Lockbox 100

Written by Tom Fowler, Published on 4/6/2009

Robert Caldwell always looked forward to the fourth Monday of each month. This was when the Mystery Club of the Caldwell and Zielny law firm met to discuss the next mystery challenge. The club was made up of himself, his partner, Peter Zielny, and several young attorneys who were salaried employees.

This month, it was Robert’s turn to come up with a mystery challenge. As there were now six members within this group of mystery lovers, Robert knew that he would not have to do this again for several months. So, as his fellow group members entered the firm’s spacious conference room for the meeting, he was pleased with the mystery he had devised for this month.

Robert greeted each member warmly with a smile and firm handshake. Coffee, soft drinks and club sandwiches awaited them as the meeting began. He began by saying, “For this month’s mystery challenge, we are going to do something different. We’re not going to participate in a whodunit, as we often do. And we’re not going to discuss a true crime mystery. Rather, this month we will act out our own mystery study right here in our own office.”

This captured the attention of the group. Ronald Finch, the youngest and newest employee of Caldwell and Zielny, asked, “So what are we going to do?”

Robert smiled. “One of you is going to deposit an item within lockbox 100.”

Everyone knew what Robert meant when he mentioned lockbox 100. Within the offices of Caldwell and Zielny, which took up an entire floor of a downtown high-rise office building, there was a commercial vault with safe deposit boxes. The vault in the law office was not as heavy or secure as one would find in a bank, but it was larger in size. Many of the firm’s clients preferred to store valuable legal documents there.

“Now, all of you know that the vault is in view of my office. The only thing is -- I can’t see everything inside of the vault because of the narrow doorway. Box 100 is on the left, out of view, and currently vacant. The mystery challenge is this: One of you must place the item within lockbox 100 during working hours when I am in my office. It must be done before close of business this Friday. It will be for you to decide who will do this and the challenge is for me to determine, by our next meeting, who has placed the item in the box.”

Russell Winwood, an attorney for the firm who was scheduled to become a full partner within the next few weeks, asked, “What is the item?”

“The item can be anything you can fit into the box,” answered Robert. “In case you don’t know, box 100 is a four inch by six inch box – and you are aware that our vault contains boxes as small as 3 x 5 inches and a couple as large as two feet by three feet – safes within a safe where we can store a client’s larger valuables temporarily.”

“Anything else we should know?”

“The only other requirement is that the chosen person must leave his name written on a piece of paper with the item for verification. Once more, the person placing the item must do it when I am in my office, so that I may see him enter and exit.”

Robert placed a lockbox key on the table and said, “Here is the key to box 100. Before leaving, determine the item and the person for our mystery. The challenge starts tomorrow when I arrive for work.”

The next morning was Tuesday, so Robert knew that one of his friends would be placing the unknown item into lockbox 100 before close of business Friday. He settled on this mystery in part because he had a light workload and would be able to monitor closely who entered the vault.

As you would expect in a busy law office, all of the attorneys entered the vault for one reason or another several times during the week. By 6:00 p.m. Friday, the office had cleared out and he mentally recapped several of the week’s observations.

Robert’s full attention was on the mystery. He thought, on Tuesday, Peter had entered the vault with a client. The client’s lockbox was one of those on a sidewall not visible from the doorway and Robert’s view. The client carried a vanilla folder with papers inside and Peter was coatless, carrying only the firm’s key to the lockbox.

Later on Tuesday, Robert had seen Edward Frates enter the vault. Edward carried a big duffel bag with him, and upon leaving the vault, he carried only a pencil in his right hand.

Robert reflected that on Wednesday, James Madigan entered the vault with a client. His telephone rang as he was observing them and he took his eye off of the vault for a few critical moments. When he looked back up, James and the client were exiting the vault.

On Thursday, Robert recalled, as he sipped on a Coke and snacked on peanut butter crackers, Ronald and Russell had both been in the vault. Just after lunch, Russell had approached the vault with Jane Arens, his administrative assistant and asked her to wait at the door while he entered. Russell had his suit coat on and carried a briefcase. While watching the vault, Peter had come to the door of his office and asked a question about a pending legal case. They finished their short conversation just before Robert saw Russell leave the vault with Jane.

Ronald had visited the vault later in the day, shortly before closing time. He was alone, and turned right when in the vault, removing himself from Robert’s view. He was in there a long time but finally exited a few minutes after closing time. Robert made a mental note to ask Ronald what he was doing in there so long if he were not the person placing the item.

Robert sat at his desk quite a while recalling what he had seen during the week. As he chewed on his last cheese cracker, the answer came to him. Smiling to himself, he knew he was ready for the next monthly meeting of the Caldwell & Zielny Mystery Club.