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Mystery at the Coliseum
We
visited the Coliseum midday, after a very long walk. We bought
two sodas and sat on a a low wall to drink and rest. A young
couple rode up on a shiny motorcycle, parked and dismounted. The
young man approached us, holding out his helmet and an
expensive-looking leather briefcase. "Will you be here a few
minutes?" he asked. "Would you hold this for me so that I don't
have to carry it around?"
"Sorry," we answered. "We're almost finished and will be leaving."
As soon as the couple had walked away, a young man rushed
over and sat next to us on the wall, staring intently at the
motorbike. A minute later an older man, too, strolled over to
examine the bike. "Must be because it is a Kawasaki," Ken
suggested. We laughed that the bike was a model called
"Genesis"—so appropriate with the art of Rome. But the young
man staring intently at the bike seemed more than smitten with
the machine. He oozed such anxiety and desperation that we
thought he might be planning to steal the motorbike. Then what
should we do?
No, he didn't steal it. Instead, he abruptly stood up and walked quickly away. Fifteen seconds later a young woman on a motor scooter buzzed up and snatched a set of keys the young man had left on the wall next to us. When we looked up we saw the young man sharing a bag of peanuts with the older man, watching from about twenty feet away.
So what was up? That week the newspapers carried stories about a famous painting stolen from an unprotected, uninsured palace, as well as news about an American arrested in a sting operation selling body parts.
Help us solve the riddle. . .
Please share your ideas for what was behind this mystery! And read what other friends have written to thicken the plot. . . .