Saturday's New York Times covers the Valley restaurant robbery spree and adds some details I hadn't picked up on before. There's a rumor on the street that the "ski mask bandits" are ex-cops, says Valley Inn owner Sophia Brodetsky: “They used very short sentences, were very on top of what they were doing and had this whole intimidation routine.” Tom Monteleone of Barone's noticed that his robbers kept their fingers on their guns' safeties, not the triggers. "They were very, very calm. There was no shaking, no range even, in their voices," he said. Christopher Bates has had the bad luck to be in two of the robberies, including the heist this month at the Valley Inn, and also noted the calmness of the bad guys: "It doesn’t feel like just a bunch of druggies to me.”

“Anything’s possible,” Sergeant Sands said. “We don’t know who these people are. Sometimes people who are organized may have had some prior training, but there are police magazines that show the movements, too.”

Wearing ski masks and sometimes two sets of clothes, the robbers enter restaurants at closing time and order everyone to the floor. One robber presses his gun against the cheek of the bartender, while the other brandishes a rifle for the cashier.

Within three minutes, it is all over; the till is cleaned, and the safe, too. Sometimes, they take the money and watches of any customers unfortunate enough to have lingered until closing time.

From last year: Reward in Valley robberies

Cropped photo of The Valley Inn: New York Times/J. Emilio Flores