Master Shyloc was on one of his unhurried morning strolls in his home village. It was then that his wandering eyes spotted something strange in his neighbour's yard. There was a colourful lump with a pointy top in Miss Cherry Silkytoes' yard.
"That's one huge pampered mushroom Miss Cherry has managed to grow this year," Master Shyloc admired.
But when he approached the mushroom, it turned out that it wasn't a mushroom at all.
"Miss Cherry!" Master Shyloc shouted out and shook the unconscious lady who was lying on the grass under her pointy hat. Slowly, Miss Cherry opened her eyes and cried out. "Oh, such a horrible thing!"
"What is it, Miss?" Shyloc asked. "What happened to you?"
"It was a horrible ghost!" Miss Cherry exclaimed. "It dragged me out of the house!"
Master Shyloc helped her stand up. "Miss Cherry, you have had a strange dream!"
"It was no dream, I assure you!" Miss Cherry persisted. "I was enjoying my morning tea and meal, when it grabbed me and dragged me outside! And it didn't end there: it turned me into a... mushroom!"
Master Shyloc tried not to smile. "Well, I did mistake you for a mushroom first. A good impression."
"Don't make fun of the situation, Master Shyloc!" Miss Cherry hissed. "It wasn't a dream! I never nap while I eat breakfast! And I won't go inside until that ghost has been dealt with!" she added. "Would you be so kind and drive the ghost away?"
"Why, sure," Master Shyloc said and went inside.
As he expected, there were no ghosts and nothing out of the ordinary – except the unfinished breakfast, consisting of apples, eggs, bacon and pie. Master Shyloc took a slice of bacon and went outside, licking his lips. "It seems quite safe," he said to Miss Cherry and waved bye, continuing his morning stroll.
But he had only passed a few burrows when Master Togo ran to him, looking petrified.
"Calm down, dear sir" Master Shyloc said to the hobbit and offered his pipe to him.
After a few nervous puffs, Master Togo could speak. "A ghost threw me out of my burrow just now. It tried to turn me into a mushroom!"
Master Togo did look like a mushroom as well, dressed in his wide-brimmed straw hat, Master Shyloc thought. Shyloc frowned. "Would you like me to have a look into your burrow?"
"Oh, thank you so much!" Master Togo sighed. "I didn't even manage to finish my breakfast!"
Once again, Master Shyloc went inside and inspected the rooms, but there was not a sign of a ghost. He stopped by the breakfast table and looked at the apples, pie, bacon and sausages. He picked up an apple and ate it quickly before going outside. "The place is quite safe, Master Togo," he said and departed, licking his lips.
But once again, his morning stroll was interrupted. This time, it was the old Missus Berylla who was weeping in her yard, looking like a mushroom under her rain hat.
"Let me guess," Master Shyloc sighed. "A ghost threw you out while you were having a breakfast?"
Missus Berylla looked a bit baffled, but she nodded.
"Would you like me to take a look at your breakf... into your, err, burrow?" Master Shyloc asked.
Once again, Master Shyloc went inside. He did enjoy to taste other folks' breakfasts, but still... Something was amiss here.
There was no ghost in Missus Berylla's burrow, as he had suspected. He went to look at the unfinished breakfast, consisting of bacon, sausages, apples and pie. Master Shyloc sat down and scratched his head. Finally, he took a slice of pie and ate it.
The walls started to wobble. The air filled with ominous, green gas and there, he saw it approach: a ghost, transparent and evil-looking. Master Shyloc shook his head, but the ghost didn't disappear. It got closer!
"Did you come to turn me into a mushroom?" Master Shyloc enquired.
The ghost grinned, but didn't say a word. It pointed at the burrow door.
"I can find my way out on my own, thank you," Master Shyloc said and stood up carefully. "I trust you find your way out too."
The ghost looked a bit disappointed. Master Shyloc took a sausage from the table and wobbled out with his walking stick.
Outside, the green gas disappeared as Master Shyloc inhaled the fresh morning air. "Your burrow is quite safe now, Missus Berylla" Master Shyloc said. "Just dispose of the mushroom pie, it seems to be spoiled."
"Where did you get that pie, Missus?" he asked, munching the sausage.
Missus Berylla directed him to a pie seller (who remains anonymous in this story).
Miss Pie Seller was disgusted to hear that her mushroom pies had made people see ghosts.
"It must have to do with the ingredients," Master Shyloc said. "Have you changed the recipe recently?"
Miss Pie Seller shrugged. "Not really. I just got a new mushroom supplier, that's all."
And she directed Master Shyloc to another burrow which belonged to the supplier.
The supplier seemed to be engaged in some serious bagpipe-tooting, so Master Shyloc took the liberty to inspect the mushroom tent on his own.
The air was filled with green gas. Through it, Master Shyloc saw a company of ghosts playing cards in the corner of the tent. He left the tent hastily and went to the pie seller, advising her to use a safer mushroom supplier for her bakery.
"What about the pies though?" Miss Pie Seller asked. "It would be a shame to throw them away!"
Master Shyloc grinned. "I know a solution."
On another autumn morning, Miss Lobelia Sackville-Baggins received a huge pie delivery. But she wasn't very fond of mushroom pies, so she took them to a newly-discovered cellar beneath Bag End. They say that the cellar has been haunted ever since... But that's another story.
So, that's how Master Shyloc solved the case of the ghost and got an extra breakfast at the same time.
The End.
((This story was inspired by the "burrow bug" that appeared after an update. People were kicked out of their homes all of a sudden and found themselves in their yard, unable to enter their burrow for a few minutes.))
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