Stan Smith is the author of three books of Stanwick mini-mysteries that have been published in nine languages and sold over 120,000 copies.

Mini-Mystery

The Case of the Wells Fargo Money

The daring theft of half a million dollars from a Wells Fargo armored truck captured the imagination of the entire Royston area. As the Royston Gazette excitedly summarized it, the truck had just been loaded with cash from the First National Bank on the afternoon of June 4 when two or three men appeared, overpowered the guards, piled the money into a pickup truck, and disappeared-all in less than five minutes.

The investigation was placed in the hands of Inspector Matthew Walker. His skillful inquiries led the police to three men who often worked together and were suspected of several lesser robberies.

Some 10 miles from the city, in the little town of Baskerville, Thomas P. Stanwick, the amateur logician, pushed aside a postal chess analysis and admitted the inspector to his bungalow.

“I’m delighted to see you, Matt,” said Stanwick as they seated themselves in the living room. “I hear you’ve been doing fine work on this Wells Fargo case.”

‘’Thanks, Tom.” Walker smiled wearily. “All the public attention has put a lot of pressure on us to solve it and, if possible, recover the money.”

“I’ve also heard you have some suspects under surveillance.”

“That’s right. This is strictly confidential, of course.” Walker leaned forward in his armchair. “We have conclusive evidence that Charles Acker, Bull Barrington, and Adam Crowley organized the job, and at least two of them actually carried it out.

We’ve been monitoring their communications, hoping to get more information. The money has been hidden, and not all three of them know where it is. It would aid us enormously to find out who knows its location.

“To complicate matters, at least one of them communicates by a ‘lying code’, in which everything he says is false. The others speak truthfully. We don’t know which, or how many of them, are using the lying code.”

Stanwick idly twisted the tip of his mustache and chuckled. “Quite a problem. Can I help?”

“I hope so.” Walker flipped open his notebook. “These are the only helpful statements we’ve been able to intercept that might tell us who’s lying and who knows where the money is: Acker: Barrington is using the lying code, and I know where the money is.

Barrington: Acker was out of town at the time of the robbery.

Crowley: Acker was in town at the time of the robbery if and only if he knows where the money is.

Barrington: I don’t use the lying code.

Acker: Either I was in town at the time of the robbery or Crowley does not use the lying code.

Crowley: Not all of us use the lying code. I don’t know where the money is.

“As you can see, it’s a bit of a tangle,” Walker concluded. Stanwick took and studied the notebook for a few minutes, and then handed it back.

“My dinner’s almost ready,” he said, standing up. “Pot roast, potatoes, and peas. Since you’ll be working late anyway, I hope you can stay long enough to join me. In the meantime, I’ll be glad to tell you who is lying, and at least one man who knows where the money is.”

Who is lying? Who knows where the money is? Scroll down for the answer.

Answer

Suppose Acker is lying. Then, from his second statement, he was out of town at the time of the robbery and Crowley is lying. If Crowley is lying, they are all using the lying code, including Barrington. If Barrington is lying, however, then Acker was in town at the time of the robbery. Thus, if Acker is lying, he was both in and out of town at the time of the robbery. This is impossible. Acker is therefore telling the truth.

Since Acker is telling the truth, he knows where the money is, and Barrington is using the lying code. Not everyone is using the lying code, so Crowley is telling the truth and doesn’t know where the money is. Barrington mayor may not know the location of the money.

By Stan Smith