Inspired by an odd photo, this short-short story came to me in the middle of the night; I promptly got out of bed, fired up the computer and typed it out before it left me. The next day, I put it in the mail to send to a short story magazine. I completely forgot about it until the check showed up in the mail a few months later. Originally published in "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine" (Jan 2003).

Living in a cozy, small town, tucked away in the south of England, unremarkable average guy Alfie Bowman has been heard to describe himself as a refugee from a failed life. In his own words he’s ordinary looking, starting to lose his hair, a little bit shorter than average, a little bit heavier than he should be, and a lot less fit than he really ought to be. Most definitely an unlikely hero! At the ripe old age of 50, he’s escaped an unhappy marriage and just wants to re-start his life, relax and have some fun, and maybe do some writing - if only he could find something to write about! So when he stops in the pub for a couple of pints on the way home one night, the last thing he expects to have to do is save a stunning young woman half his age from a fracas with an enormous thug with huge fists! But that’s exactly what he does do, because, as far as Alfie’s concerned, there are some things you can’t just stand by and ignore. Waking up in hospital later that night he wonders if maybe getting involved hadn’t been the best decision he’d ever made after all! But he soon learns that the beating he’d been given had nothing to do with events in the pub... So who beat him up, and why? Who is the stunning young woman and what’s she doing in town?

Can a diamond ring really disappear from a table into thin air? How can it be possible for an emerald necklace to vanish from a locked safe, the code of which only the owner knows? And how on earth does a ruby bracelet disappear from a lady's wrist while she is eating dinner? These are all questions Alianna Winter must answer, if she is to solve the mystery of the Merryweather Jewel Thefts. But, as Allie fully knows, nothing is ever as straightforward as it first appears. -The second book in the Alianna Winter series. Her earlier cases: 1.Death At Scarlet Leaf Her later cases: 3.A House On The Hill 4.Murder Is At Hand 5. The Incident Concerning The Alsatian Dog 6. At The Plaza Majestic 7.Madame Juror 8.A Murder Shall Commence 9.The Impossible Poisoning 10.The Final Endgame The Toby Smart Spin-offs: What Makes A Detective What Breaks A Detective