Mini-Mystery #2

 Hi guys! Jenny's back!

First props to Keisha for covering for me while I was sick. 

Next, about the mystery I sent last week. I had a couple of people come to me and say they were stumped. So I guess that means people are waiting for an answer. 

Well here it goes. The grand culprit was none other than... (dramatic music plays in the background)... CHLOE!!!! 

That's right folks, if you guessed Chloe, you were CORRECT!!! 

Want to know why??? Here are exactly two clues that totally shatter her story. 

1. The house was in total darkness. Because the lock was entirely visual, someone would have needed to be able to see in order to break into the vault. Chloe was the only person with a light source from her phone.

2. The Truffle Oil Trail. To get to the code, Chloe would have had to steal it from Arthur who was in the kitchen with the oil. But Chloe didn't have time to clean up after herself which led to the oil on the vault. Arthur, the only other one with access to the oil, wouldn't have needed to break into the vault. It was his vault!!!

So there you have it. Any questions??? Drop them in the comments. 

But I'd hate to leave my mass amount of fans with nothing to do until next week, soooooooooo, I came up with yet another mystery. 

And yes - it's another long one. And a little challenging. (Saturday's will be easier I promise!!!!) But hey, it's got to last you through the week so...

Here it is!!! (FYI, I chose diamonds in trirbute to my book: The Hidden Diamond. Check it out and get yours on thinkbigwritebig.com!!)

The Case of the Mansion Mastiff Mayhem

The heavy bass from pop megastar Leo Vox’s album release party vibrated through the floorboards of Vanguard Manor. Outside, a winter storm battered the ultra-modern estate, but inside, the grand ballroom was a spectacle of flashing strobe lights, towering ice sculptures, and flowing champagne.

At exactly 10:00 PM, the host was preparing to toast his inner circle. At the rear of the mansion, behind a heavy security door, sat Leo’s private vault. Inside, a velvet tray held a newly acquired collection of uncut diamonds worth $2 million. The vault was protected by a 5-digit electronic keypad. The code was changed weekly, and only Leo and his six top staff members knew the combination.

Suddenly, a security alert flashed red on the mansion's main console. Someone had breached the external electronic gate to the private kennels.

The security breach instantly tripped Vanguard Manor's automated, high-end intruder deterrent alarm. Across every square inch of the mansion, the emergency siren kicked into action. To the human guests in the room, everything felt completely normal—the ultra-high-frequency, ultrasonic sound waves emitted by the active siren were totally silent to human ears.

But within seconds, pure chaos erupted. Four massive, untrained Tibetan Mastiff guard dogs stampeded straight through the open terrace doors and into the crowded ballroom. The moment the animals crossed the threshold and entered the house, the silent siren struck them with deafening, agonizing sound waves. The dogs began running erratically, frantic to escape the invisible noise. Guests shrieked, dropping champagne glasses, throwing gourmet appetizers, and scrambling onto tables to escape the massive, lumbering beasts. The panic lasted for exactly five minutes before professional handlers managed to corral the dogs.

You are Detective Avery, a guest at the gala. As the screaming dies down, a security guard rushes up to you, pale-faced. The vault door is standing wide open. The $2 million diamond collection is gone. The keypad wasn't smashed or forced; someone had precisely punched in the correct 5-digit code during the five minutes of utter mayhem while the dogs were running wild.

You order the estate locked down. The thief is one of the seven people who knew the code. You line them up in the grand hallway and take their statements

Suspect Statements

1. Leo Vox (The Pop Star / Host)

"I was standing center stage under the spotlight when those beasts burst into the ballroom! One of them lunged right at my velvet suit. I panicked, scrambled backward, and climbed straight up the structural lighting truss to hide near the ceiling. I stayed wrapped around a steel beam 15 feet in the air the entire five minutes until the handlers caught them. I couldn't see the vault hallway from up there!"

• The Detective's Inspection: His custom blue velvet suit is perfectly clean. His hands are shaky, and his designer boots have minor scuffs from climbing the metal truss.

2. Jax (The Personal Bodyguard)

"I was stationed right outside the kitchen doors checking guest wristbands. When the stampede hit, two of the mastiffs ran straight down my aisle. I didn't want them biting the VIPs, so I stepped right in front of them, blew my tactical steel security whistle at maximum volume to distract them, and wrestled one to the ground. It took me the full five minutes to pin the animal down by its collar."

• The Detective's Inspection: His tuxedo jacket is ripped at the shoulder. His shirt has dog drool on the sleeve, and he has a minor scratch on his forearm.

3. Chloe (The Sound Engineer)

"I was inside the main DJ booth at the front of the ballroom, running the audio mixing board. When the dogs let loose, the crowd started screaming so loudly that it was clipping my microphones. I didn't want the speakers to blow, so I kept both my hands glued to the volume sliders, pulling the master fader down to zero to silence the feedback. I didn't leave the booth or let go of the board for a second."

• The Detective's Inspection: Her headphones are resting around her neck. The mixing board logs show the master audio volume was dropped to zero at exactly 10:01 PM and held there.

4. Marcus (The Head Butler)

"I was in the main dining hall supervising the clearing of the dessert plates when the chaos began. Suddenly, two of the massive mastiffs burst through the double doors. They were whining miserably and scratching frantically at their ears, completely ignoring the plates of food on the tables. They bolted right past me and hid under a heavy mahogany sideboard. I stayed frozen against the wall until the handlers arrived."

• The Detective's Inspection: His uniform is immaculate. He is holding a silver serving tray.

5. Chef Elena (The Private Chef)

"I was in the pastry kitchen prepping the late-night soufflés. When the dogs entered the kitchen hallway, they went completely wild—howling in pain and burying their heads under the floor mats. I panicked, thinking they were going to attack, so I grabbed a giant container of powdered sugar from the counter and threw it into the air to create a blinding white cloud to escape. I ran into the walk-in freezer and locked myself inside."

• The Detective's Inspection: Her chef's whites, hair, and shoes are heavily caked in a thick layer of fine, white powdered sugar.

6. Sasha (The Backup Dancer)

"I was walking through the quiet, isolated hallway leading toward the private guest suites to find a quiet place to stretch before our midnight set. Suddenly, one of the loose mastiffs trotted right up to me in the hallway. He was completely calm, wagging his tail, and happily sniffing at my shoes. I just petted his head for a few minutes until the handlers came down the hall and grabbed him."

• The Detective's Inspection: She is wearing her glittery stage outfit and sneakers. The rubber soles of her sneakers are clean.

7. Sterling (The Business Manager)

"I was in the second-floor glass office reviewing the tour budget on my laptop. When the alarm lights started flashing, I looked out the window and saw guests sprinting across the lawn. I stayed in the office with the door locked, frantically trying to call the security gate on my office landline to see what happened."

• The Detective's Inspection: His laptop screen shows the budget spreadsheet open. The office phone logs show three dialed calls to the front gate between 10:01 PM and 10:04 PM.

The Investigator's Notes

You survey the mansion, testing the equipment and noting two undeniable physical realities of the environment and the crime scene:

• The Canine Anatomy: Because canine ears are vastly more sensitive than human ears, the active ultrasonic alarm siren is physically painful and completely overwhelming to dogs. Any dog exposed to this active frequency will immediately experience severe distress, frantically scratching at their ears, howling in discomfort, or desperately trying to hide under furniture to escape the painful noise.
• The Structural Blueprint: The mansion's private vault is built like a subterranean military bunker. To protect the valuables from high-tech corporate espionage, the vault room is the only room in the entire estate that features 8-inch-thick, multi-layered acoustic insulation. This insulation makes the vault room 100% soundproof against any outside frequencies or ultrasonic sound waves

The music has stopped, the guests are whispering, and Leo Vox wants his diamonds back. You have every clue you need. 

So... who took the diamonds???

See ya Saturday!!!