Brown from the Sun

BROWN FROM THE SUN

Crime of the Century

June 10, 1938

The refrigerator door was open. Tanner's sister, Jean, stood in front of it
with the look on her face that woman get when a particularly important
social function has been ruined.

C. Tanner Brown, co- owner of the Sun Detective Agency, conquered his
initial desire to turn and run with the knowledge that he was innocent. He
hadn't been close to the refrigerator all day. Whoever his sister came down
on, it wouldn't be him.

"Problem, Jean?"

She pointed to the wedding cake sitting on the top shelf near the left wall
of the icebox. At first Tanner couldn't see the damage. He moved closer to
the door and saw that a finger had been dragged across the side of the cake
nearest the wall. It was a small finger. The tiny bride and groom looked at
him in silent reproach. "Who's been in the kitchen today?"

"My two and Helen's two."

Tanner looked her in the eye

"Tan, this is serious. I've got 30 minutes until the reception, and that's
going to be hard to repair."

"OK. I'll find the little devil and leave you alone in the back room with
him. Get them in here."

Jean stepped to the door of the living room and shouted in a voice that
would make a crime boss cringe, "David, Louise, Heather, Robert! Get in
here!"

Four children, 6-8 years old, came slowly into the kitchen. Obviously, one
of them had done it. They were going to clam up.

Tanner bent over and said, "Kids, get out the coloring books. We're going to
draw pretty pictures." The kids looked relieved and scrambled to open the
toy box.

Jean stared at him with outrage, "What!"

"Trust me." Ten minutes later, the little miscreant couldn't sit down. It
was a lovely wedding, and the cake looked just fine.

How did Tanner find the kid with the sticky finger?



Did you solve it? After you have thought about it for a few seconds, page
down for the answer. Don't forget to visit www.lockedroom.com for a look at
my novel starring Rhianna and C. Tanner Brown.

































































The Crime of the Century

The cake sat on the shelf near the door which on most models has its hinges
on the left hand side. The little thief would be left-handed. For a right
handed person to touch the left side of the cake, he would have to crowd the
door and reach across the cake, a totally unnatural gesture. Tanner brought
out the coloring books so that he could see who was left handed.

I hope you enjoy 'Brown from the Sun'. If you have questions, comments,
praise or curses, send them to dlmarsh1044.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com. Look for the next
'Brown from the Sun' tomorrow.