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He ain't called the "World's Greatest Detective" for nothing, you know. He made his debut nearly seventy years ago in Detective Comics, which is now his title. He's that good. The rest of the detectives that used to be in the book just gave up. Batman could find a needle in a haystack even if you didn't tell him what state the haystack was in.

Which begs the question:
Why hasn't he bothered to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Aunt Harriet?

And why is Alfred seen carrying a dish of Alpo marked "A.H." to the basement once a week?

Mysteries can be infuriating, intriguing and amusing. Each mystery should have a solution that the players can guess with enough information. There should be numerous false leads and several people who want to solve the puzzle before the characters do (and/or who might do anything to prevent the characters from discovering the truth). Mysteries make a nice change of pace from combat or other heroics, and can test skills that some heroes only rarely exercise. They combine well with rescues and espionage, and can tie in really well with disasters if done right.

An important person (celebrity, politician, foreign dignitary, other superhero, etc.) winds up dead. There are no marks on the body. Whodunnit? Howdunnit? Whydunnit? One of the characters finds a clue; A clue that several interested parties would like to see suppressed -- or revealed. It's hard to know whom to trust when everyone's a suspect.

A trusted ally of the characters' (or perhaps even an NPC team member) is acting strangely. What's going on? Is there some rational explanation for this, or is he plotting against the team? This can get even more complicated with the help of a willing player, whose character also starts acting furtive. The players will go nuts trying to figure out what's going on, especially when some shadowy stranger starts hanging around. Is it a set-up or just a game to catch another, hidden infiltrator?

While driving to visit Velma's Aunt Gertrude, the team makes a wrong turn (maybe they let Shaggy handle the map) and end up in what seems like a ghost town. There's nobody there except the sherrif (Don Knotts) and the wacky owners of the local saloon (Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy). They say there's been a phantom in the old mine, scaring everyone away. The team decides to investigate, splitting up to cover more ground. Who will find the ghost first? Who is really to blame? Is it a money-making scheme? Is it revenge-motivated? How many Scooby Snacks will it take to convince Scooby to act as bait for Freddy's trap? What are Daphne's measurements? Is "Jinkies" an expression, or a breakfast cereal?

It was Miss Scarlet in the conservatory with the revolver. Communism was just a red herring.