A BEARTOWN MYSTERY
Last month was time for Mrs. Van Loften's
annual grand party. The eccentric lady always invited the
Constable both for security and entertainment. Every year
she would relate an experience which concluded in a
mystery and would ask the Constable for his solution.
My childhood playmate, Arnold Hamilton, ran away from
home when he was fourteen, she began. "For years he
lived from odd jobs. But in 1958 he settled in Michigan
and made millions in copper.
"Unfortunately Arnold never married. On his
dearthbed he summoned his faithful housekeeper and handed
her a fat envelope containing cash, deeds, and securities.
"His parents had passed away a decade earlier.
Arnold's only living kin was a brother. 'Give this
envelope to my brother, Adam,' the dying man instructed
the housekeeper.
"The poor, distracted woman had never seen Adam in
her life. Her only clue was a faded photoghaph set in a
double frame with one of Arnold. Unfortunately, the
pictures were taken when both boys were only eight.
"Moreover, the only clue to Adam's whereabouts was a
letter postmarked several months before from Buffalo, New
York. It contained no return address.
"The housekeeper traveled to Buffalo and advertised
the purpose of her visit. Soon over a hundred aged men
were assembled at her hotel all claiming to be the heir.
"Although she had never seen Adam and knew nothing
about him, she was easily able to pick him out from the
group of imposters!"
"My dear Mrs. Van Loftens, to what ends will you go
to stump an old Constable?" said the Beartown
Constable with a reproachful sigh. "The answer is
elementary."
How did the housekeeper know Adam?
Check the next issue of Beartown
News for the answer.
LAST ISSUE'S SOLUTION: Mrs. Lilly's
presence at the only window
where she could substantiate Mrs. Goodman's claim was
obviously part of a plot to collect the insurance money.
The Constable realized other women would instantly see
through this. No woman receiving her first mink coat
would ever put it directly into storage. She would try it
on and purr over it.
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