The messing ms.

I understand exactly how John Wronoski, owner of Lame Duck Books of Cambridge, felt when he discovered that the "stolen" Jorge Luis Borges manuscripts were right there in the store all along. I feel sure that on the top of my desk, if I dig down far enough, I will find interview transcripts and documents, maybe even winning lottery tickets, from years ago, buried under piles of books and papers. In fact, if I dig deep enough, I may even find a piece of paper from 1969, when I was a copyboy, with a coffee-and-bagel order from the city editor.

It all reminds me of the theme of "The Purloined Letter": the valuable document hidden in plain sight. The positive message seems to be that Lame Duck is such a messy place that no thief could find anything of value, at least without a lot of rummaging.