When Stephen Mills of Fort McMurray brought his family to the Vermilion Heritage Museum during the May long weekend, he had no idea he held the key to a 40-year-old mystery.

At the museum was a 2,000-Lb. safe from the Brunswick Hotel—lowered into the basement, door closed, with no code. The manufacturer was contacted, as were previous owners.

Since the safe was donated to the museum, many people had tried cracking the combination lock over the years to find out what was inside.

Museum volunteer Tom Kibblewhite was giving the Mills’ family a tour when they came across the safe. He told them the story of how the giant safe had not been opened since the late 1970s because the code was forgotten.

“Tom was going on about the story of the safe and we were asking ‘What’s in it?’ and he said ‘well, nobody knows,’” said Mills. “Jokingly, I put my ear down to the combination lock.”

He started turning the knob a few times this way and that, keeping a few lucky numbers in mind, when it opened.

“Tom asked if I was a professional or something. I said ‘no, but I’m buying a lottery ticket tonight,’” Mills said. “When it opened, dust fell on the floor and everything. There was a few old notes in there—no gold bars, like I’d hoped.”

Kibblewhite said one of the papers inside was from a waitress’ order book and the other was a pay sheet for around $9.95. They were dated 1977 and 1978.

The safe was donated to the museum in the mid-1980s. When it was delivered, it was brought in through a window with a crane.

Though the contents of the safe were not valuable, the look on everyone’s faces were priceless.

“I had turned away—I was moving on and he went down on his knees in front of the safe. I was just totally slammed that he opened the door,” he said. “I asked him if he had a previous career as a safe-cracker but he told me ‘no, I’m a machinist.’”

jbenoit-leipert@postmedia.com