The Stolen Book

One very dark Wednesday night at around 7:16pm, a book from the Noosa Library was stolen from a locked cabinet. The next morning all the librarians were shocked to find one of their most valuable books missing. A team of professional detectives were called in to help them find the culprit. The return of "The Book of Answers" was of the highest priority. They were briefed about the crime, where the book was located before it was taken, who had access, and that inside the cabinet three gloves were found. Was this a vital clue?

The detectives split into four groups. One went off to do the interviews, one to investigate footprints left at the scene, another team went searching for clues and evidence left behind. The last group was working on fingerprints and suspect profiles.

The Fingerprint Team analysed the cabinet to find fingerprints or DNA. A fingerprint was located on the key lock. As they compared the fingerprint to the suspects, they realised that there were five distinct features. A small dot on the bottom right corner, a black circle in the middle of the finger, three dots in the shape of a triangle at the top right of the finger, nine black lines to the left of the finger and a cluster of lines above the three triangle shaped dots. This helped in deducting that the fingerprint was no other than Suzanne's. They didn't know for sure that Suzanne had "The Book of Answers", but they now had a lead. The fingerprint detectives moved onto their second job, gathering personal information. Questions that they asked were: "What's your favourite book? How old are you? Where do you work in the library? And how many years have you been working at the library?"

Jill's favourite book was "The Power of One"; she works in technical services, is 41 years old and has been working in the library for 18 years. Michael's favourite book was Harry Potter; he is 18 years of age, works at the shelving out back and has been a trainee for 1 year. Suzanne was harder to find, but when they found her they wasted no time getting answers. She is 42 years old, works anywhere around the library; Harry Potter is her favourite book and she has worked in the library for 22 years. Steve easily gave his personal details away. He is 50 years old, works at the circulation desk and the back room. His favourite book is James and the Giant Peach, and he has worked at the library for 1 1/2 years. The Fingerprint Team had completed the tasks that they were assigned.

The Footprint Team got to work outside the emergency exit which was found ajar that morning. As they analysed a footprint they had found, they came to the conclusion that it was made by a size 9 foot, but it did not match any shoe that the suspects were currently wearing. The footprint team came to the conclusion that the suspect changed shoes.

The Clue Team found a crumpled note that was on the floor in front of the cabinet. The words did not make sense and were all jumbled except for the initials HP and DH. They quickly typed in the initials on the computer. The name Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows appeared on the computer. And guess whose favourite book is Harry Potter? Once again Suzanne's name appeared.

Last there was the Interview Team that went to interview the suspects. They tried to get as much information out as they could but some of the suspects were not very cooperative. They found out that Michael was suspicious of Suzanne and Jill was suspicious of Steve. Suzanne and Steve were the only ones who had accessed the collection in the past week. Also they found that when they spoke to Suzanne that she did not give information away freely.

When all four groups finished their assigned tasks they discussed who they thought may have stolen "The Book of Answers". It was not that easy to remember everything that they had figured out so they each got a Suspect Matrix to collate the information. They wrote down the suspects name, where they were working, who is suspicious of them, who had access to the special collection, who looked at "The Book of Answers" and what their favourite book was.
They thought that if they went through each suspect they would figure out the crime. Michael had access to the key but that was all. Jill had access to the key but was not allowed to go into the cabinet. Steve was the same as Michael, he had access to the key but no other evidence pointed to him. Suzanne had the fingerprint match, link to the book and access to the key.

It was time to bust this crime. The detectives called in the suspects to reveal their suspicions. Jill and Steve were sent back to work as they were the least likely of the suspects. It was down to Michael and Suzanne. Detective M.J. stood up and accused Suzanne of taking the book. Suzanne was shocked, but admitted to taking the book and went to return it to its place. When she returned she explained that she wanted to ask the book something about unicorns.

The case was closed and the culprit had been caught.

Author: Alicia, aged 10