More than skin deep

More than skin deep by Erle Stanley Gardner is a crime fiction short story written in the early 20th century. Set in a small mountain town, it centers on a supposed safe-blowing robbery and murder, contrasting flashy “modern” forensic showmanship with steady, common-sense policing. The likely topic is a staged crime exposed by a local constable who trusts character and clear observation over superficial clues.

In Mesa Flat, merchant Silas K. Mears raises the alarm: his safe has been blown, $10,000 in gold stolen, and clerk Ben Drake lies dead. A celebrated city detective, Big Bill Poindexter, storms in, dazzles the townsfolk with fingerprint talk, and pins the crime on bank cashier Dick Lamb, even “finding” stained overalls and a sack with stray gold coins. Calm constable Dad Anderson keeps his head: he notes the suspect prints on the safe are upside down from someone casually sitting atop it the day before, and the blast marks show dynamite was ignited inside an already opened safe, not blown from without. Reasoning that Mears staged the robbery to evade debts and killed Drake when the clerk surprised him, Dad stops Mears from fleeing, clears Lamb, and escorts the shaken family home—underscoring that what matters in detection runs deeper than skin. (This is an automatically generated summary.)