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Ready to join the ranks of 5 Minute Mystery's Top Sleuths? 5 Minute Mysteries are short, challenging mysteries posted Monday and Friday.

Choose the clues1. Choose the clues.

Read each mystery carefully and select which clues either incriminate or exonerate each suspect. Earn points for finding all of the clues.

Choose your suspect2. Choose your suspect.

Select the guilty suspect from the list once you've found all of the clues.

Solve the case3. Solve the case.

Submit your clues and suspect decision to earn points. The more difficult the case, the more points you'll earn. The solutions are released the day after each mystery is published.

Solve the most recent mystery, then visit the archives to solve more! Move up in the rankings by choosing all of the correct clues and suspects and earning bonus points for solving more difficult cases.

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The Jackie Mitchell Autographed Baseball Mystery

Re-published September 3rd, 2010, Written by Robbie Cutler All Centerville was in mourning when John Plympton died. He was a banker who knew everyone, and had helped many people over the years. For forty years he had authorized loans that more conservative lenders wouldn’t have granted. Then, after he retired, he was known locally as something of a soft touch, particularly after he lost his wife. Helping people became more than a hobby. It was almost a reason for him to keep living. But nobody foresaw the fuss that would be raised when he revealed that he owned one of the most valuable autographed baseballs in the history of the game!

Continue Reading >> 38% Solve Rate Medium


ASK MARTHA — THE EMBEZZLER

Re-published September 1st, 2010, Written by Robbie Cutler Inspector Samuels had been even grumpier than usual when he called. “Crusher,” he said, “I need some help with this one.”

We met at the Village Coffee Shop that had recently moved into Starbuck’s abandoned storefront. Like the mall opening which it flanked, there wasn’t much pedestrian traffic. In fact, that’s probably why Inspector Samuels liked it. He didn’t exactly want to advertise the fact that he was consulting me about a case. Plus, of course, here he could use the discount coupons that had rained into most of the mail boxes in town while an indulgent postman looked the other way. Or maybe the postman had moonlighted and distributed the coupons illegally along with the mail—there are all manner of benign, everyday mysteries which go unsolved.

He sipped his coffee to cool it while I ordered a latte. When the hovering waiter left, Inspector Samuels leaned over and half whispered, “This is a tough one, Crusher. And it won’t be kept quiet much longer. Not with a payroll to meet next week.”

Continue Reading >> 46% Solve Rate Easy

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