“I was standing outside the store waiting for my husband to bring the car around, when all of a sudden a man, I didn’t see anything but his back, snatched my purse!” The woman was furiously telling the police officers the story of the snatching of her purse.
A supposed witness, who claimed he had been sitting on a nearby bench, told what he had seen. “This woman was standing about 4 feet in front of me, holding a few shopping bags, plus her purse. A large man dressed in jeans, a black shirt and a leather coat snatched her purse and hurried into the fire escape door on the side of the building.”
A few hours later, the purse was found in the witness’ car and he was arrested. How did the police know he was the purse snatcher?
Solution
The witness said he saw the snatcher hurry into the store through the fire escape door. Fire escape doors only open from the inside. Catching this bluff, the police obtained a search warrant and searched his car, finding the purse. He confessed.
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