Minute Mysteries [Detectograms]

In these accounts every fact, every clue necessary to the solution is given. The answer is in the story itself. You need look nowhere else but there. Each problem has only one possible solution.

Written in less than two hundred and sixty words, these little stories can be read in a minute.

Here is your chance to work on an absolute equality with the Professor; to match your wits with his and the criminal's. You know as much as the Professor does. Now you have an opportunity of proving just how good a detective you are and what poor detectives your friends are.

The author hopes you will find them as fascinating reading as they were in the telling by the Professor.

H. A. Ripley Foreword by Lewis E. Lawes vii Author's Preface ix It Stands to Reason! A New National Game xix 1. A Crack Shot 1 2. On the Scent 3 3. Fatal Error 5 4. The Poison Murder Case 7 5. A Strange 'Kidnaping' 9 6. A Valuable Formula 11 7. Strangled 13 8. Death in the Office 15 9. They Usually Forget Something 17 10. The Professor Gives a Lesson 19 11. Upstairs and Down 21 12. Class Day 23 13. A Hot Pursuit 25 14. A Question of Identity 27 15. A Yachtsman's Alibi 29 16. Murder at Coney Island 31 17. Too Clever 33 18. Bloody Murder 35 19. Death Back-Stage 37 20. An Easy Combination 39 21. A Modern Knight 41 22. The Jewel Robbery 43 23. Before the Coroner's Inquest 45 24. The Fifth Avenue Hold-Up 47 25. Behind Locked Doors 49 26. Lost at Sea 51 27. A Suave Gunman 53 28. Accidental Death 55 29. Easy Money 57 30. Robbery at High Noon 59 31. The Wrong Foot Forward 61 32. Death Attends the Party 63 33. No Way Out 65 34. Midnight Murder 67 35. Speakeasy Stick-Up 69 36. Behind Time 71 37. A Broken Engagement 73 38. The Holden Road Murder 75 39. Fisherman's Luck 77 40. The Unlucky Elephant 79 41. The Professor Listens 81 42. Ten-Fifteen 83 43. Rapid Transit 85 44. The Professor is Disappointed 87 45. A Dramatic Triumph 89 46. Murder at the Lake 91 47. The Professor Studies a Coat 93 48. Too Late 95 49. Sergeant Reynolds's Theory 97 50. Daylight Robbery 99 51. A Simple Solution 101 52. Who? 103 53. Murder in the Swamp 105 54. Death by Drowning 107 55. Tragedy at the Convention 109 56. A Murderer's Mistake 111 57. Babe Comes Through 113 58. A Soldier of Fortune 115 59. Number Twenty-Six 117 60. The Pullman Car Murder 121 61. Forgery 123 62. The Christmas Eve Tragedy 125 63. A Knight of the Bath 127 64. Murder in the First Degree 129 65. A Rendezvous with Death 131 66. A Rum Regatta 133 67. Who is the Heir? 135 68. The Professor Stops a Blunder 137 69. The Perfect Crime 139 70. The Professor Sees Through It 141 71. The Kidnapers' Cleverness 143 Solutions 145

IT STANDS TO REASON! A NEW NATIONAL GAME

Here is a fascinating game of wits for a party of any size. It can be played in either of two ways.

1. Select one or more stories from the Minute Mysteries that particularly appeal to you. Make as many copies of each as there are guests at the party. Then pass the copies around and allow three minutes, say, for your guests to study them. At the end of this time each must hand you a written solution, giving the line of reasoning which was used. You compare these with the solutions at the back of the book; the one who is most often correct is the winner.

2. Instead of making copies of each story, you may read it aloud, slowly and carefully. If any of the listeners so desire, it may be read a second time. But after this no questions may be asked.

After the period agreed upon has elapsed, each guest writes out his solution as in (1), and hands it to you for comparison with the book.

Method number 1 puts the emphasis on one's powers of reasoning and analysis; method number 2 adds to these a premium on an accurate memory.

MINUTE MYSTERIES

1 A Crack Shot

Professor Fordney was hunting in the Rockies when informed of a tragedy at one of the camps. Thinking he might be of some help, he went over, and, after introducing himself, Butler, the victim's companion, told him of the accident.

'When Marshall hadn't returned to camp at nine o'clock last night, I was a bit worried because he didn't know these mountains. There wasn't a star out and it was dark and moonless, so I decided to look around for him. We're five miles from anyone, you know.

'Putting more wood on the fire, I set out. After searching for an hour, I was coming up the slope of a ravine when I saw a pair of eyes shining out at me in the dark.

'Calling twice, and getting no answer, I fired, thinking it was a mountain lion. Imagine my horror when I reached the spot, struck a match, and saw I had nearly blown the head off Marshall. A terrible experience!

'I carried his body back to camp and then walked to the nearest house to report the accident.'

'How far from camp did you find Marshall?' asked Fordney.

'About a quarter of a mile.'

'I see your right hand is bandaged. How do you manage to shoot with it?'

'Oh, I use either hand.'

'Mind if I look at the gun?'

'Not at all,' said Butler, handing it over.

'H'm, European make, I see. Had it long?'

'No, it's rather new.'

'Why did you deliberately murder Marshall?' demanded Fordney abruptly... 'for that's what you did.'

How did the Professor know Butler had murdered his companion?

2 On the Scent

'I couldn't wait to be announced,' said George Collins, Florida's foremost prohibition agent, and a great wit, as he stepped into the Professor's office.

'How long are you going to be in New York?' asked Fordney, as the two friends shook hands.

'I'm due back in Miami now,' replied Collins, 'but I wanted to congratulate you on your success in the Hicks murder case. I wish interesting things like that would happen in my game. However, I did have an amusing experience last December.

'Sneaky Joe, a stool-pigeon, tipped me off to a huge still he said was working about forty miles from headquarters. A narrow road through dense woods led to the spot. Arriving there, I found an old dilapidated shanty screened by trees. As I entered the woods, I smelled alcohol. Sneaky Joe was right, after all, I thought, as I drove up to the shanty.

'I got out and peered cautiously around, but the place seemed deserted. After opening the door and entering the house, however, I knew liquor was not being made there. I searched the woods, but found nothing. As I was driving back along the road at a good rate, I discovered the alcohol I smelled was coming from my own radiator! Imagine my chagrin!'

The Professor laughed heartily and said to his friend, 'Stay over for my birthday party tonight, the ladies would love to hear that yarn of yours.'

What did the Professor find preposterous in Collins's story?

3 Fatal Error

'Crowley was an eccentric and taciturn old fellow, but I liked him,' remarked Fordney. 'When he was found dead last December, I took a personal interest in the case. Harold Bronson, his last known caller, had this to say of his visit:

'"After leaving word at my hotel where I might be reached if wanted, I arrived at Crowley's suburban estate shortly after five o'clock. I found him seated in the dusk at the end of his library table. Courteously enough for him, he waved me into a chair at the other end and invited me to dine with him at eight o'clock. Reaching for my cigarettes, I remembered that Crowley did not permit smoking.

'"His principal contributions to our discussion were his usual nods of approval, grunts, and monosyllables. Very sparing of words, was Mr. Crowley.

'"About seven o'clock the telephone rang and he asked me to answer it. It was my wife asking me to return at once to see an unexpected visitor. Finishing the conversation, I returned to my chair and, after I explained the call, Crowley nodded assent to my request to leave immediately.

'"On the way out, as the lights had not been turned on, I bumped my head, which explains this bruise. Just as I reached the door, he called after me—'See you tomorrow at ten.' He was certainly all right when I left him shortly after seven."

'Although Bronson's telephone alibi was later proved sound, he had hardly finished his story before I was convinced he was implicated,' concluded Fordney.

What directed suspicion to Bronson?

4 The Poison Murder Case

'I'm going to the theater now,' Bob Kewley told Professor Fordney at their club. 'I wish you'd spend the evening with Uncle John. He's been worried lately.'

Upon reaching the Kewley home an hour later, Fordney found the butler in an agitated state.

'After ordering coffee, Mr. Kewley locked himself in his library an hour ago, sir. When I rapped on the door just now, he didn't answer.'

The two men forced the lock and found John Kewley on the floor, an empty strychnine bottle at his side. The terrace door was open. After a careful examination, Fordney returned home. A few hours later, Bob Kewley entered his living-room.

'Thought I'd stop in on my way home. Don't you think Uncle John looks worried?'

'Your uncle, Bob, is dead. Strychnine. Your butler and I found him lying on the floor, but were too late to save him.'

'How horrible, Fordney! Why was the library door locked, do you suppose?'

'That puzzles me. Has your butler been with you long?'

'For years,' replied Bob, his head buried in his hands.

'Well, you're a wealthy man now.'

'What of it? Uncle John meant more to me than all the money in the world.'

'I wish I could believe that,' replied Fordney. 'You'll need a better alibi than those,' pointing to the ticket stubs Bob was nervously fingering.

How had Kewley aroused the Professor's suspicions?

5 A Strange 'Kidnaping'

'I haven't the faintest idea why I was kidnaped,' said Johnson to Professor Fordney, an hour after he returned home. 'I never miss Sunday evening services, you know, so I'm afraid I haven't much time to discuss it now.'

'Oh, just a brief account of your experience is all that is necessary,' remarked the Professor.

So Johnson proceeded.