If you use the Sugar Daddy suggestion, it would probably be concluded that it was some kid's dirty trick which was what we figured at the time. If you don't like the Sugar Daddy, here's a second suggestion, culled from life experience. You don't need to damage the alternator or the electrical system. If someone were to simply cut and remove the alternator belt, the battery doesn't recharge. It will start all right, but after while the battery discharges and the engine dies. If you look under the hood, you discover the alternator belt gone. The conclusion would most likely be that it broke -- and with it gone, there is no evidence that there was any human agency involved.
I used that particular idea in Four Days to Nightfall. I know it works because it happened to me.
Nan
