HEINZ NOONAN
and
Captain Heinz Noonan, the "Bearded Holmes" of the Sandersonville Police Department, was sitting in the Alaska Airlines courtesy lounge at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when he got the call. They always seemed to come at the most inappropriate instant, just when he had other things to do. In this case, he was waiting to catch the 9:45 a.m. shuttle to San Francisco -- and Alaska Airlines had an annoying habit of being on time.
"Captain Noonan," a smooth, generic female voice flowed mellifluously over the loudspeaker. "Will you please take Line 5. Captain Noonan, will you please take Line 5. Thank you very much."
"I didn't lose it," Noonan mumbled angrily as he lunged toward the phone. Looking at the office memo in his hand he re-read that his wife had called at 9:00 a.m. asking about the invitation to the luncheon that afternoon. "I distinctly remember telling her it was in the bin on top of the computer hard drive, where we put all our invitations. If she hadn't been on the line 20 minutes ago this would have all be cleared up."
"I didn't lose it," he snapped when he picked up Line 5.
There was a split-second of silence on the line and then a middle-aged female voice responded, "Maybe not but we lost $150,000 in gems."
"Excuse me," Noonan said at the unexpected voice, "I thought it was my wife calling. How did you know I was at the airport?"
"Your wife told me. How else? This is Lt. Carey with the Boston Police Department. We've got a bit of a problem that is time critical, as they say."
"When it comes to crime, everything is time critical."
"Uh, yes, Sir. You are quite right. Your name was given to me by Captain O'Reilly who attended a talk you gave last year at the DSO Academy."
"I remember the talk but not your Captain."
"He didn't come forward with his congratulations. But he did think highly enough of you to suggest that I call the Sandersonville Police Department and talk with you. They were kind enough to give me your home phone and your wife told me where you could be reached."
"I'll bet she did," mumbled Noonan to himself.
"Sorry?"
"Nothing, Lt. What can I do for the Boston Police Department?" He paused for a second. "And please be brief because I'm about to catch a flight to San Francisco."
"Yes, Sir. Well, we have a case involving $150,000 in lost gems and we have every reason to believe that if we move fast we'll catch the perps before they flee the city."
"The Boston Police is the one of the best in the country. Why do you need me?"
"First, because I'm the highest ranking officer on duty today. It's my watch and I'm responsible for the city today. Second, we've got exits to the city covered but, frankly, we need an edge. You, quite frankly Sir, would be quite an edge to have."
"I see. I don't know that I can do that much but give me what you have."
"Yes, Sir. The Burlington Gem and Diamond Exchange made a delivery in Cambridge late last night. The delivery man made the delivery on time at 325 Third Street. He went to the third floor, knocked on the door to Room 307, got the password and was shown the proper credentials. He got a signature and left."
"Ah," said Noonan
knowingly. "Now, let me guess. The next morning you got a call from the
Burlington Gem and Diamond Exchange. The delivery order was a phony.
"That's right, Captain Noonan. We immediately went with the
delivery man to 325 Third Street and . . ."
". . . and there was a vacant lot at 325 Third, or the building didn't have a third floor, or it was an aquarium."
"You got it right on the first guess. It was a vacant lot."
Before Noonan had a chance to reply the boarding call for the 9:45 flight blared overhead.
"I just got the call for my flight," Noonan said hurriedly. "Let me just ask you a couple of more questions. First, was the delivery man new to the Boston area?"
"He'd been in the area for about three years. Came here from California. We checked him out with the company and former employers if that's what you're getting at. His record is clean. Eagle Scout and Congressional Medal of Honor Winner. No dirt there."
"The Burlington end is legit?"
"As far as we know. Old, established company. Been around the Boston area for over 60 years. No robberies. No losses. Family-owned. No financial problems we can find. In fact, the robbery is going to hurt them more than $150,000 worth."
"OK. Tell me about Cambridge. I've only been there once."
"Old town. Home of Harvard University. Founded by John Harvard and local farmers in the 1760s and grew up around the local farms. Main street into town is Massachusetts Avenue -- MassAve -- and that's pronounced like it's one word, by the way. Streets wander all over the place along both sides of MassAve. Third Street is broken into all kinds of little pieces across Cambridge, sometimes changing names but it's still the same street. But before you leap to any conclusions, 325 Third is in the third block back from MassAve. He couldn't, and swears he didn't, have made that mistake. He swears he could even see MassAve from the address."
"Do you believe him?"
"No sign of drugs in his bloodstream. Yeah, I believe him."
"Who do you think got the diamonds?"
"Hard to say. We've got a couple of locals we're watching but the Number One suspect is holed up somewhere."
The last boarding call sounded and Noonan rose suddenly. "I can't talk any more, Lt. I've got to catch that plane. Look, call me at the San Francisco airport and . . ."
"Do you want me to call you on the plane?"
"No. I need time to think."
"OK. I'll call you at San Francisco International, in the Alaska Airlines courtesy lounge."
"Fine. I'll expect your call there."
NOW IT'S YOUR CHANCE TO BEAT
HEINZ NOONAN TO THE SOLUTION.
WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?
WHAT QUESTIONS WOULD YOU HAVE ASKED?
Three hours later Captain Noonan was seated in the Alaska Airlines courtesy lounge in San Francisco.
"Now, Lt. Carey. Let me ask a few more questions. How did your delivery man get to Cambridge?"
"He took the subway to Harvard Square and then walked to Third Avenue."
"About how far is that?"
"Half mile, maybe less. The street doesn't make it a straight shot."
"Did he have a map?"
"Not a taxi cab map, if that's what you mean. But he did have a city map of Boston."
"Was it one of those maps where Cambridge was a little square on the back of the map while Boston covered the whole other side."
"That would be my guess. Do you want me to ask?"
"No. I think I've got it figured out. Is your lab team ready? If you're going to catch these perps you're going to have to go over Room 307 with a fine tooth comb."
"When we find the room."
"Don't worry. You will."
WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THE BOSTON POLICE TO DO?
WRITE IT DOWN AND SEE HOW WELL YOU FARE AGAINST
CHIEF OF DETECTIVES HEINZ NOONAN!
Noonan continued, "Get your lab team to Harvard Square, where the delivery man came out of the subway, the MTA. Have them go up MassAve and carefully look at every street sign all the way to Third Avenue. I'll bet that they'll find that every one of them has been tampered with. If Cambridge streets are like those in Boston there's a South First Street followed a block later by North First Street which, in turn is followed by South Second Street which is followed by North Third Street."
"I don't know. I live in Plymouth."
"The delivery man probably didn't know either. He probably lived in Boston and didn't get out to Cambridge very much. That's a college town, a strange place to take a diamond delivery. I'll bet that someone changed the street signs on North and South, First, Second, and Third streets. Then, when the delivery man walked up MassAve he passed a new sign for First Street and then, maybe, a Harvard Street. The next block would have been Second Street and the following block, perhaps, Kennedy Street. Then the next block would have been labeled, oh, Peabody Street. He would have gone another block and there was Third Street which, in reality, was actually South Third Street. That's the street where he made his delivery. If you go to 325 on that street, you'll find a building with at least three stories and a room 307. That's where you want to send you lab team."
"Well, why didn't we spot this earlier?"
"You said that the delivery man was using a small map of Cambridge. It probably didn't have the North and South Firsts, Seconds and Thirds listed. He found Third Street where he expected it and made the delivery."
"But why didn't we find it when we went back and looked this morning?"
"You said you were in charge and that you lived in Plymouth. If you've never been to Cambridge you wouldn't have known the streets are numbered that way. And some of the signs were changed. Right after the delivery, the signs reading Harvard, Kennedy and Peabody came down and the Third Street sign was moved to North Third. When you went to find the building, you thought you were on Third Street. In actually you were on North Third Street. You were just one block off."
"It sounds so simple when you explain it."
"One more thing. Have you lab team pay special attention to the toilet seat lid when they dust for fingerprints."
"Really? Why?"
"Because I'm betting that this is an inside job. The man who took the delivery had to have the proper documentation. For a precious gem company, that probably means that the security paperwork changes frequently. If the delivery man is straight, than there is someone at Burlington who is bent. If Burlington is an old, established firm, whoever pulled this job off was an amateur. They do things like wipe the silverware and door handles clean but often forget things like toilet seats which they raise and lower as conditions warrant."
"Good thought."
"Good hunting."
"Oh, Captain Noonan,"
"Yes."
"You were in such a hurry in Sandersonville that I didn't get a chance to tell you your wife asked me to tell you she found the invitation that you lost."
"I didn't lose it!" Noonan snapped but he was speaking to a dead line.
WELL?
HOW DID YOU DO AS COMPARED TO HEINZ NOONAN?
WANT TO TRY AGAIN?
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