Mysterious Death in Maine

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron received word from across the sea, from the United States, that a distant cousin had died from mysterious causes. He was only 57 years old and a very active person. He was Cousin William.

William had moved from Lilliland to the rock-bound coast of Maine many years ago because he wanted to live near the ocean and not beside a lake. Castle Lake was quite large but not large enough for Cousin William who loved ocean sailing. He had two loves, the ocean and growing roses.

The Baron and Lady Angela would often visit William at his home located on a large bay in Maine. He named the bay Lilly Bay in remembrance of Lilliland. When some of the citizens decided to migrate to the United States, they would often settle in Main near Lilly Bay.

The Baron, upon receiving word of Cousin William's untimely death, called Lady Angela and Professor Hamblin, his chief advisor, to go with him to Maine to investigate the cause of death.

Upon their arrival, the Baron asked for and received full diplomatic privileges in obtaining a complete report about his cousin's sudden death. It seems that William died suddenly in his sleep. There was nothing unusual of different in his daily activities. He would spend a lot of time tending his prize roses. It was noted that he was trying out a new form of rose spray. The Baron asked Professor Hamblin to see if there was anything out of the ordinary about the spray. Professor Hamblin had a chemical analysis of the spray and found that all of the ingredients were the same as specified on the bottle and there was nothing out of the ordinary. The Baron again asked Professor Hamblin to check further because he knew of allergies to some chemicals that ran in the Von Lodge family. Sure enough the rose spray had an ingredient to which the Baron and many of his relatives were allergic. This particular chemical caused an anaphylactic shock that caused the system to quickly shut down and unless there was an antidote available and immediately administered, the victim could die. William died in his bed and that meant no one was aware of what was happening nor was anyone available to be of assistance. Sadly, the Baron, Lady Angela and Professor Hamblin returned to Lilliland. All the flags were lowered to half-staff to mourn the loss of a great friend and relative.

The Professor reminded the Baron to be very careful in trying new chemicals so that history did not repeat itself.