by W. Diane Van Zwol

Created on: April 22, 2008   Last Updated: June 11, 2008

Short Stories: The Veteran's Day Mystery

"Mystery Template"

Section 1: The Suspects

1. Dennis
2. an old man
3. an angry war veteran
4. some bigger kids

Section 2: The Case of the Floating Wreath

"I think I'm in love," said a little, blonde ten year old girl named Jaci, to her older brothers. "Dennis is so wonderful!"

"You don't mean that Dennis, I hope," asked Griswold, pointing to the young boy who was standing on the beach.

"Not him, please, Jaci," said Grisham. "Sometimes I don't know whether he's really dumb or terribly smart. I know that he's always in trouble. Come on, Jaci, grab George's leash! We're going home. You'd better forget about that kid. He's no good!"

"He is good!" argued Jaci, defending her friend. "I know him better than you do!" She knew that he was upset and that he had been crying when she found him.

"Hey, look over there! What is that white thing floating in the water? See if you can grab it, Grisham," said Griswold. "What on earth?"

"It's the wreath from the Veteran's Day service held at the cenotaph today," said Grisham. They waded in and pulled it towards the beach. "This is so wet! It is totally waterlogged! It's so heavy now that we can barely lift it. How on earth did it get down here?"

"Maybe it was put in there by some angry war veteran? Perhaps it was that old man at the service? The one who lost his son?" suggested Griswold looking at Jaci. He did not want to argue with her about Dennis, as he knew that he was wasting his time. She obviously adored him.

"I don't know," said Jaci who was about to run and tell Dennis, but when she turned around, he was already gone.

"We had better report it," said Griswold. "Let's leave it on the beach! It's so full of water that it is way too heavy to carry."

"Barney, people on drugs can lose their kids; so can people in a tragedy, like hurricane Katrina, or folks who are involved in the war." They could hear the local police officer Riley, arguing with Barney, their postmaster.

Riley and Barney stared at Griswold, Grisham, Jaci and George, as they approached the police station entrance. "Hey, how did you kids get so wet? What kind of mischief have you been up to?"

Griswold answered, "We came to tell you that we found the big, white wreath from the cenotaph down at the beach, in the water; we waded in and pulled it out. It was too heavy to carry, so we left it there."

"You mean that brand new wreath that we just placed at the foot of the cenotaph this morning? Who on earth would be so dis-respectful of the war

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