"The Mystery Story" or "Tale of Detection" is a somewhat modern idea, and most fans and some scholars credit Edgar Allen Poe with its genesis. But mysteries go back to -- hmm - Genesis, with a crime and missing persons case in the Garden, and a sibling murder case in Genesis chapter 4 where God interrogates the surly chief suspect who is uncooperative.
OK, that's somewhat facetious. But there are two stories of mysteries being solved by a smart investigator in the "Apocrypha," books of the Bible accepted as authoritative by some groups and not others, but still instructive. I'm talking about two brief additions to the Book of Daniel called "Susanna and the Two Elders" and "Bel and the Dragon." "Susanna" is a courtroom drama and "Bel" is a locked room mystery, each featuring the young Daniel as the solver of a puzzle. The stories date to around 150 BC.
In "Susanna," the graceful and beautiful wife of a wealthy man bathes in the family's walled outdoor garden on one hot day and sends her maidservants to fetch aromatic soaps. Once they leave, two corrupt judges (known for freeing the guilty, and who have had their lustful eye on her for a while) emerge from their voyeurs hiding spot and demand certain favors. If she refuses, they warn, they'll say they showed up in time to catch her with a young guy who got away 'and that's why you sent away the servants.' Such adulterous behavior has a death penalty. Susanna virtuously refuses and is dragged before an assembly for a trial. The elders' testimony is enough to convict her and she is led off to be executed. "Not so fast," pipes up Daniel. "I have a couple of questions for these guys." The crowd agrees, and Daniel asks them a question -- separately. "What tree was she under with the young man?" They give different answers; Susanna is exonerated and the elders are executed instead. Justice wins.
In "Bel," the Persian king asks his trusted adviser Daniel what he thinks about his god Bel and Daniel boldly says 'he's a hunk of clay that can't eat.' The king angrily disagrees, because the large food offerings put in Bel's temple disappear every night. He orders the 70 priests of Bel to prove Bel eats the nightly buffet. Sure, they reply. We'll put the usual menu out and lock the door. If the food disappears, kill Daniel for his blasphemy. If not, kill us. OK, the king says, and the priests depart, chuckling. Once they leave, Daniel says: let me leave a little offering, too -- and he scatters flour on the floor. The next day the food is gone. But the floor is covered with the footprints of the priests and their families who come each night through a secret door to consume the goodies. Enraged by being fooled, the king orders the priests executed. Truth wins. Falsehood -- ie, idolatry -- loses.
In "Susanna, there are a few things to notice. Even though the Bible says 'the testimony of two men is true,' the testimony of corrupt men isn't, and the commandment 'you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor' is upheld. Unfortunately, the witness of a woman is worthless, so it's notable that Daniel risks himself to speak up for her -- even risking being accused of being the 'young man' she was lying with in the garden. But the two unjust judges don't have an opportunity to collude on that detail. Daniel, then, becomes the independent investigator who sees something no one else does, like the 'amateur sleuth of independent means' later in the genre. Questioning people apart is often the tactic of later detectives, like Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express." Reason wins over passion, another mystery theme. And clearly, the God of Justice and Truth is the real winner here. Fidelity is rewarded: to Susanna's husband, to God, to The Law.
This reminds me of the teachers' story of the two slackers who miss the Final Exam on purpose and ask fellow students 'what questions were on the exam?', and then ask for an immediate makeup (note: I always had an alternative exam for makeups). They claim they had a flat tire on the way to school. OK, the prof agrees, and separates them, giving each an exam with one question: which tire was flat?
As for "Bel," it's clear that this can be cited as an early locked room mystery. There is also the setting of a trap, a device used much in later detective fiction.
Both stories, like mystery stories in general, have a decidedly moral purpose: to show the triumph of good over evil, reason over chaos, and truth over deceit.
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