Prize Mystery #2

Horatio Lorenz, a perfectionist glass dealer, finally acquires a priceless three-thousand-year-old Roman urn—the masterpiece he's pursued for fifteen years—only to leave it in his office while traveling on business. When his humble brother-in-law Timothy, inspired by Horatio's own advice to practice by copying perfect examples, takes the urn to use as a model, he becomes so skilled that he creates perfect duplicates indistinguishable from the original. Horatio returns to find his prized possession lost among Timothy's flawless copies, with no way to recover it before the shipment goes out.

A hunter takes his skeptical companion on a hunting trip to prove the effectiveness of a bow and arrow—but when the man is hit by an arrow and falls from a cliff, the hunter's account of an unfortunate accident quickly unravels under interrogation. This two-page mystery from Prize Mystery #2 challenges readers to spot the lie and identify what gave the killer away, with $25 war bonds awaiting the best solutions.

Mineralogist Josh Hendricks ventures into rocky desert territory with a prospector and a stubborn burro to collect ore samples, but his contempt for the animal proves short-sighted when a crevasse collapses beneath him, trapping him in a rattlesnake den with a broken ankle and no way out. Surrounded by striking vipers and running out of rocks to defend himself, Josh faces a desperate race against time and fangs—with only an unexpected ally standing between him and oblivion.

A career criminal thinks he's outsmarted everyone by orchestrating the perfect heist and disappearing into small-town life under an assumed identity—complete with a wife, kids, and an airtight cover story. But when a dying accomplice's letter surfaces threatening to expose everything, his carefully constructed world begins to crack, and he'll discover that being the smart one in the room isn't always enough. "The Smart One!" is a sharp twist on the crime-and-consequence tale, proving that no amount of planning can account for every variable.