"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" (Sherlock Holmes).
In 1973, I was locked in my cell and the door was bolted as per normal at 8pm. The next morning at 6 o'clock when the night staff made their final roll count before the arrival of the day shift it was discovered that I was not in the cell. The alarm was sounded and a security inspection revealed that no cell bars had been cut or removed, and that no bricks had been removed from the walls. The ceiling and floor were likewise undamaged. The lock and bolt on the cell door had not been tampered with. This posed a mystery for the prison authorities. There was no collusion with the night staff letting me out of the cell.
A search of the prison was made and I was nowhere to be found. The grounds were searched, too, and no ladder or rope or any other escape equipment was found either inside or outside of the prison.
Unfortunately, my bid for freedom did not last long. Modern technology had developed and it was just my bad luck that the first police car I saw had computer equipment fitted which produced a photograph of me for the police officers. They returned me back to the prison. I was physically examined by the doctor and he stated that I was not rubber boned nor double jointed and that it was impossible that I could have squeezed between the cell bars.
Q 1: How did I get out of the cell?
Q 2: How did I manage to walk out of the prison?
Additional information. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones once spent two nights in this prison. Francis Behan is recorded in the index of prisoners who have stayed there, better known as Brendan Behan the author of The Borstal Boy. Another distinguished visitor to the prison was The Forsyte Saga author John Galsworthy. No prizes for naming the prison.
UPDATE: Link.
