H.M.
4/28/2020 Mr. Poulos The Owl Thief! It was a hot, humid, July morning on a busy street in the city of London, with sights of brick and concrete almost everywhere. During a typical weekday morning, the street is filled with several work and school going people. The sunlight rarely hits the road due to the tall buildings, but it is a treat to the eyes when it does hit the ground during mid-day. In the middle of the busy street, there is a Museum where important artifacts from around the world are exhibited. The museum is set in a historic building of the Greek revival architectural style, characterized by symmetrical columns, domes and intricately carved sculptures. There were tall arched doorways with iron and wood doors throughout the museum. Most parts of the museum were dark and there were several closed doors inaccessible to the public. The time was 10:35 A.M, and the air was filled with the smell of coffee from the nearby cafes. There were scenes of normalcy everywhere, except for inside the museum where there was a lot chaos. It was just minutes after the museum doors opened for public. There were only about ten visitors, who barely started to enjoy the exhibits. Suddenly, the doors were shut and the only people who were inside the museum were the museum curator Mrs. Maisel, the museum chief of staff Ms. Carmen, the security guards Mr. Matt and Mr. Henry, the museum maintenance crew Mrs. Martha, Mr. Stewart and Mr. Peter, and the ten visitors. What was the panic about? The most precious possession in the museum, the bejeweled owl, a renowned gift from the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Empress Marie-Louise, had gone missing! There was a thief in town! Unfortunately, this incident happened in a period when there were no security cameras, but due to the quick thinking of Mrs. Maisel, the detective Mr. Quinn and his aid Mr. Morgan arrived at the scene in no time and as soon as they entered the door, Mr. Quinn got into business. Mr. Quinn was well aware of the missing piece as he had visited the museum a few times in the past and hence a description about the missing piece was not necessary. He immediately asked Mr. Morgan to check the bags of the 10 tourists and let them go. Mr. Morgan was confused and asked how Mr. Quinn arrived at that conclusion. With a smirk on his face, Mr. Quinn replied, “the bird is one feet tall and it is impossible to hide in a shirt or a pant pocket. None of these visitors are carrying bags big enough to hide the bird, and they couldn’t have stolen it after they entered, as that would draw too much attention; so let’s do a cursory check and let them carry on their way to other attractions”. He also added “the bird has not left the building yet; do you know why? Mrs. Maisel last saw the owl at 8 am this morning during her morning rounds, and no one who came in since then, had left the building. Our clever thief is someone who knows the building very well and has hid the bird in the darkest corner of the museum to be retrieved when things settle. First, let’s find the bird!” Confused, and at the same time curious, Mr. Morgan joined Mr. Quinn to study the museum’s blueprint, that was explained by Mrs. Maisel. Mr. Quinn listened patiently to Mrs. Maisel’s tour of the blueprint. Even though there were several dark, empty rooms in the museum, Mrs. Maisel had the master key that could unlock those doors. Having realized this, Mr. Quinn asked to check the flush tanks on all the restrooms since that was probably the next safest place to hide the stolen bird, besides the closed doors. After some time, Mrs. Maisel came running and yelling, “Found it! Found it! in one of the toilet tanks! just like you mentioned!” The bejeweled owl was found in the ladies’ restroom which made the rest of the investigation easier for Mr. Quinn. Now that he knew that the thief was a lady, Mr. Quinn started questioning Ms. Carmen the chief of staff and Mrs. Martha, the cleaning lady on what all things they did, when they got in the museum, that morning. Ms. Carmen started, “Once I got in this morning, I hung my jacket in the coat closet, had my morning coffee, and checked all the displays and I did see the owl in its place”. Then Mrs. Martha explained “As soon as I got in, I got the cleaning supplies and cleaned all the exhibit areas and then was chatting with Mr. Stewart until the doors were open”. Mr. Quinn turned towards Mrs. Maisel and quietly said, “your thief is your chief of staff” at which moment, Ms. Carmen confessed and later she was fired from the job. Mrs. Maisel thanked Mr. Quinn and Mr. Morgan for solving the mystery as they left the building. On the way back to their office, Mr. Morgan couldn’t hold his final question on the case and blurted out, “How were you sure it was Ms. Carmen and not Mrs. Martha?” Mr. Quinn smiled and said only a few words, “Tell me something Mr. Morgan, would you wear a jacket in this hot, humid, summer day?” Mr. Morgan understood the rest of the story that the coat was brought to hide the owl at the end of the day!
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Authorby Harshini Mahesh ArchivesCategories |