Copyright © [Surabhi Parashar] [2026]. All Rights Reserved.

Detective Brown was standing in Mr. Bennett’s lavish house. No one required his services for a long time. His last case was 5 years ago, when Mayor McCallion herself honoured him with a plaque in front of the press.

Gloria Bennett, the daughter of the city’s wealthiest businessman, went missing two days ago. And Detective Brown felt a thrill stir in him for the first time in years.

He had an incisive mind and an air of peculiarity. He talked to servants, checked the basement, and there it was. Right in the middle of some old junk that looked like a birdbath with some random skeleton keys and porcelain flowers lay a crisp brown tag. The sender’s name was not written, but the handwriting…

The clue always hides in plain sight.

This is my response to this week’s photo prompt by “Friday Fictioneers” and my 100-word story to go with it.