Blog 11/6

Midnight Murder

Detective Diane Dent (1. protagonist, 2. alliteration) rolled over in her bed. She couldn’t sleep. The tree outside her bedroom window was scratching against the glass as the wind howled like a wolf (3. simile). Normally, she was able to sleep through any storm, but tonight was different. Something about the cool October night (4. stock setting) gave her goosebumps and convinced her to leave the bathroom light on, just in case. It was silly really for a detective to be afraid of the dark (5. irony), she thought, yet tonight she felt as if something terrible might happen. A siren wailed (6. onomatopoeia) in the distance.

Just after midnight, the buzzing of her iPhone woke Diane up. “Hello?” she answered. It was the Warren County Police Chief calling her to notify her of a murder in the area, telling her that she should come to the police station immediately.

At 11:58, emergency dispatchers had received a call from a citizen, claiming to have heard a gunshot from her neighbor’s house. Virginia Washington, an elderly widow of a prominent wealthy family (7. periodic sentence), was found dead in her home shortly after. Detective Dent arrived at the crime scene to investigate just as emergency personnel were leaving with Mrs. Washington’s body. Upon inspection, there were no signs of forced entry and there were bloodstains on the carpet in the living room, evidence of the scene of the gunshot. Diane made a not to notify the police to call Mrs. Washington’s family members in for questioning.

The first person Diane spoke to was Mrs. Washington’s daughter, Anna Smith. It was a tiring round of questioning since Anna was beside herself with grief.

“When they told me my mother had passed away (8. euphamism) I was shocked. And outraged that she had been shot, no less! Who would do such a thing?” she blubbered.

“Well, can you think of anyone who may have wanted to harm your mother?” Diane posed bluntly. Anna thought for a moment and replied, “You know, I never really trusted my mother’s home nurse. My mother has a large fortune to her name and in her current, well past, mental state I could see how one could easily take advantage of her. I don’t mean to say that the nurse murdered my mother—how absurd. I just don’t trust her is all. I had been thinking about replacing her, and in light of what happened I guess I should have acted sooner.”

Following the latest lead, the house nurse, Beth (9. flat character), was brought in for questioning. That night, she claimed to be at her own home because it was her night off and Anna was supposed to be watching Mrs. Washington.

“I know my alibi is weak, but I swear to you that I was asleep when Mrs. Washington was shot. I live thirty minutes south from that neighborhood. I would sooner fly to the moon and back (10. hyperbole) then drive all the way out there in the middle of the night. I did not shoot the woman!” Beth exclaimed.

Diane sighed (11. simple sentence). “Now Beth, I am not accusing you of anything. We are simply doing all that we can to gather the facts to solve this case. Your honesty is greatly appreciated.”

The next day, Detective Dent received information that an antique clock was missing from Mrs. Washington’s mantle. Anna visited the crime scene and noticed the clock’s absence immediately. According to Anna, the medium-sized clock, encrusted with sapphires, was a family heirloom and it was quite valuable. Diane thought that this new development might be linked to the murder and could provide a clue as to who the murderer is. If she could find the clock, then she could potentially find the murderer (12. antecedent-consequence relationship).

She sat down to puzzle through the case, mapping (13. anthimeria) it from the crime scene to suspects. From what she had learned, Mrs. Washington was mobile, but it didn’t make sense that she would be up and walking in the middle of the night. Something must have woken her and drawn her to the living room. The intruder (14. agent) must have entered the home through a door or window (15. act ,16. agency), probably aiming to steal the clock. He or she probably encountered Mrs. Washington and, in haste, fired the gun. “Now, who would want to steal the clock?” she thought. “A better question is, who knew about the clock?” Diane called for a warrant to search nurse Beth’s home. The search yielded no clock. Moving on, Anna’s home also received a visit from the police. They did not find the clock. Diane seemed to be running out of options.

Just in time, the lab results came back from fingerprints found at the scene of the crime. The prints matched those of James Smith, Anna’s husband. So, he was brought in for questioning and further searches were conducted. The jeweled clock turned up in James’ office at his book-binding company. Diane reasoned that since James’ fingerprints were found at the home and he had possession of the stolen clock, then he must be involved in the murder of Mrs. Washington (17. deductive reasoning). Weeks later, James Smith was convicted of the murder of Mrs. Washington. James the criminal (18. epithet) was sentenced to life in prison.

219.  point of view—3^rd person

220.  delivery—the delivery is a short story format