Tim!

$10,000 Ransom! Quick, Call Rich Uncle Pennybags!
By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Thursday, May 10, 2007; 12:52 AM
A mysterious parcel was delivered to The Reliable Source yesterday, purporting to be a ransom demand for the $1,500 sculpture by local glass artist Tim Tate that went missing from the Artomatic show.
As we reported two weeks ago, the rocket-ship-looking doodad -- dubbed "The Rapture," as it happens -- vanished from its installation at the Crystal City art show around the time of the raucous opening-night party April 13. That's believed to be the last time anyone saw a trace of it . . . until yesterday.
A mysterious parcel was delivered to The Reliable Source yesterday, purporting to be a ransom demand for the $1,500 sculpture by local glass artist Tim Tate that went missing from the Artomatic show.
The package, shipped by overnight mail and addressed to us, bore the cryptic name "The Collector," with a nonexistent return address at "2300 Constitution Avenue NW." We gingerly opened it under a ventilation hood, anticipating . . . well, something awful. Instead, we found:
A photo of what appears to be Tate's rocket ship, posed in front of the front page of Tuesday's Post, with a toy gun aimed at it.
A note demanding that Tate place "$10,000 monopoly (unmarked) in a paper bag and drop it in the lap of the Albert Einstein statue in Potomac Park" next week.
A piece of flame-colored glass that appears to be the top of Tate's sculpture.
Thus far The Post has decided not to involve the police. We called Tate, who asked us to read the note a second time before his coughing fit of laughter subsided. Is this a publicity stunt? "I am not involved in any of this," he said.
Can he amass that amount of Monopoly money by next week? "I bet I could. I'll raid my nephews' and nieces' board games." And will he accede to the kidnapper's demands?
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm getting my rocket back, man."