Case Cracker

“I have no idea.”

Bob Bridges, Selectman and mystery buff

Photo by Jenny Lee Silver (Creative Commons)

Here’s one for the mystery buffs. Last week officials in Milton, New Hampshire (population 4,633) cracked the case of the long-locked safe.

For generations the safe has been tucked away in Milton’s old “townhouse,” an 1815 church turned meeting hall. The safe’s contents and combination were long forgotten, and anyone who might’ve known them, long gone. Bowing to curiosity, officials called in a safecracker to unlock both mysteries.

History buffs hoped the safe held the town’s long-lost, gold-tipped Boston Post Cane, given in the past to the oldest resident. Restoration buffs hoped it held a pot of gold, desperately needed to restore Milton’s beloved townhouse.

Alas, when the safe was opened it held neither gold-tipped cane nor pot of gold. What it did hold was a treasure trove of historic city documents dating back to 1858.

Mystery solved. But city officials are still curious. Now that they know what’s inside the safe, they want to know how the safe got inside the townhouse. It’s too big for the doors and windows—they checked. Looks like they’ve moved on to next mystery: the case of the oversize safe in the too tight townhouse.

Read more → Safecracker brought in to open NH town’s vintage safe that had been locked for decades, Washington Post, April 14, 2012.