"Empty the cash register into a plastic bag and slide it across the counter," says the tall, slender man in the long coat. "Do exactly what I tell you and nobody gets hurt."

The clerk does exactly as he’s told. The robber looks really weird and the clerk isn’t going to do anything that might set him off. Seconds after the guy leaves the store the clerk dials 911.

Investigators start putting the pieces together. This is the 10th robbery in a week by what appears to be the same suspect. All of the robbery victims are in small stores in strip shopping centers out in the suburbs. All 10 of the victims describe the suspect in more or less the same way:

"The guy is about six feet tall, thin build, wearing a white shirt, black pants and a long dark dress coat. He has a neatly trimmed beard but no mustache. There’s a mole on one of his cheeks. One more thing, he wears an old fashioned stovepipe hat. You could say he looks like Abraham Lincoln."

Police start checking and, sure enough, there are lots of people in the crime scene areas that have seen what the cops are calling "Dishonest Abe" around the neighborhood.

Police intensify their investigation until several days later one of the victims comes into a police station asking to see a detective.

"I’ve been thinking," he says, "you guys are looking for a man who looks like Abe Lincoln, right?"

The detective nods, "Yes."

The man continues, "The guy you’re hunting for looks so much like Abe Lincoln that I forgot to tell you an important detail - and from what I’ve read in the newspapers, everybody else forgot to mention it too."

"And what might that be?" the detective asks.

Looking a little sheepish, the clerk answers: "This particular Abe Lincoln is a black guy."