Every Year Orphans Get Toys on Dad’s Death Anniversary, Detective Finds Evidence in One of Them – Story of the Day

A detective investigating a murder is startled when the deceased's kids tell him to stop sending them toys. "What toys? I didn't send you any," he says and finds a clue that solves the seven-year-old murder mystery.

Mr. Parker grinned under the slanting rays of the settling sun. "Traffic these days. Damn! I would have started work pretty early today if it had not been for the traffic."

It was not just the traffic that bothered the 47-year-old detective. For seven years, an unsolved case had given him many a sleepless night. A man died suspiciously in his own home, leaving his two children orphaned.

Mr. Parker stepped down from his Mustang and walked toward the crime scene inside the late Mr. Harvey's house. Nothing about this building had changed over the years except for the fountain the late widower loved. It was now dry, and the marble statue of an angel in the center had started giving away to the forces of nature.

Like he'd been doing for the past seven years, Mr. Parker put on a pair of gloves and scanned the place under his magnifying glass, looking for clues...

"Damn it! I told them not to change the rug. Even minute traces of hair or fingerprints would go unnoticed," Mr. Parker grumbled under his breath.

He had bought the house to preserve the clues that lay hidden there, though he allowed Mr. Harvey's mother and his two kids, Jason and Rebecca, to live there as they had nowhere to go.

"A man dressed as a clown at Luna Park? Am I still missing something??"

"Mrs. Harvey, who changed the rug?" Mr. Parker asked Doris, Mr. Harvey's mother. "I told you not to touch a speckle of dust there. You know how important it is to solve the case...to find out who murdered your son."

Doris frowned. She hated it whenever the detective came by with his annoying private eye brain and investigations though she was thankful he let them stay there. It also bothered her that he bought the house when it was mortgaged at the time of her son's passing.

"Where are the children?" Mr. Parker asked. Doris told him they were at the cemetery at their father's gravesite, and he hurried to see them there.

As soon as 15-year-old Jason saw Mr. Parker, he stormed toward him.

"Why are you here? Aren't you done bothering us with your investigation? It's been seven freaking years! Leave us in peace! Go away!"

Mr. Parker was stunned. "Huh, I wasn't expecting that."

"And can you please stop sending us those silly toys? It's annoying!" Rebecca fumed.

Mr. Parker had no idea what they were talking about.

"Toys? What toys? I didn't send you any. Fellas, cut it. I know you don't like me hanging around. But I have yet to solve your dad's case, remember?"

Jason and Rebecca frowned and fumed at Parker.

"Don't lie, Mr. Parker. Quit this stupid suspense and do something useful. Please leave us alone. We know you sent us those toys every year on our dad's death anniversary."

Mr. Parker raised his eyebrow and asked Jason to show him the alleged toys. The kids accompanied him to their home and showed him some stuffed toys.

"Thanks. I'll be taking a couple of them to my office to inspect them," he said and waved goodbye to the kids.

Mr. Parker switched off his office lights, leaving only the lamp on his study glowing brightly. He held one of the toys under the bright light and inspected it. Suddenly, something strange caught his eye. He slid his hand into the teddy bear's shirt pocket and took out a ticket.

"A Luna Park ticket?" he exclaimed and flipped it over, again and again, knowing little that this was his golden ticket to crack the mystery of the late Mr. Harvey's death.

He called Jason immediately to find out more about this clue. He asked him if he was aware of the ticket he found in one of the stuffed toys.

"A ticket? For Luna Park?" Jason clarified.

"Yes, does that mean anything to you?" Mr. Parker pressed.

"The day before my father died, we went to Luna Park," Jason revealed. Then he suddenly remembered something. "There was a man... he was dressed in a colorful costume, and he kept following us. He scared the gut out of us. Dad tried to drive him away, but he wouldn't budge. Then dad took out his phone and threatened to call the cops. That's when the guy stopped following us."

Mr. Parker pictured the scene in his mind. He sensed something fishy and pressed Jason for more details.

"Can you tell me what this guy was dressed as?"

"He was dressed as a clown. He was wearing scary makeup and started dancing like a lunatic. We were scared."

Mr. Parker hung up and started piecing the whole picture together.

"A man dressed as a clown at Luna Park? Hmmm...Am I still missing something??"

He followed the lead and visited the park the next day. A lot of rides and booths had changed, but what didn't change was the park's tradition of amusing visitors with their costumed dressers.

He checked around, sipping a soda, and looked for the man dressed as a clown.

"There he is!" he exclaimed, tossing the soda can into the dumpster.

He hurried after the man in a clown costume. The guy suddenly started walking fast and then he began to run. He somehow sensed Mr. Parker was following him.

Mr. Parker had come pre-equipped with ideas if such a tense situation should arise. He took a handful of marbles from his pocket and tossed them. The guy slipped and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Mr. Parker quickly nabbed him and took him to his office for investigation.

"Why did you run after seeing me?" he asked the guy named Gary. "Were you the man stalking the late Mr. Harvey's family in the park seven years ago? Tell me the truth. Why did you kill him?"

Gary was stunned, and then he started to cry. "I didn't do it intentionally! It was an accident!" he confessed.

It turned out that seven years ago, Gary had gone to Mr. Harvey's house the night of the incident. Since Mr. Harvey was Luna Park's regular visitor, Gary had seen him often. He had obtained his address from the register for a lucky draw event in which Mr. Harvey and his kids participated.

"Why were you stalking them the previous night?" Parker chimed in.

"I wasn't stalking them. It was my first day wearing a scary clown costume, and I just wanted to make sure I looked terrifying enough in front of kids. I wanted to see their reaction, and I was happy it worked. But I decided to thank them and apologize personally for terrifying them. So I went to their house and rang the doorbell. Mr. Harvey answered the door and was furious when he saw me. I was still in my clown costume, and he didn't recognize me. He walked to the landline in the living room to call the cops. I followed him in, saying I was sorry. But he wouldn't listen to me."

"He thought I was still stalking them. So I put my hand in my bag to take out the two soft toys I'd bought for his kids. He misunderstood and thought I was taking out some weapon and charged toward me. I pushed him away to stop him. He fell and hit his head hard on the edge of the table. He fell unconscious, and I got scared. I fled and later learned the man had died. But it was an accident!"

Gary felt so guilty he decided to send Jason and Rebecca toys every year on their dad's death anniversary. He wanted them to be happy and get over the tragedy. Though his intentions were sincere, he was later arrested for manslaughter and for hiding the crime for seven years.

Mr. Parker sighed with relief after the seven-year-old mystery was finally solved. He returned Mr. Harvey's house to Mrs. Harvey without expecting a dime in exchange. Jason and Rebecca thanked him for solving their dad's case and apologized for misunderstanding him.

"This house is all yours! It's the least I could do for you. Finally, let the late Mr. Harvey rest in peace!" he said and drove past their gate.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never judge someone's actions until you know their motives. Jason and Rebecca fumed at Mr. Parker when they thought he had been sending them the toys, but after a turn of events, he not only cracked their dad's murder mystery but also captured the real culprit.
• People should be held responsible for their actions. Though he tried to hide the crime, Gary later admitted to it and was convicted.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

A man befriends an 83-year-old woman and invites her for dinner. The next day, he wakes up to a loud police siren outside his house and sees his neighbors mourning. Click here to read the full story.

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