An innocent looking screwdriver, a trapdoor, and a cocky note to the police. Elements of the latest mystery bestseller? No, clues that led to this week's arrest of three Carnegie-Mellon University students who allegedly stole over $100,000 worth of memory chips and computer equipment from the university.

The students charged are: Stephen May, 20, a sophomore from Holmdel, NJ; James Wang, 20, a junior from Sewell, NJ; and Aravind Asok, 17, a freshman from Wayne, PA.

The most recent theft, on Friday Feb. 16, played out like an old-style detective movie. According to police, May hid beneath a trapdoor in the computer center in CMU's Wean Hall until the center was closed. Then, he allegedly emerged to steal 47 modules from the 90 personal computers in the center. Later that night, May was chased in Wean Hall by Officer Paul Helffrich. Although May escaped Officer Helffrich, two custodians got a good look at him and discovered a small screwdriver bearing an 800 phone number.

Within the next few days, police pieced together several clues to identify May as one of the suspects. May had worked for CMU's Computing Services, knew about the campus security alarms, matched the description of Officer Helffrich and others, and was linked to the screwdriver. (May had worked for a security alarm firm associated with the company listed on the screwdriver.)

Another damaging piece of evidence came directly from May himself. On Tuesday, the CMU police chief received a mocking letter about the crime from a "Mystery Thief". Although the letter was typed, the writer had surprisingly handwritten the envelope address. The handwriting on the envelope matched May's. Also, security industry jargon was used in the letter.

Late Tuesday, May went to campus police, admitted his involvement and implicated Asok and Wang. District Justice Robert E. Tucker charged May and Wang with theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. May was also charged with criminal trespass and Wang with burglary. Asok, a minor, will be charged in juvenile court.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tucker noted an ironic twist to the fates of the three suspected computer thieves. "You'll be entered onto the computers for the rest of your life," Tucker told them. "Whether you are acquitted or not, it doesn't matter to the computers."

The suspects are also charged with two September burglaries at CMU which involved memory chips and equipment worth $87,000.