An atlas, a locked display case and the wrong pocket.
When the lights came back on, the display case was still locked and without a single scratch. But the atlas was no longer inside.
Lucía volunteered on Saturdays at the Puerto Alba library, a big old stone house with more leaks than readers. That afternoon it rained without a break. At five o’clock, Elena, the director, had brought the library’s treasure out of her office: an atlas from 1752 with hand-coloured maps. She placed it in the display case in the main room for Monday’s exhibition, turned the key twice and put it away, as she always did, in the right-hand pocket of her coat, next to her handkerchief. Then she hung the coat on the coat stand in her office.
There was only one reader in the room: Don Julián, a retired teacher who read the newspapers without ever taking off his woollen gloves. His umbrella was dripping by the door.
At twenty to six, Tomás, a delivery driver, arrived with three boxes of donated books. He left them by the counter and asked to use the toilet, which is at the end of the corridor, between the office and the fuse box. He was taking a long time to come back.
At ten past six, the whole building went dark. Lucía looked out of the window: the street lights were still on, shimmering in the puddles. For twelve minutes all that could be heard was the rain, some quick footsteps on the wooden floor and Don Julián’s cough, always from the same corner.
When the lights came back on, Tomás was already waiting by the counter. He said one of the boxes was meant for another library, hoisted it onto his shoulder and hurried off. That was when Elena noticed the empty display case.
“It was the old man,” she whispered. “He never takes his gloves off so he won’t leave fingerprints.”
Lucía didn’t answer. She had gone to the office to fetch Elena’s coat and, when she put her hand in, she found the key to the display case in the left-hand pocket.
Activities
1 Detective Inference
What really happened to the atlas? Tick the correct hypothesis.
- a) Don Julián took it out of the case under cover of darkness; that’s why he never takes his gloves off.
- b) Tomás took the key from the coat, cut the power at the fuse box, opened the case and took the atlas away in the “wrong” box.
- c) Elena hid it herself and blamed Don Julián to throw everyone off the scent.
- d) A power cut across the whole town let a thief get in from the street.
Which clue proves it best? Copy or summarise the clue from the text that proves it.
2 The Loom Order of events
Put the events in the order they happened, not the order they’re told. Write the order number (1, 2, 3…) in each box.
- Elena discovers the display case is empty.
- Tomás leaves three boxes and asks to use the toilet.
- Lucía finds the key in the left-hand pocket.
- Tomás leaves carrying one of the boxes.
- The building goes dark while the street lights stay on.
- Elena puts the display case key in the right-hand pocket of her coat.
3 The Missing Page Coherence
Which continuation fits everything we know? Tick only one option.
- a) Lucía shows Elena the key and explains that someone was in the office. They call the Guardia Civil and describe Tomás’s van.
- b) Don Julián confesses that, during the power cut, he felt his way across the room and slipped the atlas under his coat.
- c) Lucía examines the display case and discovers the back pane is broken: that’s how the atlas was taken out.
- d) Elena remembers that she put the key in her left-hand pocket that afternoon, so nobody touched it.
Why do you rule out the others? Explain one of them.
4 Spot the Contradiction Literal reading
Three of these statements don’t fit what you’ve read. Put an X next to the 3 statements that don’t fit the text.
- a) The display case key was still where Elena had left it.
- b) During the power cut, Don Julián didn’t move from his corner.
- c) Tomás left before the lights went out.
- d) From the window you could see the street lights reflected in the puddles.
- e) The atlas had been on display in the case for several days.
- f) Lucía searched Elena’s coat, which was hanging in the office.
5 The Gallery Visualisation
In the game you choose the illustration that answers this question: “Which illustration shows the room just after Tomás left?”. Here, you draw it yourself, with every detail the text gives you.