YOU BE THE DETECTIVE

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YOU BE THE DETECTIVE

Professor Murray told his criminology class: " One afternoon, my friend Detective Shea passed by the pawnbroker's shop owned and operated by Judith Karsan. Judith ran the shop all by herself; its size was reputed to belie the volume of its business. "

Detective Shea glanced inside, but did not see anyone. He stepped within, and found Judith behind a counter, bound and gagged. After being untied, pawnbroker Karson told her story:

'About one o'clock, a tall, dark, powerful man entered. After talking to me a few minutes, he produced a gun, tied me up, and took all the choicest jewellery and money he could find, placing everything in a small valise. What I can't understand is why he was so casual about it all, as if he were not afraid of interruptions. Actually, I had appointments with three persons between one and two o'clock, yet no one showed up till you did. The thief did not leave until one-forty. '

Detective Shea noted that the time was just two o'clock. 'I did not see anything unusual when I came along, ' he stated. 'However from what you tell me, the theft was probably committed by Conroy Otis. He's used the idea before. '

You be the detective: What could the thief have done to feel certain he would not be disturbed?

Solution:

It was discovered that the thief had hung a sign on the door knob, " Out to lunch, back at 2 p. m. " On leaving, he simply took the sign with him.

(From " Humour Variety. Stories, Jokes, Cartoons". No 2, London)

NOTES

Criminology — the study of crime and criminals; a subject taught at the Faculty of Law

pawnbroker's shop — a place where you can borrow money on condition you leave something valuable there as a security (Russ. ломбард). The verb is to pawn; e. g. He was short of money and had to pawn his tiepin. Ant. redeem; e. g. Martin redeemed his bicycle after pay day.

to run (a shop) — to manage; e. g. to run a business, a restaurant, a theatre. Syn. operate — chiefly Am. (see in the text " the pawnbroker's shop owned and operated by Judith Karson. " )

all by herself — alone, without any assistants

its size was reputed to belie the volume of its business — it was said that the size of the shop gave the wrong idea of the scale on which business was conducted there; in other words, though the shop was small the volume of its business was great

to gag — to put something (a towel, a handkerchief, etc. ) into a person's mouth to prevent him from crying out and calling for help

to produce — (here) to show

choice adj — carefully chosen, particularly good; the choicest jewellery — the best rings, necklaces, ear-rings, brooches, etc.

he was so casual about it — he didn't show any signs of nervousness, he was perfectly at ease

no one showed up — no one came

to commit — to do something bad (or foolish); e. g. to commit a mistake (an error, a blunder, a crime, a burglary, a theft, etc. ). But: to commit suicide = to kill oneself (in this case no article is used).

2 p. m. — 2 o'clock in the afternoon (p. m. — post meridiem, a. m. — ante meridiem); e. g. 2 o'clock a. m. — 2 o'clock in the morning

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