The Antique Clock Mystery

Written by Tom Fowler, Published on 1/21/2009

Ed Pederson owned and operated the Village Clock Shop for over 40 years. And when his wife passed away, Ed spent even more time in his shop. … Too much time, some might say.

It was an unpleasant surprise when Ed found his store in disarray after 7:00 a.m. one bitterly cold morning in January. Upon inspection, Ed learned that a thief had broken in the back door. The burglar’s plan would have been to steal money from the brass plated, old-fashioned cash register in the middle of the shop. However, the intruder did not realize that Ed emptied the contents of the cash drawer every night. Ed took extra precaution to protect his business, and hid the money for bank deposit in a floor safe underneath the antique roll top desk in his small office.

The thief had done a fair amount of damage. Besides the damaged rear door, there were table and mantle clocks strewn about on the shop floor. There was also a broken display case. To make matters worse, a mouse had bitten into a lamp cord in the front shop area and Ed had to reset the circuit breaker to get the electricity back on.

Ed noticed that three of his clocks and two watches were no longer running. It was a source of pride for Ed that the greatest majority of the clocks and watches in his shop worked properly at all times. Of course, he would often find one or two in need of winding or battery replacement, but this was a tiny percentage of the more than 200 clocks and watches in the store. He was careful to sell only the pieces that kept accurate time, regardless of the age and skill level needed to maintain them.

Before calling the police, Ed noted the times on the clocks and watches that had stopped working. One watch and one of the clocks not working were on the floor, knocked over by the intruder in his nervous and angry haste. The other two clocks and watch remained in their normal places, apparently undamaged. However, Ed knew from previous experience that something as mild as a door slamming in the small shop would often cause one of his old clocks or watches to stop running.

Ed discovered that a grandfather clock manufactured in 1929 had stopped running at 10:10 p.m., a little over an hour after he went home the previous evening. An early 20th century mantle clock which he found on the floor was stopped at 10:59 p.m., and an office clock mounted on the wall with a 1955 manufacturing stamp on the back of it was frozen at 2:01 a.m. A 1970s era battery-operated wristwatch, which was on the floor, had quit running at 3:18 a.m., and a beautiful old silver pocket watch from the 1880s was stuck at 5:22 a.m.

Ed surveyed the damage. Numbly, by habit, he placed a new battery in the wristwatch and it began ticking. He set it to the current time: 7:29 a.m.

Ed knew the intruder was in the shop between the hours of 10:10 p.m. and 5:22 a.m. Cursing silently, (as he chastised himself for not having a burglar alarm installed) he called the police department. It was a few minutes after 8 o’clock when his old friend, Detective Wesley Bingham, arrived at the shop. Ed poured hot coffee for both of them.

Detective Bingham knew his friend well and realized that Ed would have a detailed assessment of what happened. Wisely, he allowed the older man to speak without interfering with questions.

Ed began, “Some time between 10:10 last night and 5:22 this morning, somebody broke into the shop. Whoever it was broke down the back door and entered the front area. Perhaps because he needed to leave the lights off, he knocked several objects over and broke a display case. He must have been nervous, in a hurry and very angry after he saw the cash register drawer open and empty.”

Bingham sipped on his coffee and replied, “Please continue.”

“Nothing is missing,” Ed told him, “but three clocks and two watches were not running this morning. They were all stopped at different times. I suspect one of them quit running when the thief broke down the door or broke the display case.” Ed relayed to the detective the timepieces and respective times they had quit working.

Bingham thought for a moment, and then asked, “Tell me what you observed about each timepiece.”

Ed warmed to his topic. He was coming down from the initial shock of finding his beloved clock store vandalized. The hot coffee and comforting presence of old friend helped him organize his thoughts. He began to think out loud. “The grandfather clock sits in the corner, over there.” Ed pointed to the corner farthest from the cash register and broken display case. “There are no signs of visible damage, the clock appears normal. Obviously, it was not in thief’s path of destruction. The burglar would have to really shake the place for the grandfather clock to stop. Normally, the only time such a clock stops is if the weights and chains are tangled.” Bingham asked, “What about the mantle clock?”

Ed replied, “The mantle clock was on the floor. It took a pretty good lick. There’s a dent in the wooden floor, but it’s made of heavy brass and only has a slight scratch. I have to accept a little bit of blame for that one being on the floor. I was looking at it last night just before going home and left it sitting too close to the edge of the counter. I found that it needs a cleaning. I guess I will do that today and look for damage.”

Ed poured a second cup of coffee for both of them before continuing, “The pocket watch is in a display case by the front window. Nothing in that case was affected by my visitor … it’s too far from the center of the room.” He smiled and continued, “Pocket watches from the late 1800s are tough and were built to withstand horse and wagon rides.” Pulling it from the case, he showed it to the detective. “It’s made of silver, one of my favorites. I just rebuilt it last week.”

Bingham smiled at his friend. It always pleased him that Ed had been blessed with a passion that allowed him to earn a living. He knew that Ed’s love of timepieces had sustained him since the death of his wife. Finally, he asked, “What about the other watch?”

Ed said, “It does not appear to be damaged, even though it was on the floor. A new battery has it running just fine now.”

Bingham asked, “How about the wall clock?”

“That’s one of those commercial electric wall clocks from the 1950s,” Ed said. “The kind you used to see in offices everywhere. It still has its original cord and plug. However, it didn’t appear that the thief was anywhere near it.”

Wesley Bingham answered, “Well, Ed, I have some news for you. A young man named Aubrey Behrens was arrested early this morning. One of your neighbors on the block saw him loitering on the sidewalk. He was arrested and brought to the station before you called. He has cuts and bruises on his hands and arms. His girlfriend was with him, and she swears they were together at her place just before their arrest. I need to know when Behrens was in the shop. I can tear their story apart and rattle him if I have a timeline on this breaking and entering.”

Ed smiled and said, “Wesley, now that I have had time to think this through, I can give you the exact time that he was here.”