In 1884 a school master named Edwin Abbott Abbott wrote the novella “Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions.” The book explored what it would be like to live in a two dimensional universe, and speculated that there might be other dimensions. The Abott’s story lay in obscurity until it was rediscovered in the early 20th century after Einstein wrote “The Theory of General Relativity” which discussed the possibility of a fourth dimension. Since then several films and animations have been made based on Abbott’s novella.

This month’s story revisits Abbott’s flat universe from the point of view of a down and out private detective in search of his first big case.