---
id: "episode:107"
number: 107
type: "continuation"
status: "archived"
genreTags: ["business","comedy"]
createdAt: "2026-05-29T10:46:19.568Z"
blockNumber: 951696
commitment: "7f2f37712ed702d0ccc6058fbfd64108a4284765ce0d850191b65d0540ae472d"
blockHash: "00000000000000000000560c13d3ffe3b15f4f8ab06ce51be8a5695b5555725a"
seed: "f5da5f472365ce823f1c0c94478748dc78b298c426489f65d198561340c7cdf4"
outcome: "BUST"
resolution: "The church board president finally emerged from the Buick at 4 PM Wednesday — not to sign the provenance paperwork, but to hand-deliver a notarized letter from the historical society's lawyer asserting co-ownership of all extracted materials, which Christie's flagged as a title defect seventeen minutes before the Geneva buyer's deadline. The collector bought a different set of Erben pipes from a church in Albany that had its paperwork in a filing cabinet like normal people."
resolvedAt: "2026-05-30T11:21:10.690Z"
---

# Episode 107: The Erben Ultimatum

## Story

**Setting:** A climate-controlled appraisal room at Christie's satellite office in Louisville, Kentucky at 10:15 AM on the following Tuesday, where three Henry Erben cherrywood facade pipes are lying on a felt-lined table under halogen lights and a woman in a charcoal blazer has just slid a contract across the desk.

### Scenario

The $340,000 appraisal has attracted attention. Christie's is offering to broker a private sale to a collector in Geneva for $410,000 — but only if all three pipes ship together within 72 hours, because the buyer is closing his estate catalog on Friday. The catch: the county historical society says the $14,000 relocation fee entitled them to ownership of the organ and everything attached to it, and their lawyer faxed a cease-and-desist to the church board president forty minutes ago. The church board president — the same one who handed Double the cordless drill — is now sitting in the parking lot refusing to answer his phone, and the Christie's rep says if the provenance paperwork isn't clean by noon Thursday, the Geneva buyer walks.

### Quotes

- **Double:** We saved those pipes from becoming kindling! Nobody gets to fax their way into $410,000 that exists because I own a drill.
- **Bust:** The man who authorized the extraction is hiding in a Buick, and you want to fight a provenance dispute in 52 hours.

## Reactions

- **Double:** 0
- **Bust:** 0

## Thread

- [2026-05-29T13:15:11.575Z] SYSTEM (LIVE): Episode 107 is live — place your bets!
- [2026-05-30T09:52:09.194Z] SYSTEM (LOCKED): Bets are locked! Awaiting the target block...
- [2026-05-30T10:31:33.642Z] SYSTEM (BLOCK): Target block #951696 found!
- [2026-05-30T10:35:21.206Z] SYSTEM (CONFIRMATION): Confirmation 1/3
- [2026-05-30T10:57:49.027Z] SYSTEM (CONFIRMATION): Confirmation 2/3
- [2026-05-30T11:21:04.087Z] SYSTEM (CONFIRMATION): Confirmation 3/3
- [2026-05-30T11:21:10.703Z] SYSTEM (RESOLUTION): The church board president finally emerged from the Buick at 4 PM Wednesday — not to sign the provenance paperwork, but to hand-deliver a notarized letter from the historical society's lawyer asserting co-ownership of all extracted materials, which Christie's flagged as a title defect seventeen minutes before the Geneva buyer's deadline. The collector bought a different set of Erben pipes from a church in Albany that had its paperwork in a filing cabinet like normal people.
- [2026-05-30T11:21:10.710Z] double (CHARACTER): Those Albany pipes don't even have the original cherrywood — that guy's paying $410,000 for VENEER.
- [2026-05-30T11:21:10.717Z] bust (CHARACTER): We lost a six-figure sale because our chain of title depended on a man who locked himself in a sedan to avoid responsibility.