At midnight, a frightened voice breaks the quiet of the town police station. Puz and Officer Reed hurry to help, but the street is empty. Before they can make sense of it, the same voice calls again.
Nobody at the gate
Puz was helping Officer Reed during the night shift. The town had four districts: north, south, east and west, with one bank in each. It took time to drive from one side of town to the other.
The duty telephone rang. A woman’s voice cried, “Help me! I’m outside the telephone exchange in the south! Please hurry!” Then the line went dead.
Reed radioed the patrol nearby, then went with Puz to the exchange. They checked the gate, the pavement and the surrounding streets. Nobody called out, and nobody needing help could be found.
The call had come from a public telephone across from the gatehouse. A night attendant had noticed someone in the booth, but it was too far away to make out a face or hear any words. The attendant could not even say whether the person had been a man or a woman.
The voice returns
After checking the area, they returned to the station. Before Reed had finished writing her report, the telephone rang again. Puz recognised the same frightened voice.
“Help me! I’m outside the power office in the north! Please hurry!”
Reed checked the calling number. It belonged to the public telephone beside the north power office. She sent the patrol there and followed with Puz. Once again, they searched and found nobody needing help.
A waiter in the all-night diner opposite had seen someone using the booth. He had been serving a customer and had not looked closely. He could give no description of the caller.
News in the morning
In the morning, two bank robberies were reported. The night guards had been shut in staff rooms and had only just been found. Both were safe, but money had been taken. Similar damage at the two banks led the police to suspect the same gang.
Reed compared the guards’ accounts with the patrol’s night log. The north bank had been robbed while the patrol was away checking the call in the south. Later, while the patrol was checking the call in the north, the south bank had been robbed.
Puz read the two reports again. The people seen at the telephone booths had not been identified. There was no clear description of the thieves either.
One more call
The following night, Reed arranged for an extra patrol to be ready. Shortly before midnight, the duty telephone rang. It was the same voice again.
“Help me! I’m outside the tax office in the east! Please hurry!”
“Officers are on their way to check the east-side call,” Reed told Puz. “Where should I send the extra patrol?”
“Send the extra patrol to the west bank, straight away,” Puz said. Reed picked up her radio. Why had Puz chosen that bank? Which clues in the earlier events explain the decision?