“We have a little mystery here at the Inner Peace Convent,” the Mother Superior said as she poured a second cup of tea.
Inspector Sherlock was immediately interested.
“It’s the convent offices. We have three civilian employees who routinely handle the mail, the bills, and the bookkeeping. Marian has been with us for years. Very reliable, even though she has a bit of a drinking problem and a husband who… well… let’s just say he can use our prayers.
“Redz is new. She worked for an Alaskan convent before coming here. She seems wonderful, although we’re still waiting for the sisters there to send us a character reference.
“Our third employee is Michele Rose. Ever since the city opened up riverboat gambling… well, I’m not going to point fingers, but there have been some minor irregularities in our petty cash.
“As you know, the office is closed all weekend. On Monday morning I arrive first. I open up, check the mail, water the plants, and turn off the alarm. We have this newfangled alarm system. It does all the usual, and it automatically records whenever the alarm has been turned off. I never quite saw the sense of that. But four Mondays ago, I checked the log. The alarm had been turned off Saturday afternoon for roughly five minutes, and then turned back on. I didn’t think anything of it. Someone probably came back to retrieve some forgotten item.
“The next Monday, I found the same thing. The alarm had been turned off for five minutes on Saturday afternoon. I asked the three women – they all have alarm keys – and all three denied having visited the office.
“This has been going on for four Saturdays now. Nothing is ever missing or changed. Even the petty cash is exactly the same as it was Friday evening. It’s baffling – although I don’t suppose there’s any harm done.”
“There could be harm,” Inspector Sherlock replied. “I can think of only one possible explanation. And I think we need to deal with this woman right away.”
Who’s been coming to the office on Saturday and why?
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