The Mystery of the Scar-faced Beggar - M. V. Carey [3]
“Thieves entered the bank yesterday evening disguised as the cleaning crew. They imprisoned the security guard in the bank’s board room, and were waiting this morning when employees reported to work. When the time lock was released at eight forty-five this morning, Samuel Henderson, executive vice-president of the bank, was forced to open the vault. The holdup men escaped with approximately a quarter of a million dollars in cash and an unknown amount in valuables from the safe-deposit boxes. Stay tuned for additional details when we return at noon. ”
“There!” said Jupe. He switched the set off.
“Good grief!” exclaimed Bob.
“The Santa Monica Thrift and
Savings! I was right across the street
from that bank last night when the
blind man … when …”
Bob stopped. He looked rather
pale. “I must have seen one of the
holdup men,” he said.
Pete and Jupe waited, watching
Bob.
“Yes, sure I did,” he said.
“From the bus stop I could look
across the street right into the bank. I saw the cleaning people leave and go up in the elevator. Then the man came back — the cleaning man — and he knocked at the bank door and the security man opened it.”
“He came back?” said Jupe. “The same man?”
“Well, I suppose … I suppose …” Bob looked puzzled. “I don’t know,” he said.
“The blind man dropped his cup and his money rolled all over the place. So the lady and I picked it up, and after we gave the cup back to the blind man, that’s when I saw the cleaning man at the bank door.”
“So it could have been a different man?” said Jupe.
Bob nodded.
“What a scheme!” cried Pete. “The cleaning people finish their work and go upstairs. Then somebody who’s dressed up to look like a cleaning man comes and knocks at the door. The security guy lets him in and whammo! The security guy winds up stashed in a back room and the crooks are inside the bank and they’re home free.
No alarms. Just sit and wait for the employees to show up.”
“Why sure!” said Bob. “It must have been that way.”
“Did you see where the cleaning man came from?” asked Jupe. “I mean, whether he came into the lobby from the elevator or the street?”
Bob shook his head. “The guy was already at the bank door in the lobby when I noticed him. I thought he’d come back down in the elevator. But I guess he could have come in from the street, if he wasn’t one of the cleaners in the building.”
“Which opens up an interesting line of thought,” said Jupiter. He picked up the wallet that Bob had left on the workbench. “Say the man came down the street. The blind man dropped his money just as the bogus cleaning man was approaching the bank door. You and the woman at the bus stop bent down to pick up the money.
Anyone would do the same. And you were so occupied with the task that you didn’t see the robber enter the lobby. Does that suggest anything?”
Bob gulped. “The blind man was a lookout!”
Jupe examined the wallet. “This is very nice,” he said. “It’s made of ostrich skin and it came from Neiman-Marcus. That’s one of the most expensive stores in the city.”
“I didn’t notice that,” said Bob. “I
only looked to see if the blind man had a
telephone number in it so I could call
him. But he doesn’t.”
Jupe looked through the wallet. “One
credit card, twenty dollars in cash, and a
temporary driver’s license. Now what
would a blind man be doing with a
driver’s license?”
Bob nodded. “Right. Of course. He
was faking. He’s not blind.”
“Hector
Sebastian,”
said
Jupe,
reading from the license. “According to
this, he lives at 2287 Cypress Canyon
Drive in Malibu.”
“Malibu is a nice place,” said Pete.
“Maybe being a beggar pays better than
you’d think.”
“It may not be the beggar’s address,”
Jupe pointed out. “Perhaps the man is a
pickpocket and he stole the wallet. Or
perhaps he just found it somewhere.
Have you looked in the telephone
directory for Hector Sebastian, Bob?”
“He’s not listed,” Bob answered.
Jupiter stood up.