Mystery Solved!

Hey there chums and future chums-

Fred and I just found out that those theater folks are putting on their play about our tussle with dad’s old nemesis again.

Mr.s Scrimshaw and Weinhagen said they wanted to try again to see if they could make their punches more realistic. Plus, I guess they spent more than a couple of dimes on the platypus costume.

It sure is swell that so many people like hearing about our mysteries. Meanwhile, Fred and I have been solving all kinds of new cases. Maybe those theater guys will want to hear about some of the new crooks we’ve been foiling.

I’ll make sure to post more info hear about their show and maybe I’ll have some other adventures to share.

Happy Sluething

Jack-

Holy Macaroni, where are the elephants?

Jack says-

Everyone!

It’s been an exciting couple of days.

Fred and I have been working our tails off with the theater actors getting the play ready. It’s pretty strange to hear a fellow say dasdardly threats and know that he’s just pretending to be the bad guy who actually said those real words to Fred and me.

This group of actors sure are good at pretending to chase each other. Just the other day Fred tackled one of them because he thought she really was trying to make off with some loot. Everyone had a big laugh about that. Except Fred, who still says she’s a bit shifty.

One of the theater actors has to pretend to be various different people throughout the show. He sure is swell at it. He puts on a different hat and makes his voice sound different and it’s like there’s a whole different person in the room. That’s like when dad has to wear a mustache and use an alias to infiltrate a gang of thugs!

Even though we’ve been working hard on the play about one of our mysteries Fred and I took some time to do a little real  life sleuthing. I don’t know if you’ve heard but there’s a circus in town right now. whenever a circus comes to town official amatuer detectives have to be on their guard because it means a lot of curious and unusual people are in town, too. And this circus has a foreign name so we definitely  had to investigate.

They put up a big blue and yellow tent right in downtown St Paul! Fred and I scoped out the grounds before heading in to the tent to watch the show. The show was filled with amazing spectacles! I saw guys ride bicycles on a tight rope while another guy balanced on top of them on a chair! A real muscly guy walked out on stilts and then stood on a big teeter totter. Then four even more muscly guys jumped on the other end and the guy on stilts flipped over and landed right back on his stilts! Boy what a show!

The only strange thing was there were no animals like trick horses, or hoop-jumping lion, or dancing elephants. I didn’t know a circus could be a circus without talented animals and lots of hay everywhere. About half-way through the show I turned to Fred and asked,  “hey, where are the elephants.” We thought maybe someone had stolen all the animals and we would have a case to solve. But when we asked after the show the guy with the keen looking ear piece just looked at us funny and told us they don’t use animals in their circus.

All in all it was impressive but a juggling bear would have made the show all the better. I’m still keeping my ear to ground about any peculiar activities that may be linked to all the circus folk, but as long as they use their skills for entertainment I’m happy to have them in town.

JACK-

The Case of the Caterers with the Copyright!

Jack says-

Hey, Everyone!

It’s always a good thing when some new danger comes along. That keeps an official amateur detective at his most keen and aware.

My brother Fred and I have been poisoned, shot at, stabbed, had our shoulders dislocated, been tied to all manner of stationary objects, gone hours without food, been trapped in storms, nearly drown, and forced to sit still for over 15 minutes!

None of that compares to today’s adventure. Today, Fred and I faced our most complicated and dangerous foe yet.

Attorneys!!!

There are a couple of brothers out there in the world with our same name! They’re these two brothers in the big city of Chicago who run a catering company and even let people see them cooking on the television set. Even an experienced official amateur detective like me didn’t know that a couple of fellows could copyright their own name. I guess it’s real important to boys who cook that no one think they’re also able to solve mysteries and catch law breakers.

Joshua, Levi, and the rest of the gang turning one of our adventures into a real live theater play don’t mind changing all the e-lectronic things they’ve done. And Fred and I are real proud of our name because it carries dad’s reputation with it, but we’re happy to make a name for ourselves as we prove we deserve our official amateur detective status. So, while our birth certificates will always stay the same, in all official business we will be know as Fred and Jack Harty.

I wonder what twists and turns this theater adventure will take next!

JACK

Lock and Dam #1

Jack says-

Everyone!

Today we spent time visiting the lock and dam on the Mississippi running under Ford Parkway!

Dad says understanding a lock and dam system is a great way to learn about how a detective’s mind works. There’s a constant stream of information coming through and a great detective has to know when a significant piece of information turns up and keep those details for a period of time. If you try to keep too much information in your mind the dam will break and you’ll lose all ability to retain information, especially clues. It’s all about knowing which things to learn and which things to forget.

The dam is a sight to behold! It features a twin lock system, each 56 feet wide by 400 feet long!

The swell fellows at the US Army Core of Engineers say the dam may be unsafe. I guess the water seeping under the dam makes it more likely to fail. But Fred and I agreed that it sure seemed like an awful well built and solid dam to us. We decided to have a closer look and took a small row boat out to the base of the dam. I don’t know how smart a guy needs to be to tell if water’s going where it shouldn’t in a dam but it all just seemed like wet everywhere to me.

Some official looking man in a uniform came out of a building in the lock and started yelling something to us but the water was too loud and we knew dad was making creme brulee for dessert so we headed back to the shore and headed home before the man in the uniform could give us any information.

We’ll have to continue our dam investigation later this summer.

JACK

Witches Hat!

Jack Says-

Hey, everyone!

Fred and I were at the Pratt Community Center in Propect Park having a catch with some chums the other day. We heard a shout from somewhere above us and when we looked up the hill where the sound had come from there were two suspicious looking characters disappearing into the trees!

The rest of the gang said it was probably no big deal and wanted to get back to the ball game, but I could smell a mystery unfolding right before our very eyes. Fred and I had to check it out!

We raced to the base of the hill and quickly managed to spot footprints. Without a seconds pause I was bounding up the hill, following the footprints, hot on the trail of the shady characters. At the top of the hill we found the Witches Hat Water Tower!

Quickly, Fred and I decided to head up to the observation deck of the water tower to get a panoramic view. Our legs pumped harder and harder as we neared the top.

Out of breath, from excitement as much from the stairs, I reached the observation deck and looked out. I could see our gang of friends tossing the ball around and some kids on a playground and then I spotted a clue!

A green scarf was dangling from a tree branch, blowing in the breeze!

Fred and I high-tailed it down to the clue. We were about to follow the footsteps leading away from the scarf when we realized it was nearly dinnertime. I stuffed the scarf into my napsack and we grabbed our pals to head home.

Perhaps I’ll get to come back to this mystery someday soon?

JACK-