The freight office smells of paper dust and coal smoke. Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown steps in with Sally Smith, Arthur, Pete Mercer, and the clerk on edge behind the counter. A gray-capped man stands by a ledger table, half-turned toward the back door, his hand tightening around a small canvas satchel.
Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown
The satchel is bulging, and the gray cap matches Arthur's description.
Freight Office Clerk
That is him. I told you to send for the police if he came back.
Gray-Capped Man
You have the wrong man. I am only here for a shipment.
Sally Smith
Funny. The shipment seems to be hiding in your satchel.
Pete Mercer points at the dispatch slip copy in Encyclopedia's hand. Arthur goes pale. The gray-capped man hesitates, then the satchel slips open just enough to show a glint of silver inside, wrapped in oily paper.
Arthur
He told me to keep Pete busy. He said nobody would trace the route if the bakery looked guilty.
Gray-Capped Man
Keep quiet, Arthur. I paid for the deliveries and the silence.
The clerk lunges for the office phone. The gray-capped man freezes, then lets the satchel drop to the floorboards. The stolen collectible tumbles into view, safe at last, beside the marked dispatch slip and the bakery jam traces that tied the whole scheme together.
Everything is laid bare now. One step, one question, and the whole frame-up collapses in the open.
“I take the stolen collectible”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +2)
Leroy Brown stoops and snatches the wrapped collectible off the floor before anyone else can step on it.
He straightens with the prize in hand, notebook tucked against his ribs, while the satchel lies open at his feet.
Freight Office Clerk
Good. Keep hold of it until the police get here.
Arthur
I should have talked sooner. I knew this would blow up.
Pete Mercer
Then it is over. I am not carrying this blame anymore.
Sally Smith
It is over, all right. The story does not fit, and now neither does his alibi.
The clerk keeps one hand on the phone, eyes fixed on the floor, while Arthur looks anywhere but at the police report waiting to be written.
The freight office goes still around the silver, the jam traces, and the signed paper trail that finally pins the frame-up down.
+ New Item Acquired
Wrapped collectible
The satchel lay open on the freight room floor, the stolen silver collectible gleaming in the lamplight.
Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown
Case closed. The frame-up is finished, and the truth is right where it belongs.
Sally Smith
You did it, Encyclopedia. They will not get away with this.
Arthur
I should have stopped it sooner. I know that now.
Freight Office Clerk
The police are on their way. This office is going to be searched top to bottom.
Pete Mercer looked at the recovered collectible, then away, as the last of the scheme fell apart.
By the time the officers arrived, the freight office was no longer a hiding place but a crime scene. The stolen collectibles were secured, the frame-up was exposed, and the ring in Idaville was finished. Encyclopedia left with the quiet satisfaction of a case solved and a town set straight.