An unsolved case

 I found the shell of a musk turtle, Sternotherus odoratus. The occupant was gone. The black, 4-inch shell was as clean as a museum specimen. Not a trace of the victim.

Musk turtles don’t usually wander far from water, and the shell was 60 yards from a pond. I suspected foul play.

I love British murder mysteries, and I tried to find some clues.

The shell was on a hill where the ground was hard. I found no tracks.

I checked the shell for talon marks, suspecting the red-tailed hawks that nest near the pond. Not a scratch.

I checked for odors, since skunks prey on turtles. Nothing.

My last guess: a raccoon. But it was just an evidence-free guess. I simply couldn’t think of any other animal that might have left the shell so clean.

On television, the detectives always crack the case. But the mysteries I stumble across in the woods often remain mysteries.