Mystery Stories

Dr. H. Ashford

The bell pull rang at half past two in the morning, which was, Mrs. Dorothea Crane reflected, a thoroughly inconvenient hour for any occurrence whatsoever, supe…

Yuki Kazehara

At nine-twelve, Akiyama Mio lifted the lid of Box 14 and knew at once that someone had touched the charts. She did not know it because anything was missing. It …

Elara Nightwood

The frost began on the third Thursday of May, when no frost had business arriving anywhere. Clara found it first on the clapper of the chapel bell, the oldest o…

Marcus Veil

04:12 ZULU The red LED on the atmospheric regulator pulsed, a rhythmic strobe against your retinas. Station integrity was at 88 percent. The external telemetry,…

Luc Devereaux

The elevator smells like mint and failure. I press three, but the button sticks. My thumb leaves a greasy print on the brass. The doors wheeze shut like an old …

Yuki Kazehara

At six eighteen, Hoshino Rei was putting away her pick set when Station Clerk Murata came into the service corridor with the expression of a man who had already…

Marcus Veil

1. The pressure at 400 meters is an abstraction until you see the microscopic spider-webbing across the sapphire-glass viewport of the spine. Elias watched the …

Luc Devereaux

The radiator hisses like a cat that doesn’t want to be touched. I press my palm against the pipes. Warm, but not scalding. The manila envelope tucked behind it …

Elara Nightwood

The bell began at seventeen minutes past midnight, which meant someone had counted the hours and chosen the threshold with care. Mara woke to the sound travelin…

Yuki Kazehara

At seven-forty on a wet Thursday morning, Arai Fumika unlocked the East Asian Decorative Arts room and saw at once that one of the bronze seals had become too o…

Marcus Veil

1. The condensation in Module 4-C existed at a constant 37 degrees Celsius. Elara wiped the metal panel with her sleeve, watching the beads of moisture smear in…

Elara Nightwood

The mapmaker came home on the first warm Sunday after the river rose, which meant the house had been alone for three weeks with only the water's memory for comp…