“What’s the crime this time?” asked detective Case.
“A rather unusual one. A rare white lizard went missing from the zoo in the dead of night. It’s said to be valuable too, only five are left in the world.” explained the inspector. “Isn’t it a simple case of checking the security cameras?” “Unfortunately, a snowstorm caused a power cut starting that evening. All the cameras were out.” continued the inspector. “We’ve brought in the guard that was on duty overnight, Fred Dimbleby. He was the last one to see the precious reptile.” The inspector showed Detective Case into the next room where Dimbleby sat at a simple desk awaiting questioning. His grubby fingers were clasped together tightly and his gaze fixed unerringly on the table in front of him.
“Tell us what happened on the night of the disappearance.” asked the inspector
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I went round all the enclosures and checked that everything was locked. I was outside the reptile house at around two. I heard a commotion coming from inside so I got my keys out and unlocked the door. When I went in the animals were all going crazy, running about and causing a right ruckus inside their cages. Must’ve been the noise from the storm what set ‘em off. I didn’t notice anything the matter so I checked on the monkeys before getting back to my guardhouse around two thirty” recounted Dimbleby.
“We’ve been through his story three times now. It matches exactly what was in the guardhouse logbooks.” said the inspector.
“But it seems to me he only had one thing in mind when he went into that reptile house” Detective Case paused dramatically “Theft!”
How did Detective Case know?