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A donated library book hides a surprise

A book donated by a patron to an Indiana library concealed a .31-caliber powder gun hidden between its covers.

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John L Hendricks/The Times/AP
A statue of Orville Redenbacher sits in the city of Valparaiso, Ind.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

A worker at the Valparaiso Public Library in Indiana made a surprising discovery inside a book that had recently been donated.

Assistant library director Phyllis Nelson said that someone opened the book and discovered that it had been hollowed out and concealed a handgun inside.

“Somebody just opened it up and said, 'Oh my,’” Nelson told The Times of Northwest Indiana.

The book was titled “Outerbridge Reach,” and the gun was gold with a handle made out of wood. It was A.S.M. brand and a single shot black powder gun, .31-caliber.

Nelson told police what had happened, and the gun is currently held by police as evidence. The police force stated that it did not appear that the weapon had been stolen.

The assistant library director said that no records are kept as to who has donated what library books, so no one knows who dropped off the gun inside the book.

Nelson said that, oddly enough, she’d heard a story about a gun being dropped off inside a book at the Valparaiso Public Library before she started working there.

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