The Case of the Disappearing Salad — A Summer-Land Mystery

It was a beautiful kitchen creation; a summer salad; a mix of spinach, chicken, avocado, strawberries, almonds, and cucumber topped off with a poppy seed dressing. And it’s gone . . .

On a warm, breezy, summer evening in 2024 Ken and Kathie Gray drove to Sunoka Beach Park, a provincial park just outside the bounds of Summerland BC, near Trout Creek, to meet a couple of trusted friends for an outdoor supper. An ordinary event in a familiar place; good people out to enjoy each other’s company; Or so it seemed.

They carried their chairs from the car from the back parking lot to a table on the beach along with a green carry-all and a white salad bowl. Atop a sturdy concrete picnic table was a very snazzy bar-b-que set up with other picnic utensils, plates, and stemware. Everything looked familiar so they settled in for a lovely evening. No one was close by however; swimmers were on the beach though sun-bathers had already gone off to the pub. The sun-drenched clouds turned slowly to orange-grey shadows.

Kathie went in search of Christina who was likely walking her dog in the woods (doing what dogs do in the woods). Doug eventually spotted Ken and led him to the correct location, a lovely sunken garden site protected from the warm though pressing wind. (Ken noticed a thunderstorm warning on his phone.) Something was coming; or was it leaving?

Doug and Ken unpacked the contents of the carry-all. Only later when the women joined them did Kathie ask, “where is my salad?” She had put a lot of effort into the dish. She returned to search the car which turned up nothing. We figured we had left it at home. Too bad, but there’s always chips.

Returning home an hour or so later, there was no salad or bowl anywhere. They searched high and low, upstairs and downstairs, in the car and in the courtyard. No salad; no bowl. What’s going on they thought to themselves? At this point, the theme music from The Twilight Zone began to play in their ears, and Rod Serling joined them, if not in person, then in spirit. The next day they returned to the beach to the table Ken first located only to find no salad or salad bowl. So what happened? Here are some possibilities:

1. Christina and Doug pulled the best gag ever. They simply stashed the salad bowl in their cooler which was right in front of Ken and Kathie at the picnic table. They took it home for later. Ha ha; very funny;
2. Local BC/United party members took it for a social event at the other end of the beach. On the agenda was a new name for a very confused and dysfunctional political party;
3. Local BC conservatives meeting at the other end of the park stole it in the same way they stole members from the above-named BC/United party;
4. Provincial New Democrats were not on the beach, but if they were they would be thrilled to see the provincial political right split its vote; and if Provincial New Democrats were on the beach we would have gladly given the salad to them, that is if we could find it;
5. Someone just found it and thought, this is my lucky day. Anyone can pay forward a coffee at Tim Horton’s—this is special, creative, totally unexpected—this is pure magic.

Some mysteries evolve and intensify over time. Consider the legless man of  Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia. Some stories simply disappear as they don’t have the “ring of truth” about them; they are relegated to the “conspiracy” fictional category. Some stories are beautifully rendered—Agatha Christe or Louise Penny come to mind; others celebrate the author rather than showcasing the author’s talent.

Mysteries challenge the mind and when well written cherish the heart. As for the above, well you decide. And if you happen to find an empty salad bowl in the region of Sunoka Park, please return to sender.