280 Mysteries We'll Never Get Back #6 - The Case of the Skunk Ape
Added 2023-08-11 15:28:22 +0000 UTCMike & Conor are traveling to Nashville next week to discuss Dalmatian Eugenics (and put on a little live show) but we are recording the next Starlight Barking ep right before we go on Monday. But to hold you until then, here's another diabolic mystery concerning Idaville's very own cryptid, the legendary SKUNK APE! It also, for the third time since we started doing these, involves a pilfered string instrument.
Comments
You know I always thought the point of Columbo was that the guy spends half the episode psychologically tormenting the perp until he has them convinced they won't get away with it and they just confess or pull a gun on him or something and that's what gets used to convict them.
Elizabeth
2023-08-30 06:01:33 +0000 UTCThis reminds me of the old joke about Columbo that none of the murderers would ever spend a night in jail with the kinds of evidence he booked them on. Encyclopedia's "We couldn't be dressing up as the Skunk Ape and causing general mischief because of how short our accuser's skirt is" sounds about as airtight as Columbo's "You see, sir, it had to be you, because we found a brand of cigar ashes in the trash can Mr. X never smoked, and all the servants were gone that night, but there's a stain on the tuxedo you dropped off at the dry-cleaners that is just the right color...." I think Encyclopedia and pals would be going down for this, in any rational world. However, Idaville seems less and less rational with every one of these....
Matthew S. Dentice
2023-08-17 00:35:50 +0000 UTCThis one is quite reaching again, isn't it? Wilma could just have changed into some pants for playing and then changed back into a skirt because she prefers wearing skirts over pants? I don't know...
Jan
2023-08-15 07:51:13 +0000 UTCI got this one… once Mike reminded me about the skirt. So, half credit for him, because he led me to the answer. That said, a lot of these mysteries really hinge on things being unusual rather than impossible. It’s not very ladylike to play cello in a short skirt, perhaps, but that hardly makes it impossible. Or she could have changed in the car. I guess what I’m saying is, watch out for my new series, Mason Perry, Boy Attorney, about Idaville’s #1 Boy Defense Attorney, coming soon to Kindle Unlimited. 😁
J.
2023-08-15 02:20:45 +0000 UTCThis is the first time I’ve found the clue in one of these, but that’s only because I play the cello 🤣
pipandbaby
2023-08-14 12:02:24 +0000 UTCI guess by volume 11 you're kind of reaching for new scenarios...
Chaos Shadow
2023-08-13 13:13:43 +0000 UTCYeah, but the solution said Wilma rubbed on the rotten eggs AFTER she stole the case. So Gus wouldn’t have even smelled it when she reached her arm in through the window. So who is the smell for?!
Taylor Conner
2023-08-13 07:42:47 +0000 UTCI'm guessing the rotten eggs were added to make the disguise seem more believable, as someone took the 'skunk' part too literally.
Shannon Galvin
2023-08-12 23:34:03 +0000 UTCYes! I was confused for a while because it makes a lot more sense to stream a cello rather than just the case, but I also remembered him saying the theft happened _while he was practicing_. When I got to the end and the whole point was just to frame then for "trying to unnerve a nervous artist", the stakes somehow went down even from cello case theft.
Amanda Martyn
2023-08-12 16:17:08 +0000 UTCI caught the clue that apparently explains the whole thing, except it explained nothing. Why did they rub rotten eggs on the suit? Am I doomed to never know?
Claire P
2023-08-12 05:37:28 +0000 UTCThis story had to be written specifically for this poscast.
The Audiophile Repository
2023-08-12 05:16:43 +0000 UTCAccording to Wikipedia, Donald Sobol lived for many years (and ultimately died) in Miami. So I think it is indeed safe to say that we've found the location of Idaville. (Wiki also informs me that Sobol's mother was named Ida. One more mystery solved!)
Vince
2023-08-12 03:16:12 +0000 UTC"Edsel Wagonbottom" is Goulart-worthy.
Moviegique
2023-08-11 22:49:54 +0000 UTCI actually remember that "mouth wide enough to swallow a watermelon sideways" line, which jarred some other memories of skimming Encyclopedia's adventures, like how in one story the client who walks into Brown's "office" is a kid who maybe is trying too hard to come off as a wacky eccentric, who knows, anyways this kid is known for smiling when he's unhappy and frowning when he's in a good mood and he walks in with a huge smile on his face. I also remembered another case that turns out to be an attempted frame job, ‘The Case of the Grape Catcher', a boy named "Edsel Wagonbottom" is apparently planning to set a record for catching grapes thrown at him in his mouth. This story was apparently published in the early 1980s so who knows how Mr. Wagonbottom was planning to exhibit his talent. Was he going to ring up the Guiness people, or talent scouts, or what? He's hired Sally to toss the grapes at him for a practice session in his backyard, and Encyclopedia tags along. Soon Edsel's decided to up the difficulty level and has them wrap him up tightly with a garden hose while they pitch grapes at his open mouth. After a while of this, Bugs Meaney shows up with one of Idaville's law enforcers and Edsel starts claiming that he had been set upon by Sally and Encyclopedia, tied up with a hose and they were getting their fun by tormenting him, pelting him with grapes under the hot sun and Bugs just so happened to come upon this scene and notified the Idaville PD, who are still dumb enough to take Bugs' calls seriously.
LC Brock
2023-08-11 22:46:03 +0000 UTCI'm afraid I can't award any points to Mike. Yes, he identified the tight skirt as the clue, but he completely reversed its meaning. He said the tight skirt would've prevented her from wearing the costume, but she WAS wearing the costume, and the tight skirt only proved she wasn't playing the cello.
Moviegique
2023-08-11 22:20:54 +0000 UTCMike gets half credit, OR he writes his own Encyclopedia-style mystery for Conor to solve.
Jason Zelbo
2023-08-11 22:07:35 +0000 UTCAs I was listening, I vaguely recalled that there was an episode of “Monk” that used this exact same mystery scenario with cellists wearing skirts. I looked it up and by golly: https://femalevillains.fandom.com/wiki/Mrs._Hammond_(Monk). (No skunk ape costumes in the episode unfortunately.)
John Griffin
2023-08-11 20:13:43 +0000 UTCWhat was the point of the rotten eggs...?
Sara T
2023-08-11 19:58:37 +0000 UTC(after this whole thing) What.
Balaji S
2023-08-11 18:20:10 +0000 UTCA very literal title
Grignr the Argonian
2023-08-11 16:28:26 +0000 UTCWhat an expensive and elaborate scheme just to discredit encyclopedia's crew, not to mention a waste of police time. and what would it actually do? the police giving the 10 year old kids a stern talking to about harassing others? Wow Bugs, you sure got em good.
Magister Sieran
2023-08-11 16:23:50 +0000 UTCSo excited for the Rad show! Bringing a friend for his first rifftrax
Harrison
2023-08-11 15:33:35 +0000 UTC
