Nobody in the peaceful town of Butterfield had ever witnessed a crime more serious than someone stealing a garden hose.

Then, on a perfectly normal Tuesday morning, the impossible happened.

The mayor’s samosa disappeared.

Not an ordinary samosa.

The Golden Samosa.

It was the biggest, crispiest, most expensive samosa in the entire town.

It had been prepared for the annual Butterfield Food Festival and placed inside a glass box at exactly 10:00 a.m.

At 10:03 a.m., it was gone.

At 10:04 a.m., Mayor Pickles screamed.

At 10:05 a.m., everyone blamed the mayor.

And at 10:06 a.m., Detective Marvin Wobble arrived.

Marvin was twenty-eight years old.

He had never solved a real mystery.

He had once successfully found his missing sock.

Unfortunately, the sock was inside his shoe.

Still, Marvin considered himself a professional detective.

He entered the festival hall wearing a giant brown coat, sunglasses, and a hat that was three sizes too large.

He walked dramatically toward the crime scene.

He tripped over a chair.

Everyone stared.

Marvin stood up.

“Exactly as I planned.”

A little boy whispered,

“Did you fall?”

Marvin pointed at him.

“That is classified information.”

The boy nodded.

“Okay.”

Marvin examined the glass box.

The box was locked.

There was no broken glass.

No fingerprints.

No footprints.

No sign of forced entry.

Marvin scratched his chin.

“Interesting.”

His assistant, Mrs. Noodle, stood beside him.

She was sixty-four years old and had joined the detective agency because she thought it was a cooking class.

“What’s interesting?” she asked.

“The samosa is missing.”

“I noticed.”

Marvin nodded seriously.

“Excellent observation.”

Mrs. Noodle sighed.

---

Mayor Pickles marched toward them.

He was a short man with an enormous mustache.

“My Golden Samosa has been stolen!”

Marvin nodded.

“I understand.”

“It cost me twelve thousand dollars!”

Mrs. Noodle gasped.

“For a samosa?”

“Not just a samosa!”

The mayor pointed dramatically toward the empty glass box.

“It was a symbol of Butterfield!”

Marvin leaned toward Mrs. Noodle.

“What does that mean?”

“I have no idea.”

“Good.”

The mayor continued.

“Whoever stole it must be caught!”

Marvin stood proudly.

“Don’t worry, Mayor. Detective Marvin Wobble is on the case.”

“Are you actually a detective?”

“Absolutely.”

“Have you solved any cases?”

Marvin paused.

“Define solved.”

The mayor stared at him.

Marvin smiled.

“Exactly.”

---

There were four suspects.

The first was Chef Alfredo Crumble, the man who had cooked the samosa.

He was furious.

“I didn’t steal it!”

Marvin looked at him suspiciously.

“You cooked it.”

“Yes.”

“So you knew where it was.”

“Obviously!”

“Suspicious.”

Chef Alfredo threw his hands into the air.

“That’s how cooking works!”

Marvin wrote something in his notebook.

Mrs. Noodle looked over his shoulder.

He had written:

Chef: knows cooking. Very suspicious.

The second suspect was Professor Harold Biscuit, the town’s strangest scientist.

He wore three pairs of glasses.

Nobody knew why.

“I was conducting an experiment,” he said.

“What kind?”

“Can a potato sing?”

Marvin blinked.

“Can it?”

“No.”

“Then why did you try?”

“Science requires sacrifice.”

Mrs. Noodle whispered,

“He ate the potato.”

Professor Biscuit nodded.

“Scientific sacrifice.”

---

The third suspect was Mrs. Barbara Pudding, owner of the local bakery.

She had been arguing with the mayor for three weeks.

“Why?” Marvin asked.

“He refused to let me sell cupcakes at the festival.”

“Why?”

“Because he said cupcakes are too dangerous.”

Marvin stared at the mayor.

“Why are cupcakes dangerous?”

The mayor pointed at Mrs. Pudding.

“Look at her.”

Everyone looked.

She was holding a cupcake.

Marvin slowly stepped backward.

“She’s armed.”

Mrs. Pudding rolled her eyes.

---

The fourth suspect was Gary.

Gary was a pigeon.

He lived near the festival hall.

He was also the mayor’s biggest enemy.

Nobody knew why.

Gary simply hated the mayor.

Whenever the mayor walked past, Gary made an angry noise.

“COO!”

The mayor pointed at him.

“That bird is dangerous!”

Marvin crouched beside Gary.

“Where were you at 10:03?”

Gary stared at him.

“Cooh.”

Marvin nodded.

“I see.”

Mrs. Noodle looked confused.

“What did he say?”

“He has an alibi.”

“How?”

“He looked confident.”

---

Marvin gathered everyone together.

He placed a large map on the table.

“Someone in this room stole the Golden Samosa.”

Everyone gasped.

Except Gary.

Gary was eating bread.

Marvin pointed at him.

“You!”

Gary dropped the bread.

“COO!”

Marvin narrowed his eyes.

“Exactly.”

Mrs. Noodle whispered,

“What exactly?”

“I don’t know yet.”

---

Marvin examined the crime scene again.

He found a tiny yellow crumb on the floor.

He picked it up.

“Aha!”

Everyone leaned closer.

Marvin held it dramatically.

“We have evidence.”

Chef Alfredo looked at it.

“That’s turmeric.”

Marvin froze.

“Are you sure?”

“I am a chef.”

Marvin put the crumb in his pocket.

“Then you are definitely suspicious.”

Chef Alfredo groaned.

Suddenly, Mrs. Noodle screamed.

“LOOK!”

Everyone turned.

She was pointing at the ceiling.

A tiny piece of rope hung from a ceiling fan.

Marvin’s eyes widened.

“The thief came from above!”

Everyone looked up.

The ceiling fan began moving.

Very slowly.

Then faster.

Then extremely fast.

Marvin’s hat flew off.

“MY HAT!”

He jumped.

The fan threw his hat across the room.

It landed on the mayor’s head.

Everyone laughed.

Marvin looked furious.

“This is not funny!”

The mayor’s mustache was sticking through the hat.

Mrs. Noodle started laughing harder.

Even Gary seemed amused.

“COO!”

Marvin pointed at him.

“You stop laughing.”

Gary laughed again.

“COO COO COO!”

---

Suddenly, the lights went out.

Everyone screamed.

Someone shouted,

“THE THIEF!”

Another person shouted,

“THE GHOST!”

Someone else shouted,

“MY SHOES!”

Nobody knew why.

The lights came back on.

The Golden Samosa was still missing.

But now there was a note inside the glass box.

Marvin picked it up.

It said:

YOU WILL NEVER FIND ME.

Everyone gasped.

Marvin smiled.

Finally.

A real clue.

He turned the paper over.

There was another message.

P.S. I am hungry.

Marvin stared at it.

“This is the work of a genius.”

Mrs. Noodle frowned.

“Or someone who is hungry.”

Marvin ignored her.

He held the note dramatically.

“The investigation has begun.”

Outside the window, Gary watched silently.

Then he flew away.

With something golden in his beak.

Marvin didn’t notice.

Nobody noticed.

Except Mrs. Noodle.

She looked toward the window.

“Marvin.”

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

“What?”

“I think the pigeon knows something.”

Marvin laughed.

“A pigeon?”

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Noodle, we’re investigating a sophisticated criminal.”

She pointed at the window.

Gary was flying away.

Marvin stared.

Then his eyes widened.

“Wait.”

He ran outside.

“GET THAT PIGEON!”

Gary looked back.

“COO!”

And flew faster.

Marvin ran after him.

He immediately fell into a flowerpot.

The entire town watched.

Mrs. Noodle sighed.

“This is going to be a long investigation.”

And somewhere above Butterfield, Gary disappeared into the clouds.

Still carrying the Golden Samosa.

Or at least…

Something that looked exactly like it.

TO BE CONTINUED…