The Case of the Careless Caretaker
Mister Hammond has rather foolishly invested every last penny he has in a series of fish tanks. His hope is that a local aquarium will purchase the tanks from him. The superintendent, Finley, though, refuses Hammond. Faced with financial ruin, Hammond lingers as Finley feeds the piranha, for a crowd of onlookers. When Finley spies a knife at the bottom of the piranha tank, he immediately fires the caretaker, Brady. Hammond sees Brady's public firing as an opportunity. Fishing the knife out of the piranha tank, Hammond uses it to stab Finley to death.
Hammond then contacts the police to report the murder. Hammond pins the crime on the caretaker. Detective Arvin Steinmetz, though, immediately sees the hole in Hammond's story. Hammond claims he saw Brady reach into the piranha tank and grab the knife to kill Finley. Steinmetz points out that Brady, in his role as caretaker, would have known better than to stick his bare arm into a piranha tank. Catching Hammond in an obvious lie, Steinmetz accuses Hammond of being the killer. Hammond confesses his guilt, and is tried and sentenced for the crime.
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