The Case of the Missing Cruiser or Who’s the Dumbest Criminal in Vail?
The Antlers is always trying to enhance the guest experience, so without even a second thought, we purchased two, brand spanking new, cruiser bikes from Performance Sports two months ago. The idea being, if you want to get around town in a Cadillac Cruiser, of course we would “be more than happy to let you hop on and go. Just return them where you found them is all we ask.” The rules seem simple enough don’t they? Until one of the Manhattan Deluxe Flyers with 6 speed transmission, cushioned leather seat, and an optional woven basket for carrying goodies, goes missing!
The e-mails were sent out asking for an explanation. Then we started asking for clues. The Cruiser was gone for two weeks and the situation evolved from “misplaced bicycle” to “stolen property”.
The poor guy was parked in its place all alone. He missed his friend.
There was no response to our pleas and the case was close to being categorized as “unsolved”. Until I went to Ace Hardware and saw what I had a hard time believing.
The missing Cruiser was parked in a bike rack in front of the store. I thought to myself “Somebody steals a bike and parks it where everyone looking for it can see it. This perpetrator is really stupid.”
What was this thief thinking? Did he want to be caught?
I leave the scene and go back to the Antlers where I tell Rob “I just found the bike. I guess I’ll call the police and let them know where it is.”
Rob says something like ” Hurry up in case the thing disappears again”.
Molly, who is working the front desk says “Greg, you’re busy. I’ll call the police.”
“No problem Molly. I’ll take care of it” was my response to her (and I wondered why she was trying to be so helpful).
Officer Rich Sardelli of the Vail Police Department, wanted only a few details like make and model, color, serial numbers and any distinguishing marks (like an option basket for goodies).
I told him that I would have to call him back because some of the information was upstairs. “I’ll be on duty until 3 AM” he told me.
I proceed to the front office and acting a little impatient, I say to Molly “officer Sardelli wants information that I’m not sure where to find it. I wonder if Rob has serial #’s for those bikes.”
Molly follows me back to the file room and says “Greg….I…I have…I have a ….a confession to make and please don’t be mad.”
I wanted to wipe a tear from her eye, but she wasn’t crying. “What is it Molly?”
She looked down at the floor and shuffled her right foot back and forth and said “I’m the one who took the bike and parked it there. I kept forgetting about it, but I promise to bring it back tonight. Please don’t tell Rob.”
I could not control my laughter and said “I’m not going to tell Rob. I’m going to tell the world wide web and don’t worry, Rob doesn’t read the Internet. He’ll never know.”
I called officer Sardelli back and told him of the “closed case”.
Before we hung up he said “You want me to come over there and arrest her? I’d be happy to.”
I thought only for a second. “Ohhhh, that would be fun.” Greg
Together again
