Decoder Ring Theatre

They say that no good deed goes unpunished, my friends, and that is even true for good deeds only undertaken following the application of thirty-nine ninety-nine a day, plus expenses. But when that punishment takes the form of a certain bungling-but-loveable police sergeant, can our heroes ever help to solve... The Mark Two Caper?

A sudden storm, a secluded manor house full of would-be heirs and the sudden arrival of detectives from the city as if by chance. How exactly did our hard-boiled heroes find themselves this far outside their usual genre? And how will they solve a mystery that's To The Manor Born?

The sporting life isn't for everyone, my friends. For some, one's athletic pursuits are best not spoken of in polite company, and almost always involve shoes, liquor, tight slacks or handguns. Or all of the above. But when the Girl Detective stumbles on to the Pro Bowling circuit, the result is anything but... A Simple Case of Black and White!

They say that time heals all wounds. That's a nice thought, and it just might be true. Maybe. But not today. Sometimes all it takes is a brace of old friends down on their luck and a monster that turned out to be less dead than he was supposed to be, and those wounds feel just as fresh as ever. But will it be enough to get ol' Square-Jaw in on... The Score?

There are all kind of luck in this world. Good luck, bad luck... the luck you make, the luck you were just born with... and then there is good old-fashioned dumb luck, and it's leading practitioner, Freddie "The Finger" Hawthorne. But when Freddie's luck crosses the line between dumb and just plain stupid, somebody's bound to answer with lead. And if everybody lives through it, it'll be Some Kinda Lucky!

Matt Dawson was a smooth character, all right. At least half as smooth as he seemed to think he was. But why a lawyer from one of the city's top firms chose to darken the door of a certain his and hers detective agency was a whole other matter. But one thing was for certain; you come out to play in the noon-day sun, and you're gonna get burned, baby.

They say that if a person is lucky at cards, it stands to follow that they must also be unlucky at love. But it doesn't take much research to prove that it's possible to be both. The stakes are in the story - see your two bickering heirs and raise you one missing will - and around this table The Sky's The Limit!

There are always more than one side to every story. And when you're dealing with a newspaper magnate, a missing heiress, a kidnapping with no ransom and an angry fishmonger, sometimes there are more sides than story. No simple matter for your average gumshoe, but just another day at the office for... Man's Best Friend.

"The one that got away" is a fine kind of tale for some. Fishermen, for example, seem to thrive on the subject. But in the detective business, where things seem to exist in a perpetually unfinished state, there are those cases that just won't stay in the drawer. The ones that never sat quite right. If only you had been a little stronger, a little smarter.... and sometimes they can weigh a man down, threaten to drag him under as they hang about his neck. It's sink or swim time, and who will win, the flatfoot or... The Albatross?

They say that there are no small parts, my friends, only small actors. I've never been entirely clear on exactly what that means, or if the folks that coined the phrase intended it to be as insulting as it is. But one thing is for sure, those thin character sketches that populate the margins are usually kept there for a reason. But when left to their own devices, they tend to play familiar games. Games like... Cops and Robbers!