New Toulouse

When five residents of New Babbage, attending court here, procured passes and went to visit the New Toulouse parish police department, Constable Erdferkel, the turnkey, took them in the cell room and, according to custom, locked them in.

When they were ready to get out, the turnkey found that his big key had broken off in the lock.

For hours local locksmiths tried to release the unwilling prisoners, but their skill was unequal to the resistance of the clogged mechanism.

At night Inspector Palmer passed their suppers between the bars. In the morning the inspector was finally able to contact the city’s most expert locksmith and have him open the door; the locksmith had been out dancing and having a jollification the previous night and was unreachable during the initial crisis.

Jack Mondieu carouses with local experts and consequently sniffs out stories.