• Part 1 (WebArchive)
• Part 2 (WebArchive)

Janet hefted the wooden chest out of the boot of her car. She had bought it at a garage sale. It was going cheap because it was locked and the previous owner didn’t have the key nor had they wanted to smash it open. Janet had no such qualms about doing so and hoped she would find something cool and valuable in it. Alternatively, there could be nothing but junk. It was a lottery in many ways. Janet was at her friend Tom’s place because she knew he had the tools to get into the chest and would be home on a late Sunday afternoon. Tom came out to greet her and after Janet explained why she had the chest, Tom carried the chest into his garage.

“What do I get in return for helping you?” Tom asked mischievously as he attacked the chest with a crowbar.

“That depends on what is in the chest,” Janet replied, giving as good as she got.

“I’ll definitely deserve it with the trouble this is currently giving me,” he said, switching from the unsuccessful crowbar to a saw. Tom wasn’t much more successful with the saw.

“How much do you value the chest itself?” Tom asked, with an axe in his hand.

“I’d rather the contents weren’t damaged.” Janet’s response didn’t appear to register as Tom brought the axe down, splintering the chest. A few more axe swings and some crowbar wrangling later, Tom had created a hole in the top of the chest. He was reaching into the chest to pull stuff out before Janet could get a look at the contents of the chest...