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9.07 p.m. ET (108 GMT) June 22, 1998

CHICAGO (AP) — A viola believed to be worth as much as $1 million has been
returned to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, nearly two years after it was lost
by an orchestra member.

Charles Pikler, the orchestra's principal violist, left the prized instrument on a
downtown sidewalk on Sept. 18, 1996.

CSO officials thought they had lost the instrument forever, but it turned up last
week in the hands of 71-year-old Robert Heiss of Chicago, who tried to sell it to
violin expert Fritz Reuter.

Reuter called Chicago police, who picked up the viola and later arrested Heiss,
charging him with one count of felony theft in connection with the viola's
disappearance. Heiss says he bought the instrument at a flea market for $20,000.

Police called Pikler, who showed up at the police station and gave an impromptu
concert to make sure the viola sounded right.

The instrument was crafted in 1723 and its inscription identifies the maker as
Dominicus Montagnana, one of the greatest Venetian violin makers of his time.
However, its authenticity is disputed.

The viola's value is estimated at $30,000 to $1 million, depending on its
authenticity. But an official for the orchestra said its commercial value was
unimportant.

"It's a beautiful viola,'' said Tom Hallett, the CSO's chief financial officer. "The
real value is in the way it plays.''

Bittersweet music
CSO's rare viola found: man charged
By John Carpenter, Crime Reporter
Chicago Suntimes: Tuesday, June 23, 1998

    Robert Heiss sat in his West Side fast-food restaurant and swore he simply found the thing--a $175,000 viola owned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra--on the sidewalk and had no idea who owned it or what it was worth.

    "I didn't know the Chicago Symphony owned it.   I'm just a chef.  I don't know these things.  I threw it in my closet," said Hess, 71.  "For that they locked my up and treated me like a dog."

    It might now be that simple, however, which is why Heiss spent two nights in Cook County Jail last week and could wind up in prison.

    It's a case that illuminates one of the most basic laws of civil behavior--that finders aren't necessarily keepers.

    The story began in September, 1996, when a CSO violist told police he accidentally left the instrument on the sidewalk as he was loading his car, only to find it missing moments later when he rushed back to the parking spot after realizing his mistake.

    That was on Columbus Drive, where Heiss said he was walking back from the Columbus Yacht Club, where he had met a friend.

    "It was sitting there in a beat-up case," Heiss said.

    The case was clearly marked property of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, said Cliss Seward, an investigator hired by the Hartford Insurance Co. to investigate the $175,000 claim the company paid to the CSO.

    Seward put ads about the missing instrument in Chicago area newspapers, including the Sun-Times. And the CSO alerted area music shops.

    Heiss, meanwhile, claimed he researched violins and violas on the internet, where he discovered the name of Fritz Reuter, a Lincolnwood expert on the instruments.

    "I went to him because I didn't know what I had," Heiss said.

    Police say Heiss went to Reuter to have the instrument appraised with the idea of selling it on consignment.  Reuter, who was familiar with the alert for the missing viola, contacted authorities, who asked Heiss to come in for questioning.  He did, and eventually was arrested and charged with felony theft.

    "If you knowingly don't return property to someone, it is a misdemeanor," a source close to the case said. "If you try to sell it, it becomes a felony."

    Heiss, meanwhile, claimed to have been told the viola is a fake, that it is not a 1723 Montagnana worth $175,000, but a 19th century instrument worth a fraction of that.

    Tom Hallett, chief financial officer of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, said officials are aware of the dispute over the instrument's origins, and they have received appraisals both above and below $175,000. But since the CSO has no intention of selling it, the question is somewhat moot, other than in how it affects the premiums paid for insurance.

    As for the $175,000 insurance claim paid two years ago, it already has been paid back.