Jay Matthews and the Case of the Missing Inheritance

It was so cold. Snow was falling, and it was almost dark. The brisk air of London's weather chilled me to my core. I was a private eye, or detective in London in the 1940s, second best to a very famous detective. As I made my way to my building, I watched as the people of London rebuilt the war-torn city. Ever since we joined World War 2, things haven't gone well for us. Adolf Hitler, Germany's dictator, had recently knocked France out of the war and, in an attempt to knock us out, started bombing campaigns over our fair city. Recently, Winston Churchill, the prime minister, ordered an evacuation of all the children in the area to safety, and I was already missing my Emily. When I reached my building, Jay Matthews, Private Eye Services, and walked in, my assistant, Heather, had already made me a cup of coffee. She was at her desk writing. As I sat at my desk, the day seemed to slow down. I was used to this. Because I'm a second-rate detective, I get fewer cases than you might think. A few hours later, the phone rang when I was just about to fall asleep. I snatched it up right away. A woman’s voice answered.

“Oh, you must help me!” she yelled. “Someone stole my inheritance!”

"I'll be there in 20 minutes,” I replied.

 I hung up, grabbed my notebook and pen, and left the I got on my bike (my mode of transportation) and pedaled off. The client’s address was 243 Marrow Street, a long way to pedal. I could've taken a car, but I wanted to be eco-friendly. I would pass out by the time I got there. But I had to get inside so I could solve the case. I parked my bike in the driveway and walked up to the door. The door was brown and had a unique knocker on it. I knocked on the door five times. No one answered. I was just about to ring the doorbell when the door opened. It was a woman who looked like she was in her mid-40s. And judging by her appearance (makeup a mess, face all wet, and eye bags), she had just been crying.

"Oh good, you're here," she said when she saw me. "Hurry, come in!"

When I walked in, the scene I saw kind of shocked me. Shattered glass was scattered all over, blood spots were on the broken window, and a piece of cloth was on the floor with the glass. I the woman and asked her what had happened. She sat down and told me the whole story.

Her name was Faith Mahone. She used to be married to a man named Paul. They were married for 20 years. But when WW2 started, Paul enrolled in the army. He fell ill with typhoid fever while on the battlefield and passed away a few days later. But thankfully, Paul was rich selling weapons to our allies and promised to give half of it to Faith in his last will. He kept the money in a safe. This safe had a padlock with a 3-digit number combination that only Paul and Faith knew. The safe also had an alarm. Paul, Faith, and Maria, the housemaid, were the only ones who knew the warning had a shut-off lever and where it was located. But around 3:00 in the morning, Faith heard the alarm go off while sleeping. She rushed to the safe and found a figure dressed all in black with a massive bag on its back. The safe was jarred open, and it was empty. 

“Stop, thief!” she yelled, They ran through the window and sent glass everywhere. Blood was also scattered. When the sun came up, she went straight to the police. But the police couldn’t track down the thief. So she tried to go to Sherlock Holmes, the detective I alluded to earlier. But his case list was overflowing, so she couldn’t go to him either. She was about to give up and go home when she saw my flyer advertising my detective business and called the number immediately.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She had just lost her husband, and now someone had stolen from her. 

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” I assured her. “I’ll help you find it.”

“Oh, thank you!” Faith shouted, throwing her arms around me. “How could I ever repay you,

“You can call me Jay. Jay Matthews. And as for payment, we’ll talk about that after I get the inheritance back.”

Why someone would steal a woman’s inheritance is beyond me. Maybe they got jealous and decided to take it for themselves. My first stop was the bank. Faith had told me that Paul had cashed in the money here before he died. It was 11:00 AM. Before I in, I ran into Lieutenant Washington. Washington was an old friend of mine back in high school. However, after we both graduated, we went our separate ways. He went off to be a lieutenant, while I opted to be a detective. I haven't seen him since. Until today.

“Well, if it isn’t Jay Matthews!” the lieutenant said, arching an eyebrow. "How have you been?"

"I've been fine, thank you," I replied, grinning. life out for you?"

"Yes, for the most part. Have you had any successful cases?"

"There aren't many of them, but I'm working on one right now!"

"All right, old friend. I will. Bye!"

Watching him walk out into the street, I considered inviting him over to my building next week so we could catch up on old times. I entered the bank and walked up to the counter. Mark Bellows, the banker, was wiping it down until he saw me arrive.

"Good day, sir," he said, smiling. "Would you like to make a deposit or withdrawal?

"No thank you, I replied, showing him my ID. "I'm from the Jay Matthews, Private Eye Services and I'd like to ask you some questions if you don't mind."

"Not at all, Mr. Matthews. Ask away."

"Do you know anyone to take any the 'Paul Mahone?'"

"Yes, I saw two people just 2 weeks ago asking to make a withdrawal under that name. One was a middle-aged man and the other had a trench coat and a hat, so I couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman. However, when the second person asked me, I said the money had already been taken."

"I see. What did this man look like?"

"He was in his mid-40s, I think. He also had many scars and wounds, as if he had been in a serious battle."

"Alright. And the other person?"

"They had a determined look on their face, and smelled faintly of cleanser."

"Ok then. Thank you for your time, Mr. Bellows. Before I leave, could you give me a record of the transaction?"

"Yes sir."

He headed into the back. I heard the sound of papers rustling, and a few minutes later, he came back with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Here you are," he said, handing it to me. "I'm glad I could be of service. Best of luck with the case, Mr. Matthews. I have a feeling you're to need it."

As I walked out of the bank, I thought about what Mr. Bellows had told me. According to his description, the man sounded exactly like Paul. So I had a feeling I was on the right track. But something didn't seem right to me. Faith had told me that only she and Paul knew about the inheritance. So how could another person ask about it if only 2 people knew? I decided to head back to the office so I could read the form. When I got to the office, a large man was standing in front of the door.

"MR. MATTHEWS!" "Just the person I needed to see."

I groaned. It was my landlord, Jim. When I first moved into the building, I had trouble paying the rent, and every time I was late, he would hound me until I paid him.

"Hey, Mr. Jim," I muttered. "How's it

"Not Your rent is due tomorrow, and I'm paranoid that you're not to pay it, considering your recent rent-paying history."

"Don't worry, Mr. Jim. I promise you that I'll have the money tomorrow."

"That's what you said last time, Mr. Matthews. How about this? If you don't have the money by 5:00 PM tomorrow, I'll snatch you out of this building so fast, it'll make your head spin. You understand me?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Jim."

As he walked away, I wiped the sweat off my brow. Great. Now I had the stress of completing the case by tomorrow. I walked in feeling hopeless. With how slowly the case was moving there was no way I could solve it by tomorrow. I wasn't as good as But something at the back of my mind told me, "Don't give up. Keep going. You can do it." I walked into the building and the first thing I saw was Heather, who was at my desk setting down a cup of tea. She had a worried look on her face.

"Sir," she said, close to tears. "Will we lose the building?"

"No," I replied, sipping my tea. "Not on my watch, we won't."

I sat down and started studying the transaction sheet Mr. Bellows had given me. Sure enough, he wasn't lying. According to the sheet, Paul had taken out $4,000 in his name, which is a lot. My thoughts kept returning to that mysterious character. Who were they? Why had they asked for money in Paul's name? How did they know him? There were so many questions. But then I realized: I hadn't considered Maria, the housemaid. She knew about the inheritance and she knew where it was being kept. I called the police.

"Hello?" I said when they pick up "Yes, this is Jay Matthews, Private Eye. Meet me at Faith Mahone's house at 242 Marrow Street. And bring your handcuffs. You might have to arrest a thief."

I hung up and dashed to Faith's house as fast as I could. When I got there, the police were already there, along with Faith, and Maria, who was sweeping the floor.

"Excuse me, Ms. Maria," I said, walking towards her. I noticed she had a gash on her right arm. "Would you mind if I took a look through your things?"

"Not at all, Mr. Matthews," she replied, looking worried. "Take as long as you need."

I stepped into her room and headed to the closet. When I opened it, I saw a lot of black clothing. Maria sure has a lot of black outfits, I thought. I headed towards the bed. The blankets and sheets were stained with blood. I returned to the living room, where the police had just finished executing a search warrant.

"Mr. Matthews," one of the officers said. "I don't see why you called us here."

"You'll see in a minute," I told him.

I took a step toward Maria.

"Ms. Maria, can you open that window? It's dreadfully hot in

She walked towards the window, which had a keypad lock on it, typed a code, and opened the window. Everyone gasped.

"Just as I arrest Maria!"

Maria's face turned red. She tried to run, but I caught her before she could.

"Rats!" she called as the police handcuffed her. you know it was me?"

"A lot of things told me you did it," I said, pacing back and forth. "First of all, you have a large gash on your right wrist. Faith told me that when the thief escaped, blood scattered everywhere."

"That gash was Maria argued.

"Second of all, the banker said that a mysterious person had tried to take money in Paul's name after he did. And that same person, according to him, had a trench coat, and hat, and smelled like cleanser. You had a trench and hat in the closet and since you're a maid, you're bound to smell like cleanser!"

"That's a rude accusation!"

"And finally," I concluded, stopping."You're the only other one who knows the code to the safe! And you have plenty of black outfits that match the thief's outfit!"

Maria stopped arguing and her face was downcast. As the police took her away, Faith walked up to me.

"But where's the money?" she asked.

"The money is in the cleaning closet, the one place where Maria knew you never go to!"

Faith was so happy, she lunged for me and swallow me up in a huge hug.

"Thank you, Jay! And as for payment, I'll give you 1/5 of my inheritance!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Mahone. And thank you for your generosity."

As I walked back to the office, I smiled. This was my first successful case in a while. Maybe I was as good as Sherlock. But for now, I'll never know.