If you patiently read this latest real-news item in entirety, you may have the satisfaction of having read a mini Perry Mason novel.

"A borrowed cell phone, a cryptic question, a lawyer who unwittingly gave a man directions to a bank that was later held up and cooperation from several people led authorities to a man accused of robbing a motel and a bank, according to law enforcement reports.
It started back on Oct. 26 after a night clerk at Red Roof Inn at 5 Regency Parkway on Hilton Head Island was robbed.

The employee had let a man into the locked lobby when he called about 5 a.m., saying he needed to rent a room. He showed up about 15 minutes later and once inside the hotel lobby, he pointed a handgun at the clerk and made off with $50 from the cash register.

At about 10 a.m. that same morning, Samuel Ervin Jr., 42, came home to an Oceanwalk Villas condo and returned a cell phone he had borrowed from his roommate, according to two Beaufort County Sheriff"s reports released Sunday.

 Ervin told his roommate he was also on his way to the bank that morning to cash a check and would return with rent money he owed him, sheriff"s reports state.

About 11 a.m., a lone robber walked into the Regions Bank on Pope Avenue and presented a teller with a note demanding cash in "10"s and 20"s only." She complied, handing over about $500 in cash. He then asked for the note back and left.

Ervin came home the following morning without the rent money. So, his roommate asked him to move out. As Ervin packed his belongings, he asked the roommate if he had read the newspaper, which had published a security camera photograph of the robber, who was not wearing a mask.

 The roommate had in fact read The Island Packet that morning, but said he hadn"t, hoping to get Ervin to talk about the robbery, the reports said. Ervin said he would explain later and left.

Two days passed.

The property manager of Ocean-walk Villas --who was also an acquaintance of the roommate -- called investigators and set up a meeting between detectives and the roommate. Security footage from the condo complex showed Ervin returning home in clothing that matched the description of what the suspect was wearing at the motel robbery.

On Halloween, the roommate met with investigators. He turned over his cell phone, which showed a call to the motel that was made about 15 minutes before it was robbed, a report said.

That same day, a photo lineup was given to the motel clerk. She couldn"t identify the motel robber.

But two other people who saw the bank robber made a positive identification.

Moments before the bank heist, a man fitting the description of the suspect mistakenly entered the law offices of Jones, Patterson, Simpson & Newton P.A. -- Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton"s law firm -- which is located next to the Regions Bank. A lawyer at the firm unwittingly gave the suspect directions to the bank.

A receptionist at the law office and the teller who was robbed picked Ervin"s photograph out of the lineup, according to a report.

Ervin turned himself in three days later and the Sheriff"s Office says he confessed to both crimes.

Without the help of the public, one or both the cases could very well be stagnant, according to authorities.

"The information we got was crucial, not only in helping us with the bank robbery, but also in giving us a direction to go on in regards to the Red Roof Inn case," said Cpl. Robin McIntosh, spokeswoman for the Beaufort County Sheriff"s Office. "That"s how (investigators) were able to get the two connected."

The investigation was a joint effort with the FBI, one that moved quickly once people began stepping forward.

"We got a bunch of information, we connected it and bang," said FBI special agent Dave Calore.

Ervin -- who has prior convictions for instigating a riot, drug possession, criminal domestic violence and a slew of traffic charges --was charged with armed robbery, federal bank robbery and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime. He could face 60 years if convicted on all charges.

He remains in the Beaufort County Detention Center, and will eventually be transferred to a federal prison to await trial."

What really surprised me was the willingness of so many of the public (who had information about the robber) to come forward and testify even though the magnitude of the robbery was not significant. Will it happen in India with the attendant red tapism and resultant harassment of the witnesses at the hands of the police as well as the defending advocates?