‘Gully Barns, that smug-faced criminal!’ ranted Inspector Wormstead. ‘He’s slipped through our hooves again!’
‘How so?’ inquired Slipstar.
‘We received a tip-off earlier this week, warning us that Barns is moving stolen goods to a safehouse in Canterlot.
'Three days ago we caught him acting suspiciously – skulking about the alleyways at five in the morning, fitted out in his Sunday best. He wasn’t carrying anything, so we demanded he turn out his pockets, which he did. And by jingo, his pockets were crammed with drinking straws! Hundreds and hundreds of drinking straws, and all of them practically worthless. Of course, we can’t arrest a pony on suspicion of smuggling drinking straws, so we had to let him go.
'The next day, he’s back, strolling through the alleys, garbed in another high-end suit. We stop him. He turns out his pockets. The same! And today! Stopped and found in possession of a case – a case chock-full of drinking straws! What do you make of this business?’
Slipstar smiled.
‘My, what a crafty fellow this Barns is.’
What was Barns smuggling?
By bringing with him such copious amounts of drinking straws, Barns created the perfect distraction. The police, baffled, did not realise that Barns was smuggling stolen suits – those which he wore when travelling to his safehouse.