Detectives, Clues, and Nancy Drew

March 17, 2015 — 3 Comments

My front yard

I am a fan of many of the British detective shows featuring the clergy and other citizen detectives. Father Brown is lavishly produced and beautifully filmed with all the period details in tact.  I like James Bond and the other real detectives on the silver screen as well. Now that I have started to think about story writing and composition of fictional characters I think it might be fun to try my hand at some kind of mystery story, not necessarily a murder.  The spy/espionage element is always exciting, and can express certain political sentiments without stating them.  I have been turning around some ideas about the end of the Civil War and spies on both sides, perhaps some of them deserting or worse, telling secrets. It might be fun to weave true known historical facts with some fictional spies or detectives. My personal detective skills are needed now for a mundane and not very mysterious task, to catch a petty thief.

scene of the crime

Here in Tucson there is a problem with random vandalism and petty theft.  My front yard is small and visible from the street.  This week one of my hummingbird feeders was stolen, leaving a shiny track of sugar water leading toward the street.  This kind of random theft happens in my yard at least once a year, and usually they haul is more valuable than a single used hummingbird feeder.  The most recent act has spurred me to order a surveillance camera to focus on my walkway to catch the next punk who does damage or steals my stuff.  Prices have come down significantly and apps support all kinds of functions for home security now. Motion activation and night vision HD capture results in high resolution video to identify culprits.  I ordered a deluxe set up from Amazon which will arrive in two days, and works on my home WiFi.  When evidence is collected it can be submitted in a report to the cops and shared with our neighbors on Nextdoor.com.

I am not sure why I waited so long to install this camera. I think of myself as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in my own head, although I am much closer to Nancy Drew in reality.  I read the Nancy Drew books when I was in elementary school and can remember imitating her while playing.  We made up fantasy cases and followed clues, but now I don’t remember any of them.  We liked Nancy because she was a girl, and she always solved the case.  This was a contrast to Dick Tracy, Superman and the Lone Ranger, men with guns or superpowers, who also solved mysteries.  She has made a comeback in modern times once again on the teen detective beat.  I believe Nancy would be proud of me for installing my own remote system to watch my yard. I feel once again like my childhood idol.  I like the feeling much better than helplessly allowing random petty crime to disrupt my peace and quiet.  Do you ever think of yourself as a detective, gentle reader?  Which one is your favorite?