Leverage

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.