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On the first day of vacation, which had fallen on a Saturday, Matt Perry awoke to the sunlight coming through his window.
All week had been warm as Spring turned into Summer. The weatherman stated today would be a real scorcher.
Matt got dressed and walked to the kitchen to eat breakfast. His wife, Muriel, sat at the table. She was drinking coffee and reading the morning paper.
“What’s up, sleepyhead?” she asked, glancing up from the paper.
Matt wiped some sleep from his eyes. “Trying to make up for lost time.” His stomach rumbled loudly.
“Someone’s hungry,” Muriel said. She set the paper down. “Would you like me to make you some eggs and toast?”
He pulled a chair out from the table and sat. “That would be lovely.
After making his breakfast, she brought him his plate and joined him back at the table.
She picked up the paper and flipped the page. “Hmm. This is interesting.”
“What?” Matt asked, with his mouth full of eggs. He swallowed and chased it down with some orange juice.
Muriel glanced over the paper at him. He knew she didn’t like it when he talked with his mouth full of food. He half expected her to say something. Instead, she said, “Someone left a pair of stinky shoes at the courthouse with a note that read, Justice Stinks.”
“Did the police find out who did it?”
“Not yet. But the story goes on to say the note might have fingerprints, which could identify the criminal.”
Matt wasn’t sure a crime had actually taken place, except maybe littering because they left a pair stinky shoes behind. But he wanted to know more.
“What else does the story say, Hon?”
“The police interviewed four people who were convicted of various crimes last week.
“The first was a businessman who trampled a newly fertilized flower garden. He was fined fifty dollars.
“A jogger was convicted of running across a busy intersection last week. Because he didn’t use the crosswalk, two cars got into a fender bender. No one was injured in either vehicle. The jogger was sent to jail for ten days.
“A man in a wheelchair was found guilty of littering in the park. His lawyer pleaded for leniency. The judge took this under advisement and issued the man in the wheelchair a stern warning.
“The fourth was Baggy Britches the Clown who tripped a kid waiting in line to have a balloon made into an animal. The kid scraped his knee. The judge ordered the Baggy Britches to make the child a balloon giraffe.”
Matt thought about each of the crimes and wondered which of them left the stinky shoes along with the note.
Matt smiled. “I know who did it.”
Did you solve the case too? If not, turn to the next page to find out how Matt Perry solved the case.
Hint: That’ll be a fifty-dollar fine.
The jogger was still in jail so he couldn’t have left the shoes. The man in the wheelchair received a stern warning and the clown had to make a balloon animal.
This leaves the businessman, who was fined fifty dollars for trampling a newly fertilized flower garden. Fertilizer stinks which would have made the shoes smelly.
Acknowledgments
No writer can complete a book on their own without getting some help. I’m truly humbled by everyone who helped turn my idea Couch Detective into a reality.
The Panhandle Writers Group provides much needed feedback every Thursday. My editor, who wishes to remain anonymous continues to teach me. Also, my beta readers, Jane McFarland, and Helen Hall. You continue to keep me honest.
My wife is my biggest supporter and inspiration for all my projects. Without her, writing would be a dream, not a reality.
Finally, I’d like to thank you, the reader. I hope you enjoyed solving the cases and earning your title as Couch Detective. But if you didn’t solve all of them before the end of each chapter, no worries. The next installment of Couch Detective is in the works.
About the Author
James Glass achieved the rank of Command Master Chief before retiring after 22 years in the United States Navy.
After retiring from the Navy, he exchanged his rifle for a pen. He and his family moved back to Florida.
James is also the President of the Panhandle Writers Group.
Checkout his website at www.jamescglass.com and discover his other books.