WHAT IF A SHADOW COULD LIE?

At exactly noon, a priceless three-hundred-year-old astrolabe is stolen from a supposedly impossible-to-break vault.

There are no explosives.
No tunnel.
No hacker.

And the prime suspect has a perfect alibi: he is standing in the town square, surrounded by witnesses, with a shadow that proves exactly where he was.

But Sam, Jake, and Mia see something nobody else notices.

The shadow is wrong.

The Oakhaven Junior Detectives soon discover that the impossible alibi hides an extraordinary scientific trick involving sunlight, mirrors, geometry, and a machine powerful enough to melt metal.

Their investigation takes them deep into an abandoned textile mill, where forty-eight motorized mirrors are turning sunlight into a terrifying solar furnace?and the stolen astrolabe is at the center of the experiment.

To survive, the detectives must think faster than the machine.

Inside this thrilling STEM mystery, readers will:

• Solve an impossible alibi using shadows, measurements, and trigonometry.
• Discover how sunlight can be redirected and concentrated into extraordinary amounts of heat.
• Explore the science of reflection, mirrors, and heliostats through a real detective investigation.
• See invisible light become visible through the fascinating Tyndall effect.
• Learn how clues hidden in the electromagnetic spectrum can expose a carefully constructed lie.

This is science without the classroom lecture: a fast-moving mystery where mathematics and physics become the detectives' most powerful tools.

And just when Case #21 is solved, a mysterious signal from orbit reveals that something is happening above Oakhaven...

The next case has already begun.

Perfect for curious readers 13+ who love mysteries, science, technology, puzzles, adventure, and clever young detectives.

Open the case file. Follow the evidence. Test the science.