The Real Miss Marple

Jewelry and cash had been steadily disappearing from rooms at the home near the Bad Lobenstein spa resort in the German state of Thüringen for months. Finally, one elderly detective decided enough was enough.

Despite being 95 years old, the silver-haired sleuth not only came up with her own plan to catch the thief but also executed the capture of the felon herself.

Leaving money out in her room as bait, the nonagenarian crime buster then hid in her toilet and waited. Soon enough, the opportunist crook – a cleaner at the home – came in to swipe the loot, unaware she was being watched by the gray crusader.

The old 'cash on the table, hide in the toilet' trick

"Then the old lady hit the alarm button in the toilet and staff in the home nabbed the cleaner," said a police spokesman in the nearby town of Saalfeld on Thursday.

"It was a real case of Miss Marple," the spokesman said. "It's good to know there are still courageous old ladies out there."

The cleaner, 36, later confessed to police she was responsible for other thefts from the elderly resident at the home.