Temporary Guns

Three staccato shots startled the sleepy residents of Wade's Hill Road in London's Southgate district. The listeners, and all London, were even more startled to learn that the gunfire had killed unarmed* Police Constable Nat Edgar--the first bobby to be shot in metropolitan London in 26 years.

As he died, Constable Edgar mumbled a name. Scotland Yard went into high gear: it cancelled all leaves, issued extraordinary (and temporary) permission for sleuths to carry guns. Four days later, the Yard's men tracked down suspected Burglar Donald George Thomas in a boardinghouse, arrested him for the murder of Constable Edgar.

The day after, London's policemen put their unused guns away, calmly went back on duty, unarmed as usual.

* Besides Britain's, the only other unarmed European police are those of Norway and Sweden.

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