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The Problem of the Covered Bridge

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354:". Hank leaves to take a jar of apple sauce to Millie's house in a horse and buggy. Sam and Millie follow Hank in another buggy. They are stopped briefly when Walt Rumsey drives his cattle across the road to drink from a pond, and Hank disappears into the distance while they are stopped. Sam and Millie follow Hank's tracks to a covered bridge. The tracks enter the bridge, but don't come out the other side. There is a smashed jar of apple sauce in the middle of the bridge. Hank, his horse and buggy have disappeared. 79: 25: 358:
to a halt. Realizing that Walt Rumsey was driving his cattle to drink from a frozen pond, Dr. Sam investigates and tries to apply the solution of "The Problem of Thor Bridge" to the murder. When he works out what has happened, he gathers all of the suspects at the Bringlow house to reveal the solution.
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The Bringlows call Sheriff Lens, who declares that Hank is playing a trick, and will return eventually. They later find Hank at the side of the road in his buggy, but he is dead, shot in the back of the head. The reins had been tied down, indicating that Hank was already dead before the buggy came
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Dr. Sam explains that the disappearance was planned as a joke by Hank, enlisting Rumsey's assistance. While the herd delayed Sam and Millie, Hank and Walt created fake buggy tracks into the covered bridge using a pair of extra buggy wheels. Then Hank hid in Walt's barn. Walt, having been in love
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Hoch was inspired while looking at a watercolor landscape of a covered bridge; the story developed from his idea of a carriage riding into the covered bridge but never coming out the other side. He says it took him two days to work out the idea and develop the story. He created as the detective
342:. He meets the Bringlow family, Jacob and Sarah, their daughters Susan and Sally, their son Hank, and Hank's fiancée Millie. Dr. Sam is treating Sarah, and has come to know the Bringlows well. He notices that Hank is reading copies of 418: 96: 338:
by an older Dr. Sam Hawthorn to an unidentified listener. The flashback is set in March 1922, when Sam first came to the small town of Northmont in his new yellow
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This was probably the most talked about story of the series. Hoch wrote a later story, "The Second Problem of the Covered Bridge", which was published in
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story. It introduces the characters of Dr. Sam Hawthorn, Sheriff Lens, and the town of Northmont. It is included in Hoch's book
257: 111: 413: 408: 100: 381: 403: 351: 319:'s famous Dr Sam: Johnson. The editors also suggested that Hoch make his character speak in a country dialect. 136: 89: 299: 362:
with Millie and jealous of Hank, saw his opportunity to kill his romantic rival and cover up the crime.
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character a New England doctor in 1930s, and named him Sam after
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December 1998. Three more stories about the character followed.
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Works originally published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
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liked the idea, but added a surname to distinguish him from
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Diagnosis: Impossible: The Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne
49: 39: 297:(Crippen & Landru, 1996). It is also included in 285:(Dec 1974 issue). It is part of a sub-type of the 252: 242: 232: 222: 210: 200: 190: 180: 103:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 8: 175: 174: 163:Learn how and when to remove this message 371: 303:, the famous anthology edited by Hoch. 346:magazine, which includes the two-part 7: 101:adding citations to reliable sources 112:"The Problem of the Covered Bridge" 176:The Problem of the Covered Bridge 14: 269:The Problem of the Covered Bridge 379:Mystery Short Fiction: 1990-2007 258:The Problem of the Old Gristmill 77: 23: 313:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine 282:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine 216:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine 88:needs additional citations for 1: 279:which was first published in 435: 352:The Problem of Thor Bridge 384:October 7, 2008, at the 38:, as no other articles 344:Hearst's International 414:Locked-room mysteries 409:Mystery short stories 334:The story is told in 97:improve this article 317:Lillian de la Torre 300:All but Impossible! 287:locked room mystery 177: 404:1974 short stories 57:for suggestions. 47:to this page from 311:. The editors of 265: 264: 233:Publication place 173: 172: 165: 147: 71: 70: 426: 388: 376: 291:impossible crime 253:Followed by 224:Publication date 178: 168: 161: 157: 154: 148: 146: 105: 81: 73: 66: 63: 52: 50:related articles 27: 19: 434: 433: 429: 428: 427: 425: 424: 423: 394: 393: 392: 391: 386:Wayback Machine 377: 373: 368: 348:Sherlock Holmes 332: 275:short story by 243:Media type 225: 169: 158: 152: 149: 106: 104: 94: 82: 67: 61: 58: 48: 45:introduce links 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 432: 430: 422: 421: 416: 411: 406: 396: 395: 390: 389: 370: 369: 367: 364: 331: 328: 277:Edward D. Hoch 271:" (1974) is a 263: 262: 254: 250: 249: 244: 240: 239: 234: 230: 229: 226: 223: 220: 219: 212: 208: 207: 202: 198: 197: 192: 188: 187: 185:Edward D. Hoch 182: 171: 170: 153:September 2017 85: 83: 76: 69: 68: 62:September 2017 55:Find link tool 31: 29: 22: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 431: 420: 417: 415: 412: 410: 407: 405: 402: 401: 399: 387: 383: 380: 375: 372: 365: 363: 359: 355: 353: 349: 345: 341: 337: 329: 327: 325: 320: 318: 314: 310: 304: 302: 301: 296: 292: 288: 284: 283: 278: 274: 270: 261: 259: 255: 251: 248: 245: 241: 238: 237:United States 235: 231: 227: 221: 218: 217: 213: 209: 206: 203: 199: 196: 193: 189: 186: 183: 179: 167: 164: 156: 145: 142: 138: 135: 131: 128: 124: 121: 117: 114: –  113: 109: 108:Find sources: 102: 98: 92: 91: 86:This article 84: 80: 75: 74: 65: 56: 51: 46: 42: 41: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 374: 360: 356: 343: 340:Pierce-Arrow 333: 330:Plot summary 323: 321: 312: 309:Sam Sheppard 305: 298: 294: 289:known as an 280: 268: 266: 256: 214: 159: 150: 140: 133: 126: 119: 107: 95:Please help 90:verification 87: 59: 33: 205:short story 16:Short story 398:Categories 366:References 123:newspapers 53:; try the 40:link to it 336:flashback 211:Publisher 43:. Please 382:Archived 350:story, " 247:Magazine 191:Language 273:mystery 195:English 137:scholar 260:  181:Author 139:  132:  125:  118:  110:  36:orphan 34:is an 201:Genre 144:JSTOR 130:books 324:EQMM 228:1974 116:news 99:by 400:: 267:" 166:) 160:( 155:) 151:( 141:· 134:· 127:· 120:· 93:. 64:) 60:(

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"The Problem of the Covered Bridge"
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Edward D. Hoch
English
short story
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
United States
Magazine
The Problem of the Old Gristmill
mystery
Edward D. Hoch
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
locked room mystery
impossible crime
All but Impossible!

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