(5-minute mystery) The Case of the Thieving Welder

[Politicalbeast]

The Case of the Thieving Welder


Michael Struan dropped himself wearily into one of the scratched and creaky chairs as the squad-room lunch table. He was alone, so he sat for a moment waiting for his energy supply to catch up with him. Slowly and very carefully he set out the separate contents of his lunch bag in front of him. Has it come to this? he thought to himself, as he peeked under a flap of the waxed-paper wrapper.

“Don’t tell me that looking for surprises in my lunch has become the high point of my day,” he said out loud to himself. “Has it really come to this?” He unwrapped the sandwich and tossed the waxed paper in the general direction of the wastebasket.

“Hey! Peanut butter and banana! Maybe life isn’t so terrible after all!” His tired face lit up. It was his favorite, especially when the peanut butter was spread so thick it glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

Struan leaned back in the chair – carefully, however. The chairs in the squad room had long since given up responsibility for anyone of adult weight. He stretched back to the shelf behind him to reach a shiny portable radio. The sounds of the Grateful Dead had finally worn through to his consciousness. He flicked the FM switch, terminating their noise. Immediately the sounds of the Bruch violin concerto changed the character of the whole room.

“Unbelievable!” Struan whispered. “Bruch, peanut butter and solitude. And I’m going to eat with both elbows on the table too!” He paused. “Maybe it has come to this,” he added, louder this time.

The door behind him burst open with great force.

“Sarge!” It was Detective Kamsack. “Sarge! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Kamsack had been Struan’s partner for two weeks last year. He was reassigned when Struan went to the squad leader and requested an immediate transfer to vehicle maintenance. The message had been clearly received.

“Congratulations, Kamsack, now you’ve found me. It just goes to prove that you should never underestimate the power of coincidence. It’s lunch time, and here I am in the lunch room.” Struan picked up half of the peanut-butter sandwich. “And don’t call me Sarge!”

“Yeah, I found you, Sarge. Figured you might be having lunch.” Kamsack was not noted for speed. “We got a citizen out there. She’s claimin’ robbery. So that’s you.” Kamsack reached over to the radio and resurrected the Grateful Dead, turning up the volume.

“Kamsack!” Struan had squeezed the sandwich so that a dollop of peanut butter now rested on his knee. “Kamsack, do you know what the ancient Siamese did to people who interrupted a meal?”

Kamsack looked confused. “Huh?”

“Never mind, never mind.” Struan reached over to the radio again. “If I may,” he said, and he restored the Bruch, readjusting the volume. “Can it wait, this robbery?”

“Dunno.” Kamsack shook his head. “I think she’s something of a VIP. The Captain was sure fallin’ over himself.”

“Okay,” Struan sighed, “show her in. For goodness’ sake find a clean chair first.”

As Kamsack left, Struan carefully lifted the peanut butter from his trousers with his index finger and licked it. He was sitting there like that, with his finger in his mouth, when Kamsack returned with the robbery victim.

She was elegant, tall, graceful. Her fur coat was full length. The hat she wore would have appeared ridiculous on anyone else, but on her it was all part of a perfect image. She was the kind of woman who made men sit up straight and suck in their waistlines.

And here I am, Struan reflected, in the filthiest squad room in the northern hemisphere, with a sandwich in one hand and my finger in my mouth.

“Uh…this is Mrs. Chloris Dean…Sergeant Michael Struan.” Even Kamsack was elevated to new heights of etiquette.

“Please call me Chloris.” She held out her hand. “You like Bruch?”

Struan was now desperately wishing he had not put his finger in his mouth. In a single motion he drew it along his jacket and took her hand. “Just the violin concerto in G minor, really He uses the cello a little more often than I like in a lot of his other stuff.”

Mrs. Chloris Dean was impressed. Her eyebrows said that plainly. Struan immediately felt that he’d restored a bit of balance to the situation.

“Please sit down.” Struan waved to the chair that Kamsack had set on the opposite of the table. “Would you like a sandwich?” Instantly he regretted the question. This lady was definitely crepes and caviar. Peanut-butter sandwiches, especially thick peanut-butter sandwiches, were hardly her custom.

She showed interest, however, and smiled. “What kind?”

“Peanut,” Struan said, “peanut butter and banana.”

“No thank you.” She continued smiling. “I love peanut butter but not right now.”

“Ah, sure. Well….” Struan cleared his throat. “We should get the details here. I’m afraid I know nothing about your situation yet. You don’t mind if Detective Kamsack here taperecords our conversation? It’s normal procedure.”

“Of course not,” she replied. “My name, as you know, is Chloris Dean. I live at 417 Wolfe Boulevard. And I’ve been robbed of my jewelry. Diamonds mostly. I’m certain who did it, too. The insured value is…”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Dean – Chloris,” Struan broke in. “Ah, Detective Kamsack, if I may….”

Kamsack was staring slack-jawed at Chloris Dean.

“Kamsack!” Struan finally got his attention. “The tape? Turn on the tape!”

Kamsack immediately reached for the radio, then checked himself and sheepishly turned toward the tape-recorder. “Sorry, Sarge.”

Struan offered his most ingratiating smile to Chloris Dean. “Please go on.”

She took a breath and waited for Kamsack to discover that he had pushed the rewind button instead of record. Then she began again.

“They’re insured for an even million, and normally they’re in the safe, but this time….Maybe I’d better back up a bit.”

“Okay, okay.” Struan was listening carefully. “You’re in charge.”

Chloris Dean sat a little straighter. “Yesterday morning my husband left on a business trip. He needed his passport and that kind of thing, but he couldn’t open the safe. We called the company, and their people couldn’t do it either. Finally they had to get someone with a – what is it called – a cutting torch? This man came – a big man – he had a hulking way about him, and he came right into our bedroom with all the tanks and apparatus and cut right through. It took quite a while, but he did it.”

“So your husband got his passport, but now you don’t have a safe – or at least one that’s working,” Struan said.

“Indeed.” Chloris Dean nodded. “And that man – the one with the torch – is the one who robbed me. I’m certain of it.”

“How can you know?” Struan asked. “That is a very serious accusation.”

“I realize that.” Chloris Dean looked up as the concerto ended. “I don’t say this idly. This morning at exactly 5:29 – the clock radio is right beside my bed – I woke up and a man was in my room. He had a knife at my throat.”

Chloris Dean began to shake just a little. Struan felt there was a hint of tears in her eyes.

“I was terrified. He didn’t say anything. And then he sat on me and tied me to the bed. All this time he did not say a word. Oh God, I was so scared.” She was crying now – not sobbing but controlled, her cheeks dripping tears. “And then he simply took my diamonds out of the safe, and some cash – it was all right there – and left.”

“Hown nid-uh-new-id….” It was Kamsack. He was eating Struan’s sandwich! “How’d y’know….” He pushed the mouthful deeper into one cheek. “How did you know it was the welder? Did you see his face?”

Struan was aghast. Chloris Dean simply wiped her eyes, unaffected by a Kamsack’s social skills.

“He had a mask. One of those ones with eye holes, like a terrorist. But he was big, hulking, the same body shape as the welder. It was him.”

Struan reached back and turned off the radio. With part of his mind he had heard the radio host say Hindeminth, and that, he felt, would be as bad as the Grateful Dead. “Kamsack here is big and hulking. It was dark, wasn’t it? How can you be so sure it was the welder?”

Kamsack smiled awkwardly. There was peanut butter on his chin.

Chloris Dean leaned forward. “The smell. Not a lot. Just a little of that welding smell. You know that gas they use? It must get in their clothes or in their pores or something. I smelled it on him when he came to open the safe. And I smelled it this morning. I tell you, all the time it took me to untie myself this morning, I just knew it was him.”

Struan paused for at least a minute before speaking.

“I think, Mrs. Dean, what I’ll do is get your statement typed up for you to sign, and then I’ll have the welder picked up for questioning. If you don’t mind waiting in the outer room, please?”

Detective Kamsack held the door, then closed it after her. He looked at Struan. “You don’t seem in an awful hurry to get this guy,” he said.

Struan sighed. “I’m not as convinced of his guilt as he would like me to be. We’ll pick him up all right. But at the same time, I think we had better go for some background into Mrs. Chloris Dean.”

He looked at Kamsack. “Do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Wipe your chin.”



What has triggered Struan’s suspicions about the elegant Chloris Dean?

[Chris_]

I will PM you.... 

[Politicalbeast]

I will PM you.... 

Where is it?

I have stumped the natives at the other site.

[Chris_]

I will PM you.... 

Where is it?

I have stumped the natives at the other site.

As I was typing, I realized I hadn't solved it. Hold on.

[Politicalbeast]

I will PM you.... 

Where is it?

I have stumped the natives at the other site.

As I was typing, I realized I hadn't solved it. Hold on.

It's a tough one.

[Chris_]

All I can come up with is that it is likely physically impossible to untie oneself (if properly tied)..... unless he tied her up with little bowsies, in which case it wouldn't have taken her a "long time" to untie herself.

[Flame]

Schade, I had the same thought, but was sure it wasn't right.  Either that or it had something to do with welding itself, which I know nothing about!

[Politicalbeast]

I have stumped you all as well.

[dutch508]

I have stumped you all as well.

[Chris_]

I have stumped you all as well.

bwahahahaha!

[Politicalbeast]

I have stumped you all as well.

The Schadie One is all woman.

[LC EFA]

Two things that would make me look deeper :

The story about the safe doesn't ring true as opening one of them with a blowtorch probably isn't going to do good things to paper (ie the "cash" and the husbands passport).

Chloris seems too cool and collected, especially given her supposed standing and the environment the story is set in.

Failing that it's something to do with the welding smell (exactly what i can't quite figure)

 

[Chris_]

Two things that would make me look deeper :

The story about the safe doesn't ring true as opening one of them with a blowtorch probably isn't going to do good things to paper (ie the "cash" and the husbands passport).
Chloris seems too cool and collected, especially given her supposed standing and the environment the story is set in.

Failing that it's something to do with the welding smell (exactly what i can't quite figure)

 

Doh! 

You are like the smartest guy on 2 boards. 

[Politicalbeast]

Two things that would make me look deeper :

The story about the safe doesn't ring true as opening one of them with a blowtorch probably isn't going to do good things to paper (ie the "cash" and the husbands passport).

Chloris seems too cool and collected, especially given her supposed standing and the environment the story is set in.

Failing that it's something to do with the welding smell (exactly what i can't quite figure)

 

An acetylene torch is actually very clean and efficient. Depending on the size of the safe and the type of metal, it is unlikely that the safe's contents would be unharmed.

However, you are correct in assuming the answer has to do with the professed scent of acetylene.

[Flame]

Two things that would make me look deeper :

The story about the safe doesn't ring true as opening one of them with a blowtorch probably isn't going to do good things to paper (ie the "cash" and the husbands passport).

Chloris seems too cool and collected, especially given her supposed standing and the environment the story is set in.

Failing that it's something to do with the welding smell (exactly what i can't quite figure)

 

An acetylene torch is actually very clean and efficient. Depending on the size of the safe and the type of metal, it is unlikely that the safe's contents would be unharmed.

However, you are correct in assuming the answer has to do with the professed scent of acetylene.

See, I knew it had something to do with welding, of which I know NOTHING!  My guess is the acetylene doesn't have an odor?

[DixieBelle]

I think the Mrs. and the welder/thief are in on it. First she says the diamonds are normally in the safe then she says, "let me back up a bit..." which I assume means that because they had to have the safe broken into (thus rendering it useless) that the diamonds were not secured. But then she says "And then he simply took my diamonds out of the safe, and some cash – it was all right there – and left"

She immediately began by telling him how much the diamonds were insured for. Then she proceeded to set up the would-be criminal by telling him the story about having to break into the safe for her husband's passport thus making the welder look guilty. I think she did something to the safe to make it malfunction. She may have changed the combination thus making it necessary for the welder come and open it. She would need an accomplice and I bet it was the welder. Or, she could have taken advantage of the opportunity to "steal" the diamonds when the safe truly malfunctioned. Maybe she saw it as the perfect time to claim theft.

[Politicalbeast]

I think the Mrs. and the welder/thief are in on it. First she says the diamonds are normally in the safe then she says, "let me back up a bit..." which I assume means that because they had to have the safe broken into (thus rendering it useless) that the diamonds were not secured. But then she says "And then he simply took my diamonds out of the safe, and some cash – it was all right there – and left"

She immediately began by telling him how much the diamonds were insured for. Then she proceeded to set up the would-be criminal by telling him the story about having to break into the safe for her husband's passport thus making the welder look guilty. I think she did something to the safe to make it malfunction. She may have changed the combination thus making it necessary for the welder come and open it. She would need an accomplice and I bet it was the welder. Or, she could have taken advantage of the opportunity to "steal" the diamonds when the safe truly malfunctioned. Maybe she saw it as the perfect time to claim theft.

It was obviously was a setup, but your reasoning is incorrect.

[Politicalbeast]

Two things that would make me look deeper :

The story about the safe doesn't ring true as opening one of them with a blowtorch probably isn't going to do good things to paper (ie the "cash" and the husbands passport).

Chloris seems too cool and collected, especially given her supposed standing and the environment the story is set in.

Failing that it's something to do with the welding smell (exactly what i can't quite figure)

 

An acetylene torch is actually very clean and efficient. Depending on the size of the safe and the type of metal, it is unlikely that the safe's contents would be unharmed.

However, you are correct in assuming the answer has to do with the professed scent of acetylene.

See, I knew it had something to do with welding, of which I know NOTHING!  My guess is the acetylene doesn't have an odor?

Pure acetylene is odorless. It only takes on an odor when it's exposed to other chemical compositions.....such as oxygen.

[DixieBelle]

I think the Mrs. and the welder/thief are in on it. First she says the diamonds are normally in the safe then she says, "let me back up a bit..." which I assume means that because they had to have the safe broken into (thus rendering it useless) that the diamonds were not secured. But then she says "And then he simply took my diamonds out of the safe, and some cash – it was all right there – and left"

She immediately began by telling him how much the diamonds were insured for. Then she proceeded to set up the would-be criminal by telling him the story about having to break into the safe for her husband's passport thus making the welder look guilty. I think she did something to the safe to make it malfunction. She may have changed the combination thus making it necessary for the welder come and open it. She would need an accomplice and I bet it was the welder. Or, she could have taken advantage of the opportunity to "steal" the diamonds when the safe truly malfunctioned. Maybe she saw it as the perfect time to claim theft.

It was obviously was a setup, but your reasoning is incorrect.

So she wasn't doing it for the insurance money? Affair with the welder?

[Politicalbeast]

I think the Mrs. and the welder/thief are in on it. First she says the diamonds are normally in the safe then she says, "let me back up a bit..." which I assume means that because they had to have the safe broken into (thus rendering it useless) that the diamonds were not secured. But then she says "And then he simply took my diamonds out of the safe, and some cash – it was all right there – and left"

She immediately began by telling him how much the diamonds were insured for. Then she proceeded to set up the would-be criminal by telling him the story about having to break into the safe for her husband's passport thus making the welder look guilty. I think she did something to the safe to make it malfunction. She may have changed the combination thus making it necessary for the welder come and open it. She would need an accomplice and I bet it was the welder. Or, she could have taken advantage of the opportunity to "steal" the diamonds when the safe truly malfunctioned. Maybe she saw it as the perfect time to claim theft.

It was obviously was a setup, but your reasoning is incorrect.

So she wasn't doing it for the insurance money? Affair with the welder?

While that is a likely conclusion, there is no support in the case for it.

Struan has observed something about Chloris that does not jive with her story.

[DixieBelle]

Okay, the only thing I could come up with was the diamonds being in the safe and then the safe being cracked open. She says he took the diamonds out of the safe. I find that suspicious.

[Politicalbeast]

Okay, the only thing I could come up with was the diamonds being in the safe and then the safe being cracked open. She says he took the diamonds out of the safe. I find that suspicious.

Struan has observed something about her...

[DixieBelle]

hmm..something to do with her elegant demeanor and comments about the music?

[Politicalbeast]

hmm..something to do with her elegant demeanor and comments about the music?

More like one of the abilities she claims to possess....

[DixieBelle]

Well, I'm stumped. Sorry