Author never dreamed fictional con would become a reality
Author Neil Gaiman says he’s looking forward to police solving the case of a fake armoured car guard who conned 48 businesses at a Winnipeg shopping centre out of their day’s receipts.
Police believe a novel by Gaiman, a popular fantasy writer, may have inspired the Aug. 30 Winnipeg sting, in which a man posed as a friendly armoured car guard, complete with bogus uniform and truck, to rip off the businesses. The thief apparently broke a key in the lock of the genuine deposit box so it wouldn’t work, then provided a fake box with Royal Bank decals, into which he collected more than $40,000 in cash.
“I am fascinated by this,” the award-winning British-born author said in a telephone interview Thursday.
“When I wrote it, never in my wildest dreams did I think anybody would do this.
“I’d love to know how he got his idea,” he added. “I can tell you, though, I don’t plan to write any more books about confidence men.”