Wendell Walsh has a sabbatical. He teaches Logic and the Scientific Method at Flintlock University and believes he can apply his academic knowledge to investigating crimes. Wendell elects to join the We'll Find Out Detective Agency for a year. He turns out to be rather good at this new job. The Sabbatical Sleuth records his experiences as he cooperates with Duke Munshower and Judy Mills to apprehend adulterers, thieves and murderers. This collection of short stories is another window into the happenings of Millwood.
Wendell Walsh has a sabbatical. He teaches Logic and the Scientific Method at Flintlock University and believes he can apply his academic knowledge to investigating crimes. Wendell elects to join the We'll Find Out Detective Agency for a year. He turns out to be rather good at this new job. The Sabbatical Sleuth records his experiences as he cooperates with Duke Munshower and Judy Mills to apprehend adulterers, thieves and murderers. This collection of short stories is another window into the happenings of Millwood.
The sign on the door announced We’ll Find Out: Private Investigators. Inside, Duke Munshower was at work on a crossword puzzle. Judy Mills was creating a shopping list. This duo, known locally as “The Munch and Judy Show,” was the entire workforce of the We’ll Find Out organization.
Duke specialized in surveillance and photography. Judy was proficient in legal and “quasi-legal” internet searches. Their relationship was purely professional. Duke was a paunchy, balding fortysomething bachelor. Judy, some twenty years younger, was an attractive brunette who’d recently accepted an engagement ring from an ambitious assistant district attorney.
It was nearly five o’clock. Duke arose from his desk chair, scratched the left side of his rib cage, and advanced on the front door. He planned to turn the sign on the door from Open to Closed.
Frieda Cranston, breathing heavily, thwarted his project. Duke opened the door for her. “I need to take action against my cheating husband, Andy,” she began. “We are separated but still married . . . practicing Catholics, you understand. The separation agreement we both signed specifies that Andy is to pay me one-third of his income, payable monthly. Here is a copy of the agreement.”
Duke examined the form. It was on the stationery of Pflug and Horowitz, Attorneys at Law, and duly notarized. “Is there a problem with the agreement?” Duke asked.
“No,” she replied, “the agreement is fine. But Andy has been receiving money in addition to his salary as manager at the Webshoppe Warehouse. I have not received my share. Andy doesn’t know I am aware of this extra money.”
“How did you find out about this money?” Duke asked.
“Last Tuesday, I received a bill from Ben’s Butcher Shop. When Andy and I were living together, I paid Ben’s from our household account. This most recent bill was for deliveries to Andy after I had moved out. I used my key to gain entrance to our former house. I placed the bill on the kitchen table along with a note indicating that I had placed an Italian sausage, broccoli, and cheese casserole in the freezer. When I opened the freezer door to store the casserole, I noticed there was an opened and re-taped box of fish sticks beneath a pile of other frozen foods. It stated on the box that refrozen contents should be thawed and consumed within a week. I thought I would be doing Andy a service by passing those out-of-date refrozen fish sticks through the garbage disposal. Imagine my surprise when I found ten thousand dollars in one-hundred-dollar bills at the bottom of the box. What I would like you to do is to find out the source of these funds so that I can claim my share of this unstated income.”
Duke explained the We’ll Find Out fee schedule and promised to give the matter their immediate attention. The next day, Judy established, by questionable means, that there had been no unusual recent activity in Andy’s bank account or credit cards. In addition, there was no evidence of online gambling or indeed any interactive internet activity. Duke began an after-work-hours monitoring of Andy’s actions. Three nights of surveillance revealed a pattern of dining at home followed by TV viewing. Duke concluded that Andy did not have a second job. The source of the money in the freezer remained a mystery.
The next morning, Duke and Judy reviewed the case. “What have we established so far?” Duke asked.
“It would seem that Andy does not receive money from a second job, gambling, blackmail, or an inheritance,” Judy replied. “Odds are he has some scam going at the warehouse.”
“I’ll see what Jeff can tell us,” Duke said. “Jeff is a drinking buddy of mine who works as an accountant for Webshoppe. He might have useful information about activities at the warehouse.”
When contacted by Duke, Jeff at first could not think of anything unusual taking place at the warehouse. But then it occurred to him that Andy had recently initiated a random preinventory examination of incoming boxes. Andy had suggested to management that this practice would discourage employee theft. The general reaction was skeptical. Employee theft had not been a problem at Webshoppe. Despite this, Andy was given permission to begin his inspections on the assumption that one could not be too careful.
Duke reported this conversation to Judy. They agreed that further inquiry was required. Duke called Jeff. “Jeff, is there any way that you could find out which shipments Andy recently examined?”
“No problem. I’m in his office from time to time. On his next lunch break, I’ll gain access to his office on the pretext of delivering some papers. If I can find the inspection records, I’ll take photos of them on my cell phone.”
The next day, Jeff reported that Andy had inspected only three boxes last month. Two of the boxes were returns from Harlan Hospital containing materials from Towels Are Us. One box contained crimson-colored towels. The hospital had ordered light blue towels. The second box contained king-size sheets. The hospital had ordered single-bed sheets. “Do you think this is significant?’ Jeff asked.
At this point, Judy, the more imaginative of the two, had an idea. “What if Andy knew that there was something of value in these boxes returned from the hospital to the Webshoppe Warehouse? The preinventory inspections would enable him to open the box, remove the valuable added contents, and reseal the box for storage.”
“Good thinking,” Duke replied. “Let’s see if the police have a record of thefts reported from the hospital.”
* * * * *
“Indeed, we have,” said Detective Sullivan. “There were two thefts of opiates last month. It looks like an inside job, but it’s hard to see how the drugs could have been taken from the hospital without detection. Harlan has drug-detecting Dobermans at both the main entrance and the emergency entrance.”
“I think I may have a solution to that problem,” Duke told Sullivan. “It may have been a three-man operation. One Harlan-employee gained access to the opiate supply. A second employee in the shipping department inserted the drugs into an outgoing shipment to the Webshoppe Warehouse. Andy Cranston then selected these incoming packages for preinventory inspection. He was on the lookout for return packages from the hospital because he had changed the original orders from Towels Are Us to be unacceptable at the hospital.”
Acting on this theory, Detective Sullivan paid a visit to Andy. “I have a warrant to examine the contents of your freezer,” he announced.
Andy could not account for the $10,000 in the fish-stick box. He soon confessed, however, implicating his confederates both at Harlan Hospital and at Franklin Pharmacy, where the opiates were made available to the public.
Frieda Cranston was depressed at this turn of events. She not only did not receive a share of the $10,000 paid to Andy by the pharmacy, but she also lost the steady income from Andy’s work at Webshoppe. Even worse, Andy’s earning potential on returning from prison would be minimal.
“I remember my mother saying frequently, ‘Let well enough alone,’” Frieda mused. “I should have listened.”
John Losee's The Sabbatical Sleuth is a collection of cozy mystery short stories. Losee creates a series centered around Professor Wendell Walsh, who spends his one-year sabbatical working for a detective agency called “We'll Find Out.” He wants to demonstrate that a professor of philosophy at the local university can use intelligence, logic, deduction, and careful observation in effectively solving crimes.
Wendell Walsh uses keen observations and patience to unravel puzzling cases. The detective agency has a very close relationship with the local police department. But he uses a very different approach than the typical street-smart detectives who may use intimidation and tough interrogation techniques on suspects. Wendell is not only smart and resourceful; he is brave and passionate about solving each crime.
The stories are set in Millwood, a picturesque small town. It is a place where ordinary lives conceal long-kept secrets, and each story reveals another layer about the community of Millwood.
Reading The Sabbatical Sleuth was so refreshing. It felt like listening to Mozart after hearing the William Tell Overture played over and over again. I wanted to linger over every story.
I liked the brevity of each short story. It provided instant gratification. You could read each story in one sitting, as they all had a beginning, middle, and ending.
I feel like Duke, Judy, and Wendell are my new friends. They are always welcome for another visit. I thought the love interest between Judy and Wendell added a lot of spice to the stories.
The Sabbatical Sleuth is an enjoyable and smart collection of short stories that offers clever plots and quiet intrigue. If you are looking for a fast-paced, dark, violent mystery, read something else. This book will delight readers who enjoy stress-free “whodunit” puzzles with clever clues set in a quirky small town. If you are intimidated by a 300-page novel, this book is a good option. Hopefully, this isn't a spoiler, but in all of these mysteries, the good guys always win. The Sabbatical Sleuth is definitely a 5-star read!