the home of Merrill “Bill” Rummel, a forklift operator. Unaware of its contents, Rummel took the crate home, discovering that it contained the painting only later. Not appreciating the art, he hid it in his closet. As the FBI began investigating the missing Picasso, Rummel and his fiancee panicked. They panicked further when they learned that the Winter Hill Gang, the Boston mob run by Whitey Bulger, had also learned about the Picasso and was on the hunt for it. Could this accidental Picasso thief avoid both the mob and the FBI? What happened next was a sort of reverse heist. Stealing this painting was easy-it was actually an accident. The tricky part was to devise a foolproof plan to return it without getting arrested or killed. Bill’s father, Whitcomb Rummel Sr., a respected figure in Waterville, Maine, devised a plan to return the painting anonymously. He instructed his son, Whit Jr. (co-author of this book), to write an untraceable note, which he signed “Robbin’ Hood.” The Rummels pulled off this reverse heist, successfully returning the painting. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Despite its return, the Picasso’s whereabouts remained unclear. Decades later, Whit Rummel Jr., now a filmmaker, hired an investigator to trace the painting. It was found that the painting had been part of a 1971 exhibition in Milwaukee and was owned by Sidney and Dorothy Kohl, prominent art collectors. The current status of the painting remains unknown, but it is presumed to be part of the Kohls’ private collection. This story was featured in a New York Times article that went viral. But that only skimmed the surface.
