STICK-UP G3sr03

 3. STICK-UP

At about 9 a.m. the front door of the jewelry store opened. Two well-dressed men entered. The taller one smiled and said "Good morning" to Mr Ness.

Mr Ness put down the watch he was working on. He got up and went to greet the two men. "Good morning, gentlemen. May I help you?"

"Yes," replied one of the men with a pleasant smile. "Are you Mr Ness?"

"Yes, I'm John Ness."

"Mr Ness, I am Bert Krantz. I was sent here by Mrs Van Loon. I understand you do all her work."

"That's right," said the jeweler.

"Mrs Van Loon said that you are working now on the famous Van Loon pearl brooch—the one that has the very large pearl."

"That's right," replied Mr Ness. "It has been in the Van Loon family for years."

Bert Krantz gave him a broad smile. "Yes, that's the one I mean. It must be worth a fortune."

"Right. The big pearl alone is rated in five figures. With the rest of the stones and the setting, the brooch is worth near a quarter of a million."

“Well, I just wanted to make sure,” replied Krantz, suddenly grabbing Mr Ness' arm. Then he flipped open his coat to let Mr Ness know that he had a gun.

Mr Ness looked at one man and then the other. His face grew pale. “Listen,” continued Krantz. “We know that the time lock on the safe is set for ten o' clock. There are five alarm buttons in the store. We know exactly where they are. I'm warning you, don't touch any of them. All you have to do is go back to work. Then at ten o' clock when the time lock opens up the safe, give us the brooch.”

Krantz let go of Ness' arm and moved up to the front of the store. The other man took a morning paper and sat down in the rear of the store. Mr Ness picked up a package and began to wrap it. In the package were about two dozen watches that sold for about five dollars each.

A young man came in and walked over to Ness. “Good morning, Mr Ness. Is my compass ready?”

“Oh, good morning, Jerry. Yes, it is. Why all the hurry?”

“This afternoon I'm teaching some of our scouts how the compass works. I'm a scoutmaster now, you know.”

“Good! You know I once was a scoutmaster, too. I “Well, I just wanted to make sure,” replied Krantz, suddenly grabbing Mr Ness' arm. Then he flipped open his coat to let Mr Ness know that he had a gun.

Mr Ness looked at one man and then the other. His face grew pale. “Listen,” continued Krantz. “We know that the time lock on the safe is set for ten o' clock. There are five alarm buttons in the store. We know exactly where they are. I'm warning you, don't touch any of them. All you have to do is go back to work. Then at ten o' clock when the time lock opens up the safe, give us the brooch.”

Krantz let go of Ness' arm and moved up to the front of the store. The other man took a morning paper and sat down in the rear of the store. Mr Ness picked up a package and began to wrap it. In the package were about two dozen watches that sold for about five dollars each.

A young man came in and walked over to Ness. “Good morning, Mr Ness. Is my compass ready?”

“Oh, good morning, Jerry. Yes, it is. Why all the hurry?”

“This afternoon I'm teaching some of our scouts how the compass works. I'm a scoutmaster now, you know.”

“Good! You know I once was a scoutmaster, too. I know how eager scouts are to learn. By the way, did you ever teach your scouts the semaphore code?”

“Yes, I did. I'm grateful to you, Mr Ness, for the help you once gave me.”

Mr Ness picked the watches one by one and kept talking as he wiped them off and hung them on a rack. Then he turned to Jerry and said, “Oh, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. When I get to talking about the scouts, I never know when to stop. I'll get your compass.”

He stepped behind the counter, took down the compass, and handed it to Jerry. “Now, don't drop it again,” he said.

Jerry left and the jeweler turned back to work on the watches. In a few minutes two workmen came in the front door. “Are you the man who runs this place?” one of them asked.

“Why, yes.”

“You called yesterday about a leaky faucet in your washroom. We' re sorry we couldn't get here sooner. Where's the washroom?”

“Oh, you're the plumbers. The washroom is back there.”

“Okay,” the man replied. The two men started for the rear of the store. About midway one man set down his tool box. He started to look for something in the bottom. "Well, I haven't any small washers," he said. "There's a box of washers on the seat in the truck. Go get them, Joe."Joe went back outside.

At ten o'clock the time lock on the safe worked as it had been set to. Mr Ness moved over to the safe, reached inside, and handed a small box to Krantz's partner. The man immediately placed the box in his inside pocket.

Just then the door opened and Joe, the "plumber's helper," came in. He had a gun in his hand. "Reach!" he said. "Reach, buddy, and reach high! I'm an officer, and you're under arrest!" Both thieves put up their hands.

The other plumber got out handcuffs and clamped them on the two men. By now Krantz was wondering what had gone wrong. He turned to the jeweler and asked, "What went wrong? Who tipped off the law?"

The jeweler beamed. "Take a good look at the faces of the fifteen watches that I hung up."

Krantz looked and noted that the hands on the watches were turned to match the letters of the semaphore code. Then his jaw dropped as he spelled out the words, HOLD UP GET POLICE.