A Collection of Short Mystery Stories

A Case of Trust

Characters:

• Miller: The police chief
• John Baker: The detective seeking a promotion
• William Cranberry: The victim of a theft
• Madame Eve: A clairvoyant
• Butter: The butler

Detective John Baker is determined to solve a difficult case and earn a promotion. Meanwhile, William Cranberry visits a library and finds a peculiar recipe in a book. Later, at a pawnshop, he discovers a card that piques his curiosity, leading him to Madame Eve, a clairvoyant.

Cranberry's business is struggling, so he follows Madame Eve's advice and places a valuable necklace in his mother's grave for three days. Upon his return, the necklace is gone! Baker's investigation reveals that Cranberry's butler, in cahoots with Madame Eve, has stolen the necklace. Baker successfully solves the case, and Miller, impressed by his work, grants him the promotion.

The Penfriend

Characters:

• Trudy: A troubled teenager
• Susan: An abused grandmother
• Maggie: A social worker

Trudy, yearning for freedom and tired of her controlling parents, finds solace in writing to a penfriend named Susan. Through their letters, Susan reveals her own struggles: isolation, verbal abuse, and confinement to her bedroom.

Trudy's mother discovers the letters and, concerned about Susan's well-being, contacts her friend Maggie, a social worker. Maggie intervenes, rescuing Susan from her abusive home and ensuring her safety and well-being.

The Big Mistake

Characters:

• Ian James: The nephew
• Uncle Patrick: Ian's uncle

Ian James arrives at what he believes to be his Uncle Patrick's seaside house, left vacant while his uncle is in France. Finding the key under the doormat as instructed, Ian enjoys a meal from the stocked fridge and retires to bed, exhausted from his journey.

Awoken by noises downstairs, Ian discovers a smashed window and confronts two intruders. A struggle ensues, and the police are called. To Ian's shock, the police mistake him for the burglar! It turns out that Ian has made a grave error – he is at the wrong house!

Marge and Olive

Characters:

• Marge: A kind woman
• Olive: Marge's ill-tempered sister
• Alfred: Marge's boyfriend

Marge lives in fear of her bad-tempered sister, Olive, who controls her life. When Marge finds love with Alfred, Olive forbids their relationship. Undeterred, Marge and Alfred begin exchanging secret letters.

To avoid Olive's wrath, Alfred devises a plan. Knowing Olive reads Marge's mail, he plants a story about poison in Olive's food within one of his letters. Olive, already suffering from angina, reads the letter and suffers a fatal heart attack, convinced she has been poisoned. The truth, however, is that there was no poison, only powdered milk.

Simpson's Buried Treasure

Characters:

• Nicholas: A resourceful boy
• Buster: A bully
• Lewis and Driscoll: Buster's friends
• Miss Simpson: The garden owner

Nicholas encounters the bully Buster and his cronies, who demand to know what's on the piece of paper in his hand. Nicholas cleverly tells them it's a treasure map of Simpson's garden.

Intrigued, the bullies set off to find the treasure, with Nicholas secretly following. They dig and rake, tearing up the garden in their futile search. As rain begins to fall, they give up and leave. Miss Simpson, the garden's owner, arrives and, mistaking the destruction for Nicholas's work, pays him handsomely for preparing her rose bushes!

A Strange Case

: detective de policia/ mr. Perch: señor asesinado/ Marshall: compañero del detective que es el que mata al Sr. Perch. Mr. Perch went to the pólice station and told to pólice detective that he was going to be murdered. Detective thought he was senile, but after that, Mr. Perch was murdered. Mr Perch had showed police detective a wad, on his pocket, before he left police station. Police detective´s partner, called Marshall, wanted to investigate this case, but only because he was on troubles, he had lost a lot of money, and that is he need Mr. Perch´s money, so Marshall killed Mr. Perch.