Nancy Drew-colowicz and The Curious Case of the Great Gatsbies

We have a mystery on our hands, Vikings. But this one doesn’t involve a dark stormy night or a damsel in distress (unless you count Seth Miot). No, this will NOT be a story of Gothic fiction or melodrama. There is a real mystery unfolding in room 109 as you read this! And I am here to share with you what I know, the clues I have gathered, and perhaps even narrow down the list of suspects. Will you solve the case before I do? Will the Great Gatsby Fairy be unmasked? Is it even one person or are we dealing with a corporate syndicate of literary the underworld? 

But first, the facts:

Several years ago, I started collecting The Great Gatsby in other languages when a student bought me a copy while on a trip to Spain (thank you, Maritza). Slowly, and naturally the collection grew over time. When I began working at Vistamar, I had already obtained: Spanish, Italian, French, German, Mandarin, and one from England (I mean, I guess they do spell grey differently).

Over the summer, Jack Williams brought back one from his travels in Japan and Sebastian Kirk brought me one from Denmark. That was already an incredible boon for my shelves.

But, then… I had the very first strike of the masked collector! 

I found a copy of The Great Gatsby in Greek on my desk on a Monday. It had a yellow Post-it note with the word Greek attached to it. Nothing else. It was left during C block. 

This is the only block I have off and often I grab lunch early that day.

(Clue 1 and 2)- suspect knows my schedule and that I collect these books

At this point, being the detective that I am, I immediately questioned Ms. Deutsch! She had, in fact, traveled to Greece over the summer! I brought her in and I grilled her hard and her answers were impressive. I think I’ve crossed her off the suspect list for now – but one can never be sure. I also checked with Mr. Collyer to see if one particular parent, who shares my love of The Great Gatsby had been on campus that day, but alas, Lindsey Fox had not been present.

It was a delightful surprise, but the world kept turning. That is until one week later!

The following Monday on my desk I found  Serbian! Serbian!!!! Now seeing a trend, the old lady detective who lives inside me could not be tamed. 

I brought in the obvious suspects. I put Dr. B, Ms. Linares, Ms. Galvan, Ms. Keskin, and Yuliia through heavy duty, rapid fire questioning. However, they all had to be let go due to a lack of evidence. All of these people swore they didn’t even know I collected this book in different languages. Is this true? We know at least one of these people is a skilled actor. Time will tell.

Next, another Monday, another book. Norwegian. It was time to start saving the Post-it notes. Crime Scene Analysis- Handwriting Edition: my specialty. It’s clearly the same person writing the notes and who is the best prankster on campus?? The handwriting did strike me as Dr. Sweatlock-esque. Could Mr. Miot have roped her into this scheme? Could she be doing his bidding by writing different languages on a weekly post-it? He swears they are innocent, but do YOU believe anything he says? He could pass a CIA sanctioned lie detector test and I would still be skeptical. He remains at the top of my list. 

(Clue 3) – the yellow Post-it consistency

I decided it was time to try to lay a trap for the GG Fairy. I wrote a note for them. What does this note contain? I cannot speak it. I left this note on my desk with a giant blue arrow in the exact spot where the book is left. 

I made sure many of the students that were high on my suspect list knew it was there. 

These are students that are often in my room near or around the time of the book placement (Kara, Amelia, Valle, Yuliia, Chloe, Valeria, Winnie). I like to think of them as potential elves. There’s no way this Fairy is working alone. They have a delivery service, a rotating door of kids slithering into my room to leave me delightful treats.

The note remains there to this day. Sealed.

However, when our schedule started to change, so did the GG Fairy! Instead of getting a book on a Monday, I got two surprises the next Wednesday!!! Albanian and Macedonian!! I mean, come on! Did you even know all of these were separate languages? At this juncture, my mind exploded. I realized I was up against a really, really, really worthy opponent.

(Clue 4) – they refuse to take my note/the bait

The following Tuesday, Romanian! And my note still sits on my desk. What makes this delivery special is that it was delivered while I was in the room. I’m fairly certain that that particular day I was incredibly busy walking around helping students and finishing my grades. Using this distraction to their advantage, someone slipped in and put it on my desk while I was in the freaking room!!! They are getting bolder, Vikings. 

Now, some of you are probably asking yourselves: have you checked the cameras?

No.  First of all, so many people come in and out of my room and if it is a student (as I suspect) or several students delivering it, I think it would be very difficult to catch that person. 

Second of all, such a thing is beneath me. 

Sherlock treats Moriarity with respect! Hercule Poirot beats Inspector Japp with his little gray cells, not technology! 

I will not use unfair methods or cheat codes.

Big Brother is there to catch vapes, not incredibly wonderful, delightful human beings, playing the best and sweetest practical joke of my entire life. They are somehow acquiring me books and it’s so stinking nice. The secret note? It’s a thank you note! 

And also a trap. They. Are. Smart.

The evidence is photographed for you to examine. Come check out my collection. To quote one of my favorite films of all time, the original 1996 Scream– “Everyone’s a suspect.”

Feel free to come chat with me or even leave anonymous notes on my desk if you have a lead. One of my informants has already given me the name Bradley Cody…. I will be doing background checks shortly.

Until next time- the game is afoot!!!