Question 1 (30 minutes suggested). Norman Mailor ran a small mailing shop in a commerical building he owned in the State of Anticipation. The shop provided packing and mailing services, UPS pickup and delivery, and the like. Norman's pride and joy was his new Automailer, a $10,000 machine that automatically weighed, wrapped, and labeled packages without any manual handling.

Norman decided to attend the international mail conference in Geneva (that's Geneva,, Arkansas). He expected to be out of town for a week, and did not trust his employees (who were law students working part-time) to handle the Automailer without supervision. So he visited his neighbor, Bob Bailey, who operated a machine shop in a building next door to Norman's. Norman asked Bob if he could store the Automailer in the back of Bob's shop while he was out of town. Bob readily agreed, and Norman placed the machine in an unused area in the back of Bob's shop before leaving town. They entered into no written agreement on the subject.

After Norman left town, Bob (who had always been intrigued by innovative machines) decided to try out the Automailer. He placed it on a bench near the front of the shop. He needed to ship some metal components to other companies, so he placed them in the Automailer, actuated the appropriate controls, and the machine packaged and labeled them without any problem. He left the Automailer sitting on the bench.

Later that week, a customer named Della Veri came into Bob's shop to pick up a high-speed torque converter that Bob had manufactured for her. Bob was out of the shop at the time, and his employee, who assisted Della, was completly unfamiliar with the torque converter. He asked Della if she saw the item she was looking for. Della pointed out the Automailer and said "Yeah, I guess that's it." The employee gave it to her. She took it without comment further and left the shop.

When Norman returned from his trip, he came to Bob's shop to pick up the Automailer. To his horror, he discovered that it was missing. All efforts to contact Della and secure the return of the Automailer have failed; she has apparently disappeared, leaving no forwarding address. Norman is furious with Bob and has asked you whether he can hold Bob liable for the cost of a replacement Automailer. Please answer, analyzing all relevant legal issues.