Miscellaneous Mysteries: a collection — C.D. Moulton

Miscellaneous MysteriesAlligators Ain't AllAl Rhamer found a body by the canal. The police said it was an alligator attack. There was an alligator in the canal everyone called Old Rocky.The body was on the bank. Alligators pull their prey into the water.The clothes on the body were dry.Al teams with one cop who did want to solve it.Then the FBI? What was he into? His wife was threatened?A Coincidence Too ManyTrue murder cases I was involved with – and some I was merely aware of where “Moose” was involved. I sorta put myself in as more than someone-he-told-about-it mode.( I do tend to exaggerate)(REALLY?!?!)Enter Merlin TyanaI like the idea of a mysterious hero who appears when there is a murder or other crime, who uses the knowledge of the characters involved to lead THEM to a solution, then fades into the sunset.These stories combine the two ideas.Merlin Tyana uses the names of two famous historical/ mythical sages, Merlin of King Arthur's Court fame and Apollonius of Tyana.Most people know about Merlin, but not a great many know of Apollonius of Tyana. Merlin appears in fictional works only while Apollonius appears in ancient court writings as well as in other historical writings.I will leave it to the reader who cares to research either or both of those legends. They are important here only in that the names were used in deriving that of my hero.One of the included stories (not the first one) is based on a personal experience where simply looking at what several people knew about a case ended me up with the solution – and it was a solution the police had entirely overlooked.MirrorsA continuation of the Enter Merlin Tyana theme. I planned on making it into a series, but don't have enough new ideas to really make it work. I don't want to ever get into rehashed plots.Merlin is a mysterious person who always appears during a thunderstorm to solve or thwart murders.The von Artle LegacyBased on a true happening. A man and wife move to a little bay island in Florida when she inherits the place. They find there are three ghosts on the place. One is the killer of the other two. The evil one is planning to take over the baby when Em has it. This is the story as explained to me. I was there in the last part of it.Computers were new things then. The internet was an idea. You used a modem and the telephone lines to communicate.I don't believe in ghosts, but something very strange happened there.