A few days after Christmas, Jane and Bob Herend drove their grown children to the airport, stripped the stockings and fir garlands from the fireplace mantel, and declared the holidays complete. 

Apart from a few presents to be returned or exchanged, including a smart watch and pair of noise-canceling headphones in a tidy pile beside the fireplace, the only vestiges of festivity were two amaryllis bulbs in glass cylinders on either end of the mantel. A gift to Jane from her green-thumb mother-in-law, the bulbs had not bloomed in time for Christmas, but they were more than a foot tall, and their bullet-shaped pods hinted at lush red flowers to open after New Year.

“It’s nice to have the house back in order,” Jane said, rearranging the colorful menagerie of hand-painted miniature porcelain animals that occupied the mantel year-round. “But it’s awfully quiet.”

“And awfully cold,” Bob said.

The next morning, the Herends packed their luggage and their Labradoodle in the car, and headed south to sunny weather. 

After a week of golf and pickleball, the sun-kissed Herends and their shaggy dog returned home to find chaos in the living room.

“We’ve been robbed!” Jane shrieked.

“Don’t touch anything,” Bob said, dialing the police.

Minutes later, two police officers and the Herends surveyed the damage together: 

The elegant mantel was bare. Porcelain animals and glass vases lay shattered on the floor below, amid mangled flowers and a dusting of potting soil across the marble hearth and oriental rug. A decapitated miniature giraffe languished on the pile of electronics. 

“Can you dust for prints?” Jane asked the policemen.

“You just need a Dustbuster and broom,” the officer said, closing his notebook. “No crime was committed here.”

What happened in the living room? 

THE SOLUTION / SPOILER ALERT!

The officer was correct. No crime took place in the Herends’ living room. If indeed there had been a robbery, the smart watch and headphones would most likely be gone. Instead of criminals breaking in, amaryllis bulbs grew taller and top-heavy, until they ultimately tipped over, taking out the fragile menagerie of hand-painted porcelain animals. Yes, the evidence was planted.

A wide and weighted base, like the basket pictured above, can prevent the problem.

Thank you for playing! Buttercup loves a mystery. Please share any riddles you stumble into in your real-life house and garden.