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NECKLAC5 7' Detective and the case of the stolen necklace

Michaela watched the news on television. The video showed
Lucifer Snidely in handcuffs on his way to jail for stealing the
world's most valuable necklace.

The next night on the news, the reporter talked about a robbery
at a store that sells tools. "It was an odd robbery," said the
reporter, "There was no money taken from the store, just a gas
powered saw that can cut through steel."

Michaela said, "That's just like the robberies Lucifer Snidely
did before he stole the necklace from the bank vault."

Her dad replied, "Well, it can't be Lucifer Snidely. He's in
jail."

Michaela, the world's greatest detective, said, "No. But Lucifer
Snidely is a very rich man. I'll bet he paid someone to steal
that saw in order to break him out of jail."

The next night on the news, the reporter talked about another
robbery. "It was an odd robbery," said the reporter, "There was
no money taken from the sporting goods store. All that was
stolen was some mountain climbing ropes and harnesses."

Michaela said, "That's Lucifer Snidely's partner in crime
again."

The next night on the news, the reporter talked about another
robbery. "It was an odd robbery," said the reporter, "There was
no money taken from the military warehouse. All that was stolen
was one stick of dynamite."

Michaela said, "That's Lucifer Snidely's partner in crime again.
I think he's going to try to escape from jail soon."

Her dad replied, "I don't see how a saw and some ropes and a
stick of dynamite can be used to help Lucifer Snidely escape
from jail."

The next night on the news, the reporter talked about another
robbery. "It was an odd robbery," said the reporter, "There was
no money taken from the airport. All that was stolen was a
helicopter."

Michaela said, "That's Lucifer Snidely's partner in crime again.
Now I'm SURE he's going to try to escape from jail soon."

She picked up the phone and called the police and said, "I'm
SURE that Lucifer Snidely is going to try to escape from jail
soon."

The policeman replied, "How do you know?"

Michaela said, "His partner in crime has stolen everything he
needs for the escape."

"What things?" asked the policeman.

Michaela replied, "Lucifer Snidely's assistant stole the
helicopter from the airport. He'll land the helicopter on the
roof of the jail. He also stole the mountain climbing ropes and
harnesses from the sporting goods store. He'll use them to climb
down from the roof to Lucifer Snidely's jail cell. He also stole
the gas powered saw from the hardware store. He'll use the saw
to cut through the steel bars on the window. Then Lucifer
Snidely and his assistant will climb up the ropes to the roof of
the jail and fly away in the stolen helicopter."

The policeman replied, "There is no way he could escape like
that!"

"Why not?" asked Michaela.

"There are lights all around the jail. There are burglar alarms
on all the windows. There are guards on duty. If the guards hear
the alarms or see some guy climbing down the side of the
building they'll call the police to stop them."

Michaela replied, "The assistant also stole a stick of dynamite
from the military warehouse. As soon as he lands the helicopter
on the roof of the jail, he'll drop the dynamite on the wires
coming into the building. The explosion will cut all the wires.
The lights will all go out and the alarms and the telephones
won't work. You'd better call the jail and warn them."

But the policeman didn't believe Michaela. He didn't call the
jail or warn anyone.

The next night on the news, the reporter was standing in front
of the jail, talking about the escape of Lucifer Snidely. It
happened exactly the way Michaela said it would. Michaela picked
up the phone and called the police to warn them that Lucifer
Snidely would try to steal the necklace from the bank vault.

In the news the night after Lucifer Snidely escaped from jail, a
sporting goods store was broken into. But no money was taken. As
before, only two sets of ropes and mountain climbing harnesses
were stolen.

The next night another robbery was reported on the news. Again,
no money was taken. This time it was a hardware store. The only
thing that was stolen was a large drill that is used for
drilling large holes in concrete and steel.

The next night another robbery was reported on the news. Again,
no money was taken. This time it was a military warehouse. The
only thing that was stolen was one stick of dynamite.

The next night another robbery was reported on the news. Again,
no money was taken. This time it was a pet store. The only thing
that was stolen was a small monkey.

Michaela, the world's greatest detective, called the police and
warned them that Lucifer Snidely now had everything he needed to
steal the world's most valuable necklace from the bank.

She explained, "Lucifer Snidely's assistant still has the
helicopter he used for the escape from jail. He'll land the
helicopter on the roof of the bank. Then, he'll drop the stick
of dynamite on the wires going into the bank building, turning
off the electricity and the telephone wires and the alarms. Then
they'll use the mountain climbing equipment to climb down the
side of the building to the floor where the bank vault is.
They'll break the windows to get in, then drill a hole in the
side of the vault big enough for the monkey to crawl through.
The monkey will be trained to crawl into the vault and bring out
the necklace. Then, they'll climb back up to the helicopter and
fly away.

She was right. The next night, a helicopter landed on top of the
bank building. A few seconds later an explosion turned off all
the lights and cameras and alarms in the bank building. A few
seconds later, two men dressed in black slid down ropes from the
roof to the floor where the bank vault is. They broke the window
and crawled inside. Then they drilled a large hole in the side
of the vault. After the dust from the drilling settled, they
shined their flash lights into the hole to see the necklace. But
instead of a necklace, they saw Michaela's face.

"You're under arrest!" Michaela shouted.

Suddenly, a dozen policemen stood up from behind the counters
and desks with guns drawn to arrest the men in black. After they
hand-cuffed the robbers, they removed the ski-masks from their
faces. It was Lucifer Snidely and his assistant.

"Curses! Foiled again!" cried Lucifer Snidely.

As the policemen hauled the robbers off to jail, he said,
"Snidely, you're no match for Michaela. She's the world's
greatest detective."

©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
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