Day Thirty-eight

Today's words:

Prison

Shelf

Cartridge

Map

Dictionary

Dragon

They locked down the prison

Last night, after a search turned up, on a shelf,

A gun cartridge

Full of bullets, along with a map

Of the building. There was also an English-Russian dictionary

And a statuette of a dragon,

But those are allowed. Still, they rankled the warden, a real dragon.

"Find out who in this prison

"Would have such a dictionary

"And who put it on that shelf.

"Also, who drew the map,

"And where the cartridge

"Came from." Good call - it turned out the cartridge

Belonged to one of the guards. No telling about the dragon,

But the map

Was clearly drawn by someone with knowledge of the prison.

Perhaps they had been placed on that shelf

By someone looking to frame the owner of the dictionary.

The owner of the dictionary

Stepped forward and claimed to know nothing about the cartridge

Or the other items on that shelf,

Including the dragon.

He hadn't been in prison

Long; it's unlikely he could have drawn the map.

Both are useful tools when traveling - a map

And a dictionary.

But in prison

No-one's going anywhere. And the presence of the cartridge

And the dragon

On that shelf

Just add to the mystery. A prisoner's life is on a shelf,

Removed from everyone else. No map

Will guide you and no dragon

Can free you. A dictionary

Won't help, and a cartridge

Without a gun won't get you out of prison.

So, found on a shelf: An English-Russian dictionary,

A map of the building, a guard's cartridge,

And a dragon. How will this get anyone out of prison?