Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 51 – Ripley · Verses Across
Literature · Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 51Chapter 50
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Literature · Crime, Thrillers & Mystery
Minute Mysteries [Detectograms] 51
Chapter 50
RipleyEnglish
Daylight Robbery
‘I went to the office Thursday to do some work,’ Shaeffer related.
‘About noon, I happened to look out the window and notice a black sedan draw up and two tough-looking fellows get out. They looked suspicious to me, and, as I wasn’t armed, I hastily banged the safe door closed and ran into the washroom—not a bit too soon either. In just a few seconds they came in, one carrying a sawed-off shotgun. I could see them plainly.
‘They looked around for a moment and one said, “If anybody comes in here before we’re through, give it to him.”
‘He then went over to the safe and, after working on it for about five minutes, had it open and took the money. They certainly had a lot of nerve. Even stopped to count it! Then they leisurely strolled out the door. I called Headquarters immediately.’
‘How much did they get?’ questioned Inspector Kelley.
‘Over fifteen thousand. We hadn’t banked the money from the day before because Thursday was a holiday.’
‘Get the number of the car?’
‘No. When it drove up to the office, I didn’t see a license plate on the front, and I couldn’t see the back. When I finished telephoning for the police, it had gone.’
‘Was there anyone at the office besides you?’
‘I was alone. A man telephoned an hour before, however, and asked if we were open. I told him no, but I’d be there until about two-thirty. He hung up without answering.’
‘Well, fellows,’ asked Professor Fordney, of the members of his class in criminology, to whom he was telling the story, ‘why did Inspector Kelley immediately arrest Shaeffer?’
