Subscribers to The Lewiston Tribune, the daily that serves a town of 31,000 in Idaho, did not need to be the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree to notice something odd on the front page Dec. 13.

On the top half of the front page was a photograph of a sign painter, Michael Millhouse, a big man wearing a blue-checked coat as he painted “Merry Christmas” on a store window. Directly below was a photograph from a convenience store’s surveillance camera of someone who took a wallet with $600 cash that a woman had left on the counter. The “unknown man,” as the caption described him, was a big guy wearing, yes, a blue-checked coat.

The next morning, the paper was flooded with calls from readers pointing out the similarity between Mr. Millhouse and the unidentified wallet pilferer.

Image Readers of The Lewiston Tribune, in Idaho, noticed a similarity between the sign painter and the suspect in two photographs. The police made the arrest.

According to Paul Emerson, managing editor of The Lewiston Tribune, employees noticed the matching photos near press time, but it was too late to reach Mr. Millhouse to seek an explanation.