Never mind, I knew what happened.
MXY can you please post your riddle again?
Btw, Nateo, you are correct.
LOL
Okay, here it is AGAIN! (GL, Kiwi! )Sergeant Douglas Morson and Officer Angella Stout of the Hillshire Police were seated Wednesday morning at the Dobson kitchen table. David Herbert Dobson, professor emeritus of history at Dartmouth, finished pouring coffee and sat down.
"Perhaps, professor, you could describe the letter again," said the burly Morson.
"As I have told you, sergeant," Dobson replied, frowning, "the letter was written and signed by President Lincoln in 1863. Its recipient was John Hacker, a Shakespearean authority of the day with whom Lincoln conducted a brief correspondence. You will find the text in Basler's Collected Works of Lincoln. A writer from Americana magazine visited my home last year and profiled the letter, including its location.
"As you know, my basement is nicely fixed up," he continued. "Until last week, the framed letter hung on my basement wall, just outside the door to the small bathroom. When I went down last Friday morning, I discovered that someone had removed the back of the frame, taken the letter, and inserted as a laughable substitute a wrinkled copy of the handwritten Gettysburg Address."
"And you owned the letter for how long?" asked Morson.
"Nine years. I finally decided to donate it to Baker Library at Dartmouth, and was going to hand it over in three weeks. I never got around to having it insured."
Morson glanced at Stout, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Your basement had three visitors last week, professor," said Stout. "John Healy of Carney Furnaces came on Tuesday afternoon to clean your furnace. He has been with the company about five months. Ken Cantwell, who has been with the town water department for many years, stopped by on Wednesday afternoon to read your meter, as he does every four months. On Thursday morning, the tank of the toilet down there overflowed, and your wife called in Russell McNutt, a local plumber."
"That's right. I was away at a conference all day Thursday."
"McNutt was tried for petty theft six years ago, but acquitted," noted Morson. "Were any prints were found on the frame, Angella?"
"No, sarge. And no one has tried to sell the letter."
"It couldn't be sold!" exclaimed Dobson. "It was too well known. The theft must have been arranged by a private collector. My pending donation to the library was common knowledge in Dartmouth and Lincoln circles."
"I see." Morson frowned in thought. "Well, there were no signs of forced entry. You always keep your house locked, professor? And you and Mrs. Dobson had no other visitors last week?"
"Correct on both points," Dobson replied sadly.
"Does anyone else have a key to your house?"
"No."
"Any particular reason why you had your furnace cleaned now?"
"Well, I've had it done every two to three years, whenever it occurs to me. There are eight or nine companies around here that clean furnaces. I can never remember which one I last used, so I just picked one at random. We made the appointment about two weeks ago."
"Professor," said Stout, "I understand that these men did their work downstairs without supervision. Is that right?"
"Yes. Doris or I just showed them the stairs and let them do their jobs. I didn't have occasion to go down there from Tuesday morning until Friday."
Morson smiled.
"Angella, have any of the three shown a previous interest in historical documents or artifacts?" he asked.
Stout smiled too. "Not a trace, sarge."
"Very well." Morson pushed back his chair and stood up. "Thank you, professor. I think I know whom we need to question further to get this resolved."
Whom did Sgt. Morson suspect of involvement in the theft?Why did he suspect them?