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Mysterious Photograph

Each issue features a Mysterious Photograph. Readers are invited to submit a 250-word (or less) flash fiction story based on the photo. The person who invents the best mystery story receives a prize of $25, and the story is published in a future issue.

The Story That Won the November/December 2024 contest:

© woennyy/www.123rf.com

MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE
by Richard Moriarty

I knew I’d never get rich working as a butler for a skinflint like Jacoby Jones, the billionaire owner of Escape Rooms Inc. But I figured I might score some loot from the old man’s McMansion. He was always bragging about his rare stamp collection, calling himself a famous philatelist, which sounded hoity-toity to me. But it gave me an idea.

First, I read up on famous rare stamps so I could talk to the old geezer about his hobby. It wasn’t long before he showed me his stamp vault, a 20×20 climate-controlled room with hundreds of stamps of all shapes, colors and sizes, secured behind glass showcases lit with soft lighting. One stamp was all by itself at the far end of the room. I asked and he told me: “It’s a one-cent Benjamin Franklin, mint condition,” he said. Then the punch line: “Worth one million dollars.” When we left, I watched as he reset the door combination.

I planned the grab for a Saturday night when Jones was at the opening of his newest venture, Escape Rooms of the Hamptons. As I lifted the Ben Franklin off the wall I heard the vault door closing and the lock clicking into place. Then the voice of the old man. “If you can get out of this room the stamp is yours. You have one hour before the police are called.”

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