The TV Mystery

One evening, Jack Barnes, Kurt Morris, and Robbie Ransom all sat in Jack’s basement, utilizing the large flat-screen TV installed in that room.  They were busy watching the Seattle Mariner game.

It was a good game!  The Mariners were playing the Toronto Blue Jays, and they led 8—0 going into the ninth.  The King was pitching, and Felix Hernandez was still in.

“I love watching Hernandez pitch!” said Kurt.  “He does this practically every time out!”

“Toronto’s got a pretty good lineup, too!” noted Robbie.  “Not just anyone can shut them down.”

“They always say good pitching stops good hitting,” noted Jack.

Outside, there was a loud clap of thunder.

“It’s funny watching a baseball game in the middle of a thunderstorm,” said Kurt.

“That’s because it’s not raining in Toronto,” said Jack.  “Even if it were, they’ve got a retractable roof too, just like Safeco Field.”

“We have to get down there again sometime,” said Kurt.

Hernandez retired the first two Blue Jays on two pitches, bringing up Jose Bautista.  The outcome of the game did not appear in doubt, but Bautista could ruin Hernandez’s shutout with one swing of the bat.  He took the count to 1—2 and fouled off a couple pitches.

“Come on!” said Kurt.  “Blow it by him!”

Jack tended to observe games more quietly, but he wanted exactly what Kurt did.  He watched as Hernandez set and threw.

“Chopper to first, and this will do it!” exclaimed the announcer.  “The Mariners have swept the series from Toronto!”

“How about that?” said Kurt.  “What a game!”

“Too bad it’s only seven o’clock,” said Robbie.  “What are we going to watch now?”

Seven o’clock, you say? Don’t all baseball games start at seven o’clock?  Well, if you’re on the East Coast, it might seem that way, but those ten o’clock West Coast starts are only at seven o’clock on the West Coast.  But that’s when the West Coast teams were home!  When they’re on the road, as the Mariners were tonight, the games start earlier.  Since Toronto was in the Eastern Time Zone, the game had started at four.  Thus, it was over at seven o’clock.

“Hopefully there’s a movie on,” said Jack, and he began flipping through the channels.  “If it weren’t so stormy, we could do something outside.”

“It’s also getting dark,” said Kurt, “because of the clouds.  Although this would be a good time for glow-in-the-dark frisbee.”

“You’re forgetting we don’t have glow-in-the-dark frisbees,” said Jack, flipping to a news channel.  He started to skip to another channel, then stopped.  It was a local news channel, and they were talking about a crime that had occurred that day.

“Hours ago, a daring crime occurred in downtown Tacoma,” stated the reporter.  “Police say a man stole the famous Gaspard Necklace as it was being transferred from Frick’s Jewelry store downtown.”

“The Gaspard Necklace?” said Kurt.  “I’ve never heard of the thing.”

The reporter said some more, then the scene shifted to the jewelry store, where another reporter stood by with the latest.  “Many of you have no doubt heard of the Gaspard Necklace,” he was saying.

“I haven’t!” said Robbie.  Just then, a picture of it was briefly displayed on the screen.  Then, the scene shifted back to the reporter.

“The necklace was being carried from a car to a building when, suddenly, the guard was overpowered by an unknown assailant wearing a ski mask.  Now, this robbery is quite unusual in that there was excellent security in place.  Other security guards were in the car, and they pursued the thief immediately after he pulled off the crime.  However, he quickly eluded them.  I’m here with one of the men in charge of transporting the necklace…” and the reporter began interviewing some guy about the elaborate security means that had failed.

“Too bad they lost him,” said Kurt.  “Wonder what they mean by ‘quickly eluded them’? That’s not very clear.  Did you hear me, Jack?”

Jack hadn’t heard Kurt. He’d been staring intently at the TV screen.  Just then, the reporter finished the interview, and the camera went back to the studio.

“Oh, shoot!” said Jack.  “I hope they show that again.”

“Why?” asked Kurt.

“Let’s keep the TV on this channel,” said Jack.  “When it comes on again, I’ll show you.”

“I thought we were going to watch a movie,” protested Robbie.

“If I saw what I thought, this will be better than a movie,” said Jack.

It took twenty minutes, but finally, they started talking about the Gaspard Necklace robbery again.  “Watch closely when they show the store,” said Jack.

Soon, they switched to the on-site reporter.  “Okay,” said Jack.  “See that clothing store next to the jewelry shop?”

“Yes,” said Kurt.  “What about it?”

“Watch the dummy in the window.”

Kurt and Robbie watched it, mystified, until—

Robbie gasped. “Did that dummy’s leg just move?”

“Yes!  You saw it too,” said Jack.  “No wonder that thief eluded capture so quickly.  Get me the phone.”

Ten minutes later, a not-so-fake dummy was in custody, and the necklace was in the store, where it belonged.