Uncle Sal and the Foiled Forger (Epsiode 161)

Giacomo let Uncle Sal in and introduced him to his new girlfriend Svetlana. Uncle Sal sat down on the couch and cracked a pecan while Giacomo went to fix some drinks. As he picked a piece of the shell off of his Glasgow Tiki Shakers shirt, Giacomo poured some vodka and said to Svetlana, "Tell him about our plans."

"Giacomo and I have started planning for a trip to Paris." She pointed to a model of l'Arc de Triomphe on the table.

Uncle Sal was surprised. He could see why someone would want to go to a romantic city with someone who looks so good in a miniskirt and gogo boots, but knew that Giacomo was never with any girlfriend long enough to plan a trip with her. "Paris, eh? Y'know, I heard a real interesting story about Paris last night." He shook some Bayou Passion hot sauce into his cajun martini, then tasted the drink. "Perfect."

Giacomo said, "So what was the story you heard about Paris?"

"Well, it was a story about this Chinaman Wong-Hei Chen." Uncle Sal didn't catch the disapproving looks he got for using such an outdated term. "This guy had a plan to rob the Louvre. He spent years forging his own versions of the most valuable paintings in the museum. He was going to take the originals and replace them with his fakes. He had floor plans of the museum and even knew how to sidestep any alarms. Then he was going to contact the Louvre and say they would have to pay him if they wanted the paintings back."

"So what happened?"

Uncle Sal set his drink on top of a Men's Fitness magazine and said, "Well, this guy got into the museum and he was just about to start on the Mona Lisa when the janitor came along. When he was moving his mop around, he caught Chen in the ribs with the handle. Then, when he turned around to see who he had hit, he nailed the thief in the face. Chen was out cold on the floor."

"So the guy did all that planning and then was foiled by the janitor?"

"And he never got to use the headline he was going to give the newspapers the next day: Wong-Hei Chen Plunders Le Louvre."

This episode featured:
Leonardo Cubismo as Giacomo
Michelangelo "Chi" R. O'scuro as Uncle Sal
Sandra Rococo as Svetlana
and
Jellybean Merengue as the Arc de Triomphe model.

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "She's stubborn as a wet boot."