Case of the Accidental Drowning

I was not quite sure as to why I was being called down to investigate an accidental drowning at Sandyside River but fortunately, it was a sunny day and I could not think of a better place to be. Who knows, maybe once I was done, I would get a little fishing in.

When I arrived, there were a few police officers and a small gathering of onlookers. Two of the officers were standing on the public docks talking to what looked like an extremely well tanned gentleman who was wearing a bathing suit. Next to them in the water was a canoe that looked like it had seen better days.

After approaching the trio, I introduced myself to the tanned fellow, who was looking very upset, and asked him what had happened. [Read More ...]

Case of Thirty Minutes or Less

Detective Nose arrived bleary-eyed at the scene, having been roused from bed at two o’clock in the morning. And for what? Sarah Tandy, A pizza delivery girl, had been robbed. Even though the thief had gotten away with almost $800, this wasn’t exactly the crime of the century.

The reason for the late night call soon became apparent, however. It turns out Sarah was the daughter of a friend of the Captain.

Detective Nose sighed. Hopefully this wouldn’t take long.

“So, can you tell me what happened?” Nose started off.

The petite girl was visibly upset. “Y-y-yes. I had just finished making my last stop, a delivery of 30 pizzas to a late night party. I was getting into my car and was starting to drive away when a man knocked on my car door. I thought he was from the party, but when I rolled down my window, he stuck a gun in my face and asked me for all my money. I was so upset I couldn’t even drive back to the store.” Read more

Case of a One Handed Accident

The coroner said his death was accidental but I have my suspicions — I just can’t prove anything.”

Detective Nose stood inside the secluded cabin with the deceased’s brother. The cabin consisted only of two small rooms. It was very spacious with the antique kitchen being the highlight. It had an old wood burning stove and hand carved cabinets. On the blue stained counters sat, some food including some freshly opened canned goods, some apples, a few dirty dishes and a handheld can opener. The common area was small with a couch and a table. The second room was tucked away in the back. In it there was a single bed covered with an exquisite handmade quilt and a plain brown desk. The deceased’s body had been removed just a short hour ago. [Read More ...]

The Case of It’s a Dog’s Life

So how are you finding our British weather?” enquired Constable Howard.

Detective Nose searched for something positive to say but came up blank – there had been nothing but gray drizzle since he arrived! And now, although he was supposed to be on holiday, his friend was taking him on a work trip to the scene of a death – as if Detective Nose didn’t see enough of them back home.

Luckily he was saved from having to answer as the Constable suddenly braked hard and swerved the police car into a gravel drive. “Jolly good, here we are,” he said happily. [Read More ...]

Case Of The Tough Break

Detective Nose once again arrived at the jewelery store, a route he has become rather familiar with for all the wrong reasons. The previous owner of the store, having being arrested for committing fraud, left the management of the store to his son. It was the store owner’s son that called Detective Nose into the store.

“Detective Nose”, said the young man, “I know that my father hasn’t been an honest person, but I assure you that I am trying to make amends for his tainted reputation.” Detective Nose examined the young man closely. Neatly and smartly dressed in a navy blue suit and matching striped tie, the young man was a stark contrast to his father, and looked every bit as refined and educated as a young person could hope to be. [Read More ...]

Case of the Missing Rings

Detective Nose entered the dark cottage and spied the distraught woman Ms. Lloyd sitting on her sofa by candle light. A uniformed Officer passed by and assured Nose that they would have the power on in an instant. Detective Nose then approached the woman and asked for her story.

“I was watching an old movie when the lights suddenly went out. Just then, I heard some strange noises coming from the bedroom. I got up to investigate when all of a sudden someone came flying out of the bedroom in such a rush that they knocked me down. Although I did not get a look at the offender, I did hear them open the front door and run out.. At this point, I crawled over to my desk and picked up my phone to call you people. When I got off the phone I lit some candles and checked the bedroom, that’s when I saw that my diamond rings were missing.” [Read More ...]

The Case of the Missing Paper

As I stood over Mr. Wentworth, lying on his desk, I asked the butler, Mr. Tanner what had happened.

“Well I was locking the front door when I first heard the voices from the library. I was surprised because I didn’t know that Mr. Wentworth had a visitor but just as I approached the library door …” [Read More...]

The Case Of The Convenience Store Robbery

Thank heavens you’re here!” exclaimed 17 year old Robbie, the clerk at the little corner convenience store where I often buy my morning coffee. I’d ducked in out of the rain to grab a coffee and muffin on my way to meet my niece Crystal before school. She always called on me to help when she had problems, and this one was a pretty small one – she needed to borrow $5 for a class trip.

The little store was warm and cozy despite the driving rain outside, and I was pleased to note that Robbie was obviously doing a good job of keeping the place neat and tidy. The floor was spotless, and all the shelves were neatly arranged. [Read More ...]

Just a Glaring Error – Difficulty Easy to Medium

Detective Nose had just wrapped up a case in the upper town district of Trenton and since he was in the area decided to stop by and pay his friend Dr. Dean Lamar a visit at the museum. Dr. Dean was the director in charge at the museum and had been so for the past five years. By all accounts, he was doing a fantastic job.

When Nose arrived at his friend’s office, he saw that he was in the middle of looking over some résumés. [Read More ...]

Case of the Story Telling Uncle

The family reunion was already well underway by the time Detective Nose arrived. He hadn’t intended to be late but these things happen when you work for the police force. His older sister’s house was near to bursting with all the relatives mulling around exchanging news and photos. He chatted with various relatives before seeking the quiet of his brother-in-law’s study.

He wasn’t all that surprised to discover that the study was already occupied by two of his nephews and his Uncle. His Uncle Albert was seated in the big armchair engaged in one of his favourite pastimes; telling stories about the good old days. His two nephews appeared totally engrossed in the story. They were so caught up that they failed to even notice the Detective enter. Not wanting to interrupt, the Detective quietly walked over to the big oak desk to look at the old family photos.

His sister had brought out numerous old photo albums for the reunion. He picked one up and began to leaf through it. The Detective chuckled quietly at a picture of his Aunt Martha and Uncle Albert. They must have been in their early teens. Aunt Martha was in a very small bikini and Uncle Albert looked like quite the bookworm, all skin and bones and wearing an extremely thick pair of horn rimmed glasses.

As the Detective stood there flipping through the photos he couldn’t help but over hear what his Uncle was saying.

“Boys, you wouldn’t believe how bright the sky is when you are soaring thousands of feet in the air. And the speed at which we flew. Believe me — our show was quite spectacular, full of really difficult precision moves. My favourite was when we’d fly in a star formation and then suddenly half of us would go into a sharp dive, and the other half would shoot straight up to over a thousand feet. Some days we were so close to one another that you could almost touch the other planes as they went by.” As he spoke Uncle Albert used his hands to show the boys exactly what each group of planes were doing. He moved so quickly that his glasses almost fell off his nose!

“Wow! Uncle, that must have been cool. Where did you guys fly?”

“Well, we did shows all over the world. One of our best shows was in Paris…..”

Just then the door to the study opened and Aunt Martha poked her head in, “Boys your mother is looking for you. She wants you to come and have something to eat.”

“Do we have to right now? Uncle was just about to tell us all about the cool air show in Paris.”

“Sorry boys, you can hear more later.”

After the boys had left the room Detective Nose grabbed a seat on the now empty couch and spoke to his Uncle.

“Well, Uncle Albert that was quite the interesting story you were telling the boys. You have a great imagination.”

Why didn’t Detective Nose believe his Uncle’s story?

More Two Minute Mysteries