M is for Murder

M is for Murder

On a frigid and gloomy day, I was sitting in the middle of the town conference in the City Hall, where we were required to go for a special meeting. We were all discussing the way to chasten the recently convicted criminal. After a few minutes, we hear a cell phone ring and someone comes into the hall and yells, “The Mayor has been murdered!” And that was my cue.

I am Chet Vasvey, the state’s top detective. When a case appears, I am the first they turn to. I casually stood up and said, “Seal off the town… we have a case on our hands.” The townsfolk were thrown into a disquiet upheaval, but the were very submissive to my demands because they trusted me and wanted to find out who had killed their town‘s mayor. So I told the person who had reported the crime, who was a blonde male, no older than twenty, wearing a dark green sweater, dress pants, and a pair of dirty sneakers to take us to the Mayor’s body.

The Mayor was located in his office, the second floor of the City Hall. It was a very compact office, even for a man of his status. I tried to abstain from vomiting at the sight of the atrocious office. The cabinets were removed from it’s place and all the files they contained were spread across the floor. One of the windows were broken as if it was used as a means of escape. The Mayor’s desk had it’s cabinets destroyed and it’s doors were ripped off their hinges. The Office was a mess. The Mayor’s body had been mangled horribly. He was literally in two places at once. He had been sliced in half, his bowels and bodily fluids covering most of the files that had been on the floor. His eyeballs had been punctured, leaving empty spaces in his eye sockets. I felt the most pity for the Mayor’s wife who had fainted at the sight of her husband’s empty shell of a body.

We were looking for any clues or little details that would help. After a few hours, many of the people that had been with us in the office were left stupefied. But, at last! I had found a small implement under his left kidney that was emitting a type of beacon. Now my special trait began to kick in. Whenever I find the smallest detail that may help, my mind begins connecting the already collected information and begins forming a hypothesis on how the murder may have been taken place. I assumed the killer was incredibly stealthy and resourceful, since he had abducted some important city files without leaving a trace. I had confiscated a file I had found that contained information on how the taxes were being used. Later while I was reading that file, I had found some data that informed me that the Mayor had been secretly stealing part of the money used for the city and had been using that money for himself. He had over nine million dollars left in his account!

Then after I had gathered a sufficient amount of information, I began to question the townsfolk one by one. I had enumerated my suspects. They were three. First, the Mayor’s Advisor, Ted Young, a very forbidding, pale faced politician, the young blonde, who went by the name of Pen Rivers, and the Mayor’s Secretary, Pamela Dense. The Mayor’s Advisor had hated the Mayor ever since he lost to him in the past elections. They had apparently came to a truce after the Mayor began to rob the city because during his interrogation he had admitted to, while detracting the Mayor, knowing what the Mayor was doing. Just as long as he made the decisions for he mayor he wouldn’t rat out the Mayor. He said he had no reason to kill the Mayor because he was receiving what he ultimately wanted. But we were able to also affirm his alibi, he was with us in the conference when the murder occurred.

Next, Pen Rivers. He was the one who reported the death of the Mayor. He said he was snooping around the second floor to see if there was anything to steal. Apparently Pen is a repetitive pilferer. He said he had taken the precaution of not being caught but couldn’t help but checking out a noise by the Mayor’s office. “The office door was open and I just happened to see the Mayor dead” , that was his claim. Even as unscrupulous and far-fetched as it sounds, he adhered to his claim. I didn’t believe him for one second.

Now for the lovely Pamela Dense. She was a long, thin, very beautiful lady, of the blonde variety. She was a looker, I came to that conclusion after I couldn’t stop looking at her. She had confessed to me that she had an affair with the Mayor. Her affair had lasted for five years. She was offered a “raise”, such an ambiguous word nowadays in businesses and politics, by the Mayor. After much hassle, she had finally accepted his proposal. These “proposals” were usually every other day when everyone had left the second floor. It was incalculable how many times he had to stay to do some “extra work”. She said she had to leave early that day because she had some business to attend to at home, reason also for her not being at the conference. Pamela had later said that she had fallen in love with the Mayor and she would never want him dead. “Oh how many times have I heard that one…,” thinking to myself. But, then it hit me! I had solved the case.

I had requested an audience with the town to explain how I had figured out the case. I explained “after searching Pamela’s house, that she did, in fact, leave early but never made it home. She snuck into a solitary place and returned to the second floor while everyone was at the conference. Also, Ted was with us when the murder happened, but after searching recent calls on his phone, it was his phone that had rung! But a call from who? It was from Pen! He had called Ted’s phone after he activated the small beacon that was found under the Mayor’s kidney. His office was strategically placed to make it look like a sabotage but, something went wrong.

”The mayor had planned to use the money to go a very long trip, Ted in charge and taking Pamela with him. But Pamela and Ted had a plan of their own. Pamela’s name isn’t Pamela Dense, it’s actually Rebecca Waiver, Ted’s unknown lover! She never slept with the Mayor… I had lie detectors placed secretly in the room and after a background check she had changed her name prior to coming to work for the Mayor. Ted and Rebecca wanted to take the money and go spend it on themselves, leaving the town with no funds. So they hired Pen, who isn’t who I thought he was either, he is actually a skilled assassin of the age of thirty who was sent to kill the Mayor.” The police started to crowd around the three suspects.

“The profits Ted and Rebecca were going to make -as I continued- greatly surpassed the money they had to pay Pen. Pen coming in and telling us the Mayor had been murdered was all a ploy to signal Ted and Rebecca that the deed has been done and tried to give them time to escape. But they didn’t expect all of you to cooperate and seal off the town leaving them trapped inside.” Pamela starts to cry while Ted holds her firmly. “Stop this! -yelled Ted- You have no proof!”

“No proof? -I remarked- I took the necessary precautions to catch you.” I proceeded to show the town indisputable evidence to prove them guilty. “That should be enough proof for you.” Ted stayed silent. “Police apprehend them!” Then the police cuff the three suspects and deals them the correct amount of justice.

A few months have passed since then and the town is still trying to cope with what they have discovered since the murder. Later on, as I walked into my office as head of the Vasvey Detective Agency, I get a call. They are the police and they say, “We found a dead body and it may point to possible homicide, but we can’t find any suitable evidence. Can you come check it out?” And that is my cue.