Frederick M. Hueston, PhD

I was sitting in my office when she walked in – a tall dame with legs that went on for a while. She was smoking one of those long, thin cigarettes in a holder. She took a puff and said, “I have a marble floor that has these stains all over it, and I don’t know what to do.”

She paused for a moment, exhaling a stream of smoke before continuing. Her gaze was piercing and her voice unwavering. “You’re the famous stone detective and you can help me, right?”

I nodded, gesturing towards the chair in front of my desk. She gracefully sat down, setting her cigarette holder on the edge.

“I’m sure you’ve encountered this problem before,” she stated, her voice low and serious. “I have a marble floor that’s covered in these strange stains. I’m certain they haven’t been there before, and I need to figure out what caused them, and fix it.”

I nodded again, a million questions already swirling around in my head. 

“I’ll do what I can,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady and reassuring. “Leave it to me and I’ll find out what happened.” With that, she smiled, thanked me, and left. Little did I know that I’d soon be in the middle of a mystery that would take me down an unusual path.

I arranged a time to visit her home and take a look at these stains. At first, I thought it would be your run-of-the mill wine or some type of food stains. 

I grabbed my fedora and coat, hopped in the Woody and headed out the door.

I arrived at the address and met the lady at her front door. She led me to the living room, and I immediately noticed these strange gray stains scattered over her marble floor. I asked the standard questions, such as: “How long have they been there? What type of activity goes on in the room?” et cetera. She seemed to know nothing and just shrugged her shoulders on every question as she puffed her cigarette.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something fishy going on. The stains didn’t look like any wine or food stains I had ever seen before.

I needed to take a closer look. As I got down on my knees to inspect the stains, I noticed a strange odor emanating from them. It smelled almost like dirty laundry that had been sitting in the hamper too long. That’s when it hit me — these weren’t ordinary stains.

I stood up and turned to the lady with the legs. “Ma’am, I have reason to believe that these stains may be of a more serious nature than you initially thought. Did you happen to notice any unusual activity or strange smells in the room recently?”

She shook her head and took another puff of her cigarette. “No, not really. But I haven’t been spending much time in this room lately, anyway. I’ve been busy with other things.”

I thanked her for her time and headed back to my office. It was clear to me that this case was more complicated than I had initially thought. I needed to do some more digging and find out what was really going on.

As I sat at my desk, just pondering the mystery of the strange gray stains and the smell. Something just didn’t add up. But I was determined to get to the bottom of it, no matter what it took. I put on my thinking cap, took a sip of my coffee, and got to work.

While searching for types of stains on Google, I was struck with an idea worthy of Sherlock Holmes. Despite not being a smoker, I ran across the street and purchased a pack of cigarettes. I returned to my office, lit a cigarette, collected some ashes, and spread them onto a piece of white marble. I removed my shoe and ground them into the stone. To my surprise, the same type of stain appeared. I recalled that she had walked into my office smoking a cigarette, and it all made sense. Her cigarette ashes were the culprit behind the stain. 

When I informed her of my findings, she seemed skeptical, so I added, “Look: this is a simple fix, using a peroxide poultice. I’ll even give you the name of a local restoration guy who can handle it.” 

She agreed that might be a good idea. Another case solved, and one for the books.


The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Dr. Frederick M. Hueston, PhD, written to entertain and educate. Dr. Fred has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration and also serves as an expert for many legal cases across the world.  Send your comments to fhueston@stoneforensics.com.