Case 1 - The Missing Moon Rock Mystery: Sometime in June, 2031, Stella & the other members of Gloomytown's Astronomy Hobbyist club were set to enjoy a day trip tour to their town's local museum, for the grand opening of its space exhibit. But when the exhibit's most prized object, a moon rock, is mysteriously stolen following a temporary blackout, suspicion soon falls on the entire club. Teaming up with the only witness they have, fellow club member & apparently an astrophotographer Madison; the two set out to solve the crime & catch the real thief, before anyone gets wrongfully arrested.

  Idk much about specific details but basically the plot goes is that after some investigating, Madison & Stella find out that she wasn't actually the only witness- almost everyone in the club's seen something during the blackout, but Maddie was the only one willing to speak up from the start. Maddie & Stella have this dynamic where Stella gathers facts, evidence, and testimony from investigating & interviewing the others, asking Maddie for her thoughts, as the latter tries to tie it all together into a scenario to figure out what actually happened, then Stella corrects anything Maddie might've missed or got wrong with her own observations of the facts, then this process repeats until they have a more polished & refined idea of the truth.

  Eventually, after some trial & error & questioning more witnesses, they eventually get Braker Lockwood to confess to picking the lock to the storage room where the moon rock was being kept before it was supposed to be rolled out for a grand reveal; but plot twist!!!! Before Braker can tell them she was being coerced by her uncle, Mr. Lockwood; he sneaks into the room behind Stella & Maddie & he bashes them both in the head with a suitcase containing the rock he stole.

  Somehow Mr. Lockwood manages to frame both Stella & Maddie for the crime while they were unconscious, so they now have to prove themselves & each other innocent, eventually finally catching Mr. Lockwood as the true culprit (and also revealing that he was going to sell it to an illegal smuggling ring). They also go to the hospital immediately afterwards because they both might have a teensy little concussion, oops. But just before the ambulances come, Stella hands Braker her business card, just in case the kid needs her help in the future, and as a way to say thanks for the help.

  Case 2 - The Suburban School Student Secret: About a month later, school's started again in July. Cashing in on the favour, Braker calls up Stella- not for anything crazy, she just needs to interview a batch of working professionals from any occupation for a social studies project that'll make up, like, 30% of her grade, and Stella's one of the few adults besides her own parents that probably won't feel awkward to talk to. Perhaps a bit impulsively, and also bored out of her mind for SOMETHING interesting to do, Stella readily agrees to lend her assistance. ...It's only after Braker sends her the project information that she realises... oh, it's the school she used to teach at, just before she recently quit. That's... going to be weird.

  But Stella does show up on Wednesday, and they have their interview in the school library after Braker's done with her curriculum classes. But not even a few moments after Braker's finished writing down the transcript- they're annoyingly interrupted by one of Stella's old colleagues- and Braker's self-appointed unwanted mentor, the school discipline master (I do not have a name for this guy yet, please bare with me here). He's been getting on Braker's arse about her locksports hobby & saying it'll lead to "criminal life" & pull her into the wrong crowd when she really just thinks locksports are cool & doesn't enjoy having assumptions made about her harmless hobbies. 

  Meanwhile, he also comments on how much of a shame it is that Stella's quit her safe & stable teaching job to pursue her dreams like some childish romantic teen; much to her exasperation & gritted teeth. Still, it plants in her a seed of doubt; did she make the right call? She tries to put on a brave face to let Braker conduct her interview.

  But it's all cut short when panic & whispers rumble among the students & staff. A student's gone missing. For one last time, Stella sets out among her former coworkers to help search; but unlike them, she investigates- Braker in tow, essentially taking the place as both her assistant and apprentice. Stella insists she has no idea what she's doing, really; but Braker stares at her with wide eyes and awe nonetheless, and answers in earnest when Stella asks her what she makes of all this.

  Eventually, following the trail of clues left behind leads to both of them realising that this was a love story. The missing student was off-grounds, meeting up with her girlfriend from another school, both of them disguising their escapades as after-school classes so their parents wouldn't be suspicious. But something's gone wrong; and they've both accidentally locked themselves in an old, barely-used storage closet at a local mall.

  Braker picks the lock with ease, and the closet opens just in time. The couple are just barely conscious, due to the poor ventilation, but alive.

  Meanwhile, Stella puts together that both the lovers' families are... disapproving. Stella can certainly sympathise, as an older queer herself. And... for as much as she values the truth, this isn't hers to tell. She imparts the couple with advice of her own; where queer-friendly hangout spots in town are, and where they can continue secretly meeting without risking suffocation.

  She reports back to the school & the families that the children have been found, and are safe and sound, but doesn't elaborate more than that, returning the evidence to their respective owners & claiming she just found the kids by chance. 

  And as the young lovers thank her, she knows she's made the right choice.

  Case 3 - The Wishful Wildfire Whispers: A disastrous wildfire has swept across a large part of town, reducing entire buildings and livelihoods to ash. Stella's thankfully unaffected, but as a journalist, steps in to report on the number of casualties and injuries, and all the resources her neighbours are going to need. While she's happy to help, the sight of it all as the aftermath of a disaster... brings up memories of a previous disaster she'd rather forget. 

  She encounters Madison as a fellow volunteer, and the two strike up conversation as they decide to stick together while they're here, each glad for a familiar face. Eventually, Stella's prodded with some concern from Madison, who's noticed something's up with her. Stella eventually opens up about her past experience with the tornado that nearly got her killed; but it's totally fine, she claims! Because it made her realise that she wanted to do more with her life, and that means she has to help all these people, and if she can't be empowered enough to do that, then-

  Stella breaks down in Madison's arms, everything hitting her all at once. The pressure that comes with her freedom, the enormity of trying to help everyone, the fear that she's wasting her life anyway, because she has absolutely no idea what she's doing, here. Was she wrong to choose this path? Would it have been better if she just stayed as a dime-a-dozen physics teacher?

  Madison urges her to just- look around. She is helping people. Stella doesn't have to do any of this if she doesn't want to, but if it weren't for her, so many of these people wouldn't have a chance at getting their voices heard. And plus; Madison's known Stella for years, and being a journalist is the happiest she's ever seen Stella. ...Besides, an old friend once taught her that sometimes, moving on and making the most out of your life is better than staying still and stagnating.

  Emboldened, Stella thanks Madison, and... the two set out with a new goal to help the affected people. They're more than just the tragedies that surround them; and so, along with their needed resources, Stella decides to go the extra mile; interviewing people for their stories about their lives before the wildfires struck, and the things they'll miss about their homes and neighbourhood. This isn't just about supplying food, water, and money anymore; it's about rebuilding their community, and honouring the memories they made.

  But as the day goes on, interviews turn into questions & suspicion, as the testimonies add up. How on Earth did the wildfire start in the first place, and how did it spread so rapidly? Gloomytown isn't exactly arid; it's often cloudy & humid on a good day- though the days have been getting noticeably hotter as of late, but that's just a quirk of the weather, isn't it? ...The trail goes even deeper, as the two find clue after clue; and as it turns out, the town government's been discretely burning a part of the forests to clear land for a factory. That, combined with the pollution & climate change caused by all the machinery, decreased the humidity around the area enough for the fires to spiral out of control. If the factory's built, the town's profits will increase, but so will the chances of another wildfire sparking.

  Stella's presented with a choice, here; get the truth out to the public, or keep her mouth shut to avoid a potential libel lawsuit?

  But here's the thing; Stella's been secretly broadcasting her conversation with the town councilman through an audio recorder on her phone. The other phone receiving that audio? Madison's, who's put it on speaker for nearly everyone else in town to hear.

  Things resolve themselves surprisingly quickly, after that. Knowing there isn't a way to continue operations without making themselves look bad & losing the favour of the people, the town council admits defeat, and recovery for the affected people continues.

  Case 4 - The Ridiculous Romantic Radiowave Ride: Shocking news of a supposedly alien signal has swept the city! Local instruments have detected a powerful radio signal, seemingly unlike anything that's been detected before; dubbed the Woah! Signal in honour of the infamous Wow! Signal of times past. Stella & Madison are both doubtful, as are the rest of the Astronomy Club- this could be anything from a microwave to a neutron star, for all anyone knows, but they all agree to show up for the big statement by the manager of the scientist team that discovered it, anyways, because it's not like they have anything better to do- and Stella wants to, y'know, do her actual job as a journalist.

  Then a dead body drops from the roof, landing in front of the stage.

  Haven't figured out the rest of it yet, but as it turns out, the murderer was using all the buzz from the media about the Woah! Signal as a distraction to kill the victim without notice. Also Stella and Maddie fall more in love over the course of the case, Stella asks Maddie out at the end of it.