Solve-it-yourself mystery

Detective Donna Daly had been on the job only one week when she had her first case in Berrytown. Claire Foster, the organizer of the annual Mayor’s Easter Parade, had called to report a “serious incident.”

When the detective arrived at the Berrytown Recreation Center, Claire appeared very upset. “Betty is missing!” she cried, tears glistening in her eyes. “I haven’t seen her in hours… hours! ”

“What does Betty look like?”

“She has long, floppy ears, a white tail, about two feet tall, and the stuffing is missing from her right arm.”

The detective smiled. “Betty is a stuffed rabbit?”

“Oh, she’s much more than that,” Claire said. “Betty the Bunny is the star of the Mayor’s Easter Parade. This year marks our seventy-fifth anniversary. We’ve always gotten lots of press, and with social media, now our parade and Betty are the talk of the whole state.”

Donna jotted down notes as Claire kept on.

“The mayor always leads the parade as the grand marshal,” Claire said. “The families dress in their Sunday best and march down Centre Street. All of the floats are covered in the most beautiful lilies and yellow tulips and pink roses…it’s just beautiful. But Betty is the biggest part of the tradition. She’s the last to proceed and rides on top of our tallest fire engine. The parade is tomorrow and will be ruined without her. We are running out of time!”

Detective Daly nodded, noting the desperate look in Claire’s eyes. “Don’t worry, We’ll find her. Now, where did you see Betty last?”

Claire pointed to the large glass case in the front of the room. “I took her out of the case at lunchtime and wrapped a blue scarf around her neck. As you know, Berrytown is known for delicious blueberries, so I thought the scarf would be a nice touch. After that, I put Betty back in the case and went for a walk in the park. When I got back about an hour later, Betty was gone.” “Do you know who would want to steal Betty, Claire?” the detective asked.

“The only two people who came to the Recreation Center today were Walter Simons, the florist, and Tim Miller, the park assistant,” Claire sighed. “Walter ran for mayor last year, but lost the election to Mayor Bradford. He’s always wanted to be the grand marshal of the parade, but instead he has to settle for his flowers decorating the float. Timothy is angry with Mayor Bradford because he was passed over for the promotion to park ranger. They both have a motive to foil the parade.” Detective Daly met Walter at his flower shop. “Yeah, I stopped by the Rec Center early this morning to drop off the lily centerpieces for the mayor’s float,” Walter said as he arranged a glass vase of pink roses.

“Did you happen to see Betty the Bunny while you were there?”

Walter nodded. “Yup. She was in the glass case wearing a big blue scarf.”

“And were you aware that since this morning, she’s gone missing?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t take her!” he said. “Be a shame to have the parade without Betty. It would ruin the whole day, I reckon.”

Tim Miller also denied taking the stuffed rabbit. “I went over to the center during my afternoon break to see if Claire needed any help with the parade prep,” he said. “She wasn’t there. I didn’t see the bunny either. I figured Claire had already taken her down to the firehouse.”

Detective Daly checked her notes. Clearly, one of the suspects was trying to cover up his crime.

Q: Who took Betty the Bunny? A: Turn to pg 51