BY CLAIRE OERTLY
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Physics teacher Mike Purvines, has a so-called “cookbook culprit” on his hands. He has been receiving an anonymous cookbook once a day in his personal box in the office for the past few weeks. He and his sophomore chemistry student Jack Rosetti have been attempting figure out the identity of the mystery figure and what their motivation was to begin this tradition.

This trend started last month and has continued each day. Purvines thinks of the books as a kind-hearted joke.

“I think it’s kind of funny. Someone’s just playing with me a bit here. It’s kinda nice because they know I’m into cookbooks, but they’re just putting them in there, no notes,” Purvines said. “It’s just an odd assortment of kind of some funny stuff.”

Purvines spends the majority of his time at RHS teaching, and therefore has a difficult time trying to pinpoint who put these cookbooks in his box.
After hearing about the situation, Rosetti became infatuated with the case and was determined to help figure out who’s behind it all.

“I was curious about all the old cookbooks in Mr. Purvines’ class and I just wanted to know who’s behind all of it,” Rosetti said.

With help from Purvines, Rosetti was able to formulate a list of suspects who had both the motive and opportunity to place the books.

“Only time will tell,” Rosetti said. “I just have to narrow down the list of people and hopefully by then I’ll have figured out a method to isolate one person.”

Rosetti concocted a plan to figure out which period the books were being delivered by staking out the office before and after each period. He then wrote the period number on a piece of paper to figure out which period the culprit had time to perform the act.

From there, he shared the information with Purvines.

“I really liked the piece of paper in my mailbox that had a one a two and a three so we could determine what period it was [delivered],” Purvines said.

According to Purvines, the list of potential suspects is longer because he has worked at RHS for several years.

“I suspect some people but I don’t know for sure and until I know for sure I don’t even know what my response will be,” Purvines said. “I’m definitely gonna have to get even in one way, shape or form.”

While Purvines is curious as to who may be behind all of this, he’s allowing Rosetti to take lead on the investigation. Purvines assists by answering Rosetti’s questions.

“He’s not doing the ‘investigating’ for me,” Rosetti said. “He’s just giving me answers to any questions I have. He’s a big help.”

Purvines considers the possibility of several people holding a part in the charade.

“It might be a team of people doing it or it may be one,” Purvines said.

Detective work has always sparked an interest in Rosetti and the Cookbook Culprit case is a perfect way for him to experience what he’s been interested in.

“I’ve always been interested in solving crimes – well, this isn’t a crime, but I’ve always been interested in stuff like detective work,” Rosetti said. “This is a fun little project. I just think it’s cool.”

According to Rosetti, investigating this case gave him a broader appreciation for his teacher.

“Mr. Purvines is a great teacher and I really enjoy being in his class,” Rosetti said.