The Case of the Triangular Book: Chapter 1: The Case

  Alex Sampson is great at solving mysteries.  Last year, someone stole a gold bracelet from a friend of his.  The thief was very clumsy and left behind a butter knife.  Alex took the knife to the maker and the knife maker said he sold the knife to a man named John Ringhorn.  Alex went to the Ringhorn's house and found the bracelet on his dresser.  Ringhorn was thrown in jail and Alex's friend got her bracelet back.  After that incident, Alex opened the Alex Sampson Detective Agency.  He has had many cases since then, and all were successfully solved.

   I have known Alex for many years.  He is very humorous.  He can be so funny that I lose track of what I am doing.  We hadn't been on a good case in awhile.  Our last case had been about finding some stolen flower bulbs.  It turned out that the bulbs were two cabinets over from where the man had left them.  Then we got lucky.  The owners of Fare Well Estate came to the Alex Sampson Detective Agency.  They looked very worried about something.  The Sarquets had never had anyone break into Fare Well because they had the highest of high security in all of Virginia.

   Alex looked up from behind the desk where he was sitting and said, "What a lovely surprise!  Not in a million years would I have expected to see such wonderful clients.  I would be honored to assist you.  What case do you need me to solve?"   Ms. Sarquet was the first to speak.  "Last night, I awoke to find that someone was sticking a knife in our lock to our private library.  I sleepily tried to pinch myself and I must have missed because I didn't feel a thing.  Very tired, I went back to sleep."  Mr. Sarquet added, "I awoke about an hour later to a loud crash coming from our library.  My wife Lura here was already sitting on the bed.  We clambered out and rushed to the library.  One of the book shelves was overturned and shattered, books littered the floor,and there was no glass in one panel of the skylight.  The knife she told you about earlier was near the entrance, and a man with a triangular book poking out of his backpack was disappearing through the skylight.  I suddenly realized that the book that the man had stolen was an heirloom that had been passed down through the family for generations.  The book was called The Castle Under the House.  Can you come over tomorrow to investigate?"

   "Should my assistant Harrison and I come over at 11:00 tomorrow morning?"  Alex asked.  "Yes, that would be perfect.  Hampton and I will meet you at the house at 11:00.  Remember, Fare Well is at the top of Glen Hill.  Bye!,"  Lura Sarquet said as she and her husband, Hampton, left.  "Harrison, why don't we get some sleep?  It's very late," Alex said to me.  "Okay," I said. "Bye!"

   The next day we drove our car out to Fare Well and rang the door bell.  We entered and the Sarquest ushered us to the library where we examined the damage.  It was as they told us:  books and things everywhere.  We put on some gloves, cleared a table, and got to work.  We picked up the knife and laid it on the table cautiously.  The knife was gorgeous. The hilt was gold and the blade was ruby.  It was more a dagger than a knife.  We dusted the dagger with dust that sticks to fingerprints.  There were none.  The robber must have used gloves.  To my astonishment, Alex picked  it up and swung it at a book on the floor.  The book sliced cleanly in half.  Then he threw it at the stone wall.  The blade went right into the wall and stuck there.  Then Alex swung the flat side of the knife right at the table.  The ruby dagger gave a slight ping and showed no sign of damage at all.  "Harrison," Alex said to me, "Hold onto this.  There's something very odd going on.  Next let's check out that skylight."

   We were on the roof in no time, examining the skylight.  The dagger was in my pocket, wrapped in paper so that it didn't poke me.  Alex had gloves on his hands as he put his head into the hole and kept himself from falling by holding onto the glass.  I walked to the edge of the roof and was looking at the pool near the side of the house two stories below.  It was a very hot summer day and I was starting to think about walking down to the pool to go for a swim.  Suddenly Alex yelled, "Oh my gosh!  This glass was melted!"  I turned to face him, but suddenly Alex lost his grip on the glass and fell head first through the hole. I started to run towards the hole, but I tripped on a triangular object and sent it skidding through the hole with Alex.  I fell backwards off the roof.  I plummeted toward the brick patio and toward my grave...