孫繼艷

It was 1：04 am. A thief was breaking into an art gallery（美術(shù)館）. Julius Buckner， a caretaker who lives on the ground floor of the gallery， heard the noise. He quickly ran into the gallery hall， trying to catch the thief. But he was too slow. Soon， Engelbert Sackmann， the owner of the gallery， was woken by a phone call.

“It’s Buckner， Mr Sackmann. There’s been a break-in！” the caretaker said. This caught all of Sackmann’s attention. “Did you catch him？”

“No ... I saw him leaving through the window. I am calling from a telephone booth （公用電話亭） outside the gallery. The thief cut through the gallery’s telephone cable （電纜線）.”

Sackmann already had one leg out of bed. “Run to the police. I’m on the way！” He hung up the phone and took a quick look at the clock. By then， it was 2 am.

Ten minutes later， he arrived at the gallery. At 2：13， Buckner came back with the police. At 2：50， Sackmann gave the police a list of stolen items： 19 bronze （青銅） vases， 5 paintings and a 70-cm-tall statue （雕塑）.

A police officer said， “I’m sorry， but I have the feeling that not only one， but two thieves were at work here. One of you two must have had the chance to join in the robbery（盜竊）. One man alone can not possibly carry all of the items that are on this list.”

Which of the two men might have jumped at the chance？ The caretaker， Julius Buckner， or the gallery owner， Engelbert Sackmann？

Answer： It’s the caretaker. Sackmann was only told about the break-in at 2 am. He arrived at the gallery at 2：10 and the police arrived 3 minutes later. Therefore， he would not have had time to hide any of the things he had stolen. The caretaker had a whole hour before anyone arrived.