Britzer His Own Detective

Old Jacob Britzer kept the village store in Bucksport. We say the village store, because it was the largest, and, in fact, the only store of any consequence in the place. Like all country store keepers, Jacob kept for sale dry and moist goods of every description, and both village and suburban gossips made his place the centre and their tilting ground. To this the trader did not object, because he was himself of a social turn and because these hangers-on were all customers. Occasionally Jacob missed certain articles from his shelves and counters which he knew had not been sold, and he could only imagine that they had been stolen. This thing continued for more than a year, and Britzer, with all his careful watching, was unable to detect the thief. There were several whom he deemed capable of the deed, but he could not fix the crime upon either of them.

At length, on Monday morning, Jacob Britzer entered the store, and upon removing the heavy wooden shutters from the front window he discovered that the large glass top showcase near the main entrance had been robbed of nearly all its contents. At least three hundred dollars worth of fancy goods had been stolen, a large amount for the country store keeper to lose. Jacob had locked up the store on Saturday night, and had not visited it since now, nor had the keys been out of his keeping. For a brief space he was thunderstruck, then for another brief space he collected his thoughts and reflected. His course of action was resolved upon. His first decided movement was to lock the door by which he had entered, and draw the curtains over the windows.… Read More