The Alyssum Mystery

Miss Phoebe Rowell was found dead in bed at her isolated farm, with signs of a struggle and a stolen fortune. Her nephew, Robert Steel, who had recently returned to the area after being sent away by his aunt years prior, was quickly arrested based on circumstantial evidence—including his footprints and clothing fibers found at the scene. He maintained his innocence, claiming he had only stopped by to see his aunt and his old sweetheart, Bessie Brown. While the local magistrate and neighbors were convinced of his guilt, Bessie remained skeptical. Months later, while visiting the now-abandoned farm, she noticed a patch of sweet alyssum growing in the weeds near the window where the burglar had entered. Knowing her aunt never kept those flowers, she tracked down the seeds to the local innkeeper, Mrs. Winterby, who revealed she had given a pinch of seeds to Stephen Greer, a farmhand, months earlier. Confronted with this evidence and the realization that his own carelessness had trapped him, Stephen Greer confessed to the burglary and the accidental killing of Miss Rowell.