uspicious Appearances

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

The Baron spoke with his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, about some things that were appearing at the castle. It seemed that certain items were appearing that the Baron had never seen before. The items were not large in value but they were not of small value either. The Baron suggested to the Professor that an inventory of the strange items be made.

Some of the items appeared not only at the castle, but were also on the list of stolen articles in a police report. The Baron began to wonder if someone was stealing things from homes in Lilliland and bringing them to the castle. Was this to embarrass the royal family or what?

All of the items were small enough to conceal under a person’s coat or in a large purse. The items would appear about once a week. Suspicion was beginning to focus on the members of the royal family and the trusted castle staff.

The townspeople were starting to wonder if something strange was happening in Lilliland Castle.

The Baron asked Lady Angela, of Alpine Castle, if anything similar to these strange appearances was happening in her castle. She said that she was not aware of anything of this type happening.

Finally, someone noticed that a cleaning lady had a large object hidden under her coat when she arrived for work, but when she left the castle, her coat did not have the large object. That night a large object appeared in the Baron’s living quarters. It was a small statue of a woman who looked like Lady Angela.

The Professor questioned the cleaning woman the next time she came to work. She admitted to the mystery.

She said that her husband had applied for a job at the castle but was turned down because of a poor previous work attendance record. Her husband complained that just because he did not like his previous job and stayed home a lot, it should not count against his employability. The cleaning lady shared her husband’s disappointment and this was her way of getting revenge by embarrassing the people who lived and worked in the castle.

The Professor made her return all the items she had stolen from her cleaning customers’ homes and apologized. Since she did return every last item and apologized, there were no criminal charges made. However, she was asked to resign her post at the castle.