Student With a Well-Developed Alibi

Wendy Hornsby, author of the L.A.-based Maggie MacGowen mysteries, is also a college history instructor. One of her students, perhaps aware of the sleuthing skills exhibited in her novels, e-mailed Hornsby a most detailed excuse for missing a term paper deadline. The student messaged Hornsby that he had been in a motorcycle accident -- and attached photos of his injuries.

“I didn’t open the photographs,” Hornsby said. “I’ll take his word for it.”

Unclear on the concept: Lois Littlefield and Dorothy Meyer, among other readers, pointed out that a weekly newspaper’s story contained details that didn’t quite add up (see accompanying).

Bodily matters (cont.): Sure, folks in Southern California are known for altering their personal appearances. But Alan Bosshardt of Hawthorne found one shop that seemed to be taking this trend a bit far (see photo).

The real estate bubble: Well, it isn’t ready to burst yet, judging from the price of the residence -- a mobile home, yet -- spotted by Les Moss of Malibu (see accompanying).

“Duh!” award-winner: Marjorie Poe of Playa del Rey sent along the complex instructions that were included with her new pen (see accompanying).

It’s a strange world out there: Some dispatchers’ reports of offbeat 911 calls, as recorded in Star News, an L.A. County sheriff’s publication:

* Passengers complain about a panhandler aboard a train who “has a prosthetic eye and removes it if patrons do not give him money.”

* A male transient “with no teeth” is “demanding a job at a dental office.”

* A resident hears a prowler sneeze outside her bedroom window and then walk away. (Officers investigate and later report: “Neighbor’s dog has bad cold only.”)

* A man complains about a bicycle theft that “occurred 20 years ago.”

* A resident says the Christmas lights on her house are being removed by a male intruder “wearing a flower-print dress.”

* A resident says her cats ran to her and “told her somebody is prowling outside.”

* A resident “hears loud pounding and yelling in apartment above; sounds like someone is fighting.” (Officers investigate and later report: “No fight. Girls trying to kill a large bug.”)

miscelLAny: Kit Hope of Garden Grove noticed an ad in the Tustin News placed by a resident who must live in a house the size of Buckingham Palace. The resident was seeking to sell a Great Dane that was described as an “inside dog only.”