"He Started, Sat Up and Gazed As If He Could Not Believe the Evidence of His Eyes"

DETECTIVE STORIES in which nature takes a hand in the solution seem to be relatively rare. Usually human nature of the worst kind is the prime mover in these things, but can human nature alone be blamed for what happens to . . .

"The Malava Stone - The Tale of the Pearl That Flew."

By Barbara (?-?) and Balfour Ritchie (?-?).

Illustrated by Steven Spurrier (1878-1961; Wikipedia HERE).

First appearance: Pearson's Magazine, October 1912.

Short short short story (6 pages). 

Online at Hathi Trust (HERE; starts on page 419).

   "The Malava Stone is a freak—nothing more nor less."

HERE we have a locked room mystery without a lock—indeed, without a door. Somehow a valuable pearl has disappeared but, while mutual suspicion abounds, there is no apparent way that any of the suspects could have done it. A pretty problem to be sure, one that calls for some outside-the-box thinking—and, wouldn't you know it, there just happens to be someone on the scene who can do that . . .

Main characters:

~ Lady Plainston ("Don't you think it must be worth three thousand pounds?"), Sir Anthony ("Quite, I should say"), Mr. Ingelstein ("It owes its value entirely to the fact that its remarkable variation of colour makes it an exact reproduction of a common fly"), and John Smith ("Doubtless you know what I have come for").

Reference:

- "It is a black pearl, but not all black" (Wikipedia HERE):

  "For thousands of years, seawater pearls were retrieved by divers in the Indian Ocean in areas such as the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar . . . Before the days of cultured pearls, black pearls were rare and highly valued for the simple reason that white pearl oysters rarely produced naturally black pearls, and black pearl oysters rarely produced any natural pearls at all."

Resources:

- Concerning our authors, we have no clue.

- One of Michael Grost's Jacob Black mysteries centers on the product of irritated oysters, "Gorilla with a Pearl Earring" (HERE).

- A few ONTOS involvements with pearls (they're more common than you might think) would include "The Mystery of the Churchill Pearls" (HERE), "The Adventure of the Treasure Hunt" (HERE), and "The Mandarin's Pearl" (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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