While the sheriff took notes on a pad, Lulu repeated her story. Fiona and Ed broke in to add details. “So the way I understand it’s the sheriff said, “some man or woman dressed in black tied each of you up. Then he or she opened the safe and stole a hunk of gold. Is that about it?” “Could it have been some stranger, someone just passing through?” Ma Wheat asked. Lulu shook her head. “You can see a mile in any direction from here, and believe me, I didn’t see a soul.” “Maybe some passerby was hiding in the trees,” Pa said. “It had to be a stranger—the robber sure couldn’t be anyone in this room!” Dink quickly glanced around the office. Everyone was doing the same thing, looking at everyone else. “Lulu,” Ma said, “did you happen to notice how this character got the safe open?” “I couldn’t see what he was doing,” Lulu said. “He was crouched down with his back to me, but I did see that he was wearing gloves.” The sheriff walked over to the safe.
