Case of the Missing Camera

He opened the cabinet to retrieve his camera but it wasn't there. In its place was a note. "If you want to see your camera again, put five hundred dollars in an envelope and go to the park. Your next message will be inside the crevice of the seventh tree from the entrance."

The camera held some important shots of a case he was working on. This probably had something to do with that case. What to do? He wondered. He had yet to download the pictures.

Once at the park with the envelope, he counted the trees and found the next message.

"Place the money back into this tree and go to the basketball court on the other side of the lake. Once the money is retrieved, you'll get your camera."

He placed an envelope in the tree and made his way to the basketball court. He wasn't there long when a boy approached him with a camera.

"I got the pictures you asked for. It was a woman," the kid reported. "Are you a private investigator? That's a really nice camera. Is it new?"

"Thanks, kid. Yes, I am, and yes, it's a brand-new camera. Here's your twenty dollars. Have a nice day."

Reluctantly, the kid walked away.

He scrolled through the pictures to see his ex-girlfriend pulling out the envelope. The look on her face was classic. The envelope contained five hundred monopoly dollars.

"I needed a new camera anyway," he thought as he returned to his car.

Word Count: 252