by Billy Miner
I am all about finding the knowledge, and I have the means to pinpoint what happened… what REALLY happened. Whenever I interview people, they always have their own version of what took place. I kind of like playing a human lie detector. I watch people’s eyes, their posture, their body language, and I add up the details of their stories and conclude what sounds most plausible. And then it’s up to me to go after some hard evidence.
Anyway, I am just rambling about my job. But I just wanted to make clear what I do. I am observant, I am about facts, not fiction. I have a strong desire to find the truth, and that means I must do crazy things sometimes.
I am 24 years old, so some people consider me a rookie, but I have studied how to be a detective for years now, and I know what I am doing. I am single, and someday I will meet the right woman I am sure, but for now, I just focus on work. I love it, it loves me. It’s a good bond. Ha! Just listen to me… talking as if my job is an actual person.
Welcome to my life. There is always something going on. It’s a thrilling adventure.
The Murder
It was pretty nasty when we found her. And with that, I mean more nasty than pretty. The village police was all over it. They saw her body on the floor. There was blood and stuff, but I won’t bother you with the gruesome details of the scene. Let’s just say she was dead and that it was obvious somebody had stabbed her. The blade was gone of course, so it appeared to be a smart enough criminal who figured out hiding the weapon would leave him or her undiscovered.
“Looks like homicide. What do you think?” the police officer asked.
His name was Barnes, and he had been solving cases with me for years now. Most of them were theft, robbery, or some complicated paperwork confusion, but a murder in this tiny village was almost unheard of, so both of us were horrified.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “But it certainly seems to be a stabbing. Perhaps with a dagger, seeing the size and depth of the wound.”
“Well, I am going to look around in the rest of the house,” he said. “We might find some other things that can lead to evidence.”
“Good idea. Just let me know if you see anything suspicious.”
“Will do.”
I bent over and observed the rest of the body. She was lying down on her side, stabbed in the chest, just once. But I knew these kinds of things weren’t always that simple. If I could find other marks, scratches, or wounds, it could indicate a struggle, some material or dust, or something else that would give me another clue about the killer.
“So tell me more about the victim,” I said to one of the police officers.
“Well, her name is Lucy, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I know most people by name here, but what I want, is details. I want to know about her life: The people she was seeing, her partner, her routine… everything.”
I searched a little longer in the house and found some scratches on the walls. Some blood, but not much. It didn’t seem like the victim had struggled for a long time. I also saw a feather. Odd. Where did the feather come from? I picked it up, looked at it, and put it in my pocket.
“I couldn’t find anything,” Barnes said as he came downstairs. “You?”
“Just a few items,” I said. “But I don’t think we’ll see any other clues in here. I am ready to start questioning some of the villagers. How about you?”
“We should start with the husband,” he suggested.
“I completely agree. He must know more about the victim than anyone else. After all, it is his own wife. And if he hasn’t done it, he could point a few fingers.”
“True. But we cannot assume he hasn’t done it. There have been plenty reports from other towns of abusive husbands who murdered their wives for some reason.”
“You are absolutely right, Barnes. Until we find hard evidence that he is innocent, he is still a suspect.”
Suspect 1: Argus
It was afternoon. Lucy’s husband was working in his workshop. He was a blacksmith and had a fine reputation as a qualified blacksmith. We both went, Barnes and I; and we found the husband banging his hammer on a piece of metal.
“Good day, Argus,” I said.
“Good day, gentlemen,” he replied. “What can I help you with?”
“We are here to gather information about your deceased wife.”
“Murdered,” he corrected us.
“I’m sorry?”
“My murdered wife,” he said bitterly. “She didn’t just die by accident. Did you actually see the body?”
“Uhm… yes we did. And you are right. We suspect it was a stabbing.”
“And if I get my hands on whoever did it, he is going to pay,” he added, after which he started banging his hammer on the steel again. I could see his frustration, but I could not exclude him from being a suspect yet. I needed a motive, an alibi, a reason for innocence.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Excuse me,” I said. “Could we please have a word with you?”
He looked at me and said, “I have nothing to say. I didn’t do it.”
“Yes, that may be true, but by asking you some simple questions, we could dig deeper into the matter and perhaps find out who did.”
At first, he was reluctant to cooperate, but then he put his hammer down and invited us to sit on a chair behind him. I noticed, when we went inside, that it was a lovely workshop. The steel was sufficiently organized, and the results of his hard work were hanging on the walls. If anyone would have a murder weapon, it would be this man. The knives, swords, and axes he created were sharp and strong, and my eye caught a glimpse of a knife with blood on it. However, I wasn’t going to point it out immediately, as I didn’t want him to feel like I was accusing him of anything, so I decided to hold my tongue for now.
“Tell us about the night of the murder,” Barnes said.
“Well,” Argus began. “I was out in the bar with my friends. You know, I just do that every weekend to have some fun. I stayed later than usual, and I have to admit that I didn’t come home until 5 in the morning. Most times, it’s not like that though.”
“Go on,” I said.
“And then she was there. I thought she had just passed out, but when I tried to wake her up, I saw the blood and discovered she was dead.”
“What time was it when you found your wife?”
“It was a little after five, like I said.”
“Your story makes sense, Argus, except for the fact that you got the police at 9, so 4 hours later. How come you didn’t get the police right away? Seeing your wife dead on the floor seems like an emergency to me. Didn’t you think it was urgent enough to notify us?”
“Oh, well, the thing about that is… uhm… I couldn’t find the police station.”
“You couldn’t find the police station? How many years have you lived here?”
“Come on, guys, it was dark and you know how all these streets look the same.”
“Still, Argus, it only takes 20 minutes to get there. Would you mind explaining us why it took you 4 hours?”
He was silent. It was obvious that he was hiding something. His hands started fidgeting and he didn’t look me in the eyes anymore. I didn’t know if that made him more of a suspect than anyone else or if something worse was going on.
“Argo,” I said again.
“Fine,” he said in an agitated voice. “I fell asleep, okay? I drank too much and when I saw my wife, I lost my balance and crashed out on the bed. Are you happy now? I am sorry that I didn’t get anyone, but that’s just what happened.”
“I disapprove of your drinking behavior, but knowing that you fell asleep makes you less of a suspect, so it’s important that we know these things.”
“I didn’t do it! Are you getting that in your fat skull? Am I making any sense? Why would I kill my own wife?”
“That’s a good question,” I said. “Can you tell me more about your relationship with her?”
“Oh, now you want to know about my
marriage. Well, let me tell you… it’s none of your business.”
“There is a murderer in town,” I answered. “So yes, it is our business. If you don’t cooperate, we have permission to arrest you. So answer the question, please.”
He became even more frustrated. Poor guy. He banged his fist on the table and blurted it out.
“It was bad! It was really bad! We have been married for 25 years now and something happened. I don’t even know what I did wrong, but each time I went to the bar in the weekend, I found her with some other guy in our home.”
“Do you think she was cheating on you?”
“Yes, I suspect so. I don’t know for sure, but I always saw him with her and they were laughing and talking… I never knew what to say about it. And if I brought it up, then she sneered I shouldn’t go ‘off with the boys to drink,’ and leave her there on her own.”
“And who was this man?”
“His name is Quinto. He lives two blocks away from here. I can’t stand him, so don’t say ‘hi’ for me.”
“Okay, I think I know enough,” I said. “Just one more question. Could you tell me whose blood that is on the knife in the corner?”
“Knife? What knife?”
“The knife over there.”
He looked at where I was pointing and said, “Oh, that. That’s just from the… hey, you don’t think that I killed my spouse with knife, do you? I already told you I was innocent. That’s just from the meat I prepared about an hour ago.”
“Okay, thank you for your cooperation, Argo. I promise you, we will hurry and solve this case as quickly as possible.”
With those words, we left the husband’s workshop and walked towards Quinto’s house.
Suspect 2: Quinto
The next stop with another motive: Quinto. He was the cobbler in town. Everybody who had shoes, went to him, and it gave him a great monopoly. I don’t think I have to mention he was well off financially. I mean, nobody knew how to repair shoes except for him, and since there were almost a thousand people in town, with lots of farmers and craftsmen, shoes needed to be replaced often. But I think all of that is beside the point, because his most important motive, the drama that had just been revealed to us, is that he was a potential cheater.
Quinto greeted us at the door. Apparently, he had nothing else to do this afternoon, which could mean something, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“Good afternoon. Come in.”
Barnes and I went inside and observed the luxurious place he had somebody else build for him. Sapphires were on the table, as well as enderpearls and diamonds, red curtains ornamented the walls, and the table looked like it was made out of glass.
“Nice home,” I said.
“Oh certainly. Make yourselves at home. I designed everything myself. Care for a drink?”
“No, thank you,” I said.
“Come on,” he insisted.
“I will have some. Doesn’t matter what,” Barnes said.
I was okay with my partner taking a drink from this suspect, but I had heard of too many poisoning tales and toxic tea situations to put my trust in anything liquid during an investigation. Quinto went to the kitchen and came back with three drinks.
“I told you I didn’t want any,” I said friendly but firmly.
“Oh, I know. It’s there, just in case you change your mind.”
It smelled delicious. “What is it?” I asked.
“It’s an apple cinnamon mixed with some vanilla.”
“Sounds wonderful,” I admitted. “However, I am not here to chitchat with some hot party drink. We know you knew Lucy very well, and since she has just been found dead this morning, we are here to get to the bottom of this.”
“I didn’t do it,” Quinto said.
“Well, we are not accusing you of anything just yet, but we do need to get some more information from you. First of all, where were you last night?”
“I was with her,” he admitted. “I just swung by to say ‘hi.’ My wife said she needed some help, so I went to check if she was all right.”
This guy was just lying in my face, but I expected nothing less. Of course his wife hadn’t told him to go there. It was because he was seeing Lucy’s when the husband was gone. But it didn’t matter as much as his alibi, so I kept questioning him.
“And then? You went there and came home, right?”
“Uhm… yes, that’s right.”
“Did she do or say anything that made you suspicious?”
“No, she was okay,” he said.
“How long did you stay there?” Barnes asked.
“For about 3 hours… uhm… minutes I mean. I just went, talked with her for a minute or so, and then I left. She said one of her shoes had been ripped, so she was going to take it in today, but now that she is not here, of course that’s not going to happen. It’s terrible.”
This guy was so full of it, but I was still looking for hints of suspicion.
“What time did you leave?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Perhaps midnight.”
“And your wife was okay with that?”
“Well, she didn’t know about it.”
“But you just said she sent you.”
“Oh, did I? Well, yes, she told me about it yesterday, but I couldn’t go because I was too busy, so I just went late in the evening.”
“And when you went home, you…”
“I just went to sleep.”
I dug deeper. “How did you find out about the murder?”
“Well, in this small town, if somebody gets killed two blocks away, you kind of hear about it,” he said.
I had to admit it sounded plausible. News spread fast in this town. I had no further questions, so I just started some small talk until Barnes finished his drink. I stood up and was about to walk out, but then I realized something. If Quinto’s wife knew about him cheating with Lucy, she must have been pretty angry. This could be a motive for her to kill Lucy, just to prevent her from seeing her husband ever again. When I thought of this, I turned around and said, “One more thing, Quinto.”
“Yes? Anything.”
“Can we talk to your wife?”
“My wife? No problem. She is upstairs. Can I come with you?”
“Absolutely not,” I said.
“Fine. Go ahead and talk to her. I don’t care. She probably knows nothing anyway.”
Suspect 3: Famelia
Barnes and I went up the stairs. Barnes looked at me a little surprised and asked me why I didn’t want to interrogate Quinto anymore.
“His wife has more motive than he does. If he was cheating with her, then why would he kill her? It doesn’t even make any sense. I know he was lying about a lot of things, but he doesn’t appear to lie about that,” I said.
“I understand,” Barnes admitted.
We knocked on the door of her bedroom.
“Come in, honey,” she said.
“Uhm, madam, we are not your husband. Are you decently dressed?”
“Oh, sorry. Wait a minute.”
We heard some cleaning up and some messing around going on from behind the door. I was hoping she wasn’t hiding anything that had to do with the murder, for her sake, but then again, if she was, then our search would be over soon.
She opened the door in a brown summer dress.
“You may come in,” she said as she held the door open for us. “Have a seat on the bed, gentlemen. I will sit on that chair, and then you can explain me what this is all about.”
We sat down and began.
“We are in the middle of an investigation about the murder that has been committed last night.”
“Murder? Who got murdered?”
“Lucy, the woman that lives two blocks away from you. I am surprised you didn’t hear anything about it. Your husband did.”
Her eyes were big, as if I had just announced the biggest event in history. Then a slight grin appeared on her face.
“Lucy is dead?” she asked.
“Yes, she is. She was found stabbed in her and her husband’s bedroom.”
She had a hard time fighting her feelings. It was as if she was happy this woman was finally out of her life. But she faked it… she faked it pretty well. Even Barnes was confused whether she was happy or sad.
“That’s terrible!” she exclaimed after a few quick changes of facial features. “Who did this? Who could have done this? That poor, wretched woman!”
“I know, Mrs. Famelia. It’s sad,” I said calmly.
She still had a hard time not smiling, so she buried her head in her hands, covering up her face completely. We patiently waited until she was done being emotional, either one way or the other.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I am just so upset about it.”
“Obviously,” I said somewhat cynically. “Now, if you don’t mind, we have a few questions for you. We just want to know what you know. Is that okay?”
“Oh, of course,” she said.
“What do you know about Lucy?”
“Ha!” she laughed. “Not that much, except that she is the dumbest wench in town. She hasn’t even gone to school, and did I mention she isn’t very smart? Yes, she always skipped class when I was younger, and then she would flirt with the boys, ALL the boys in class. I don’t think it matters now, because I married a richer husband than she did. Serves her right.”
“Ahum. So she flirted with all the boys?” I asked.
“Yes, all the boys.”
“Including your husband?”
She became silent.
Very silent.
I noticed this was a touchy subject.
“Famelia, we have reason to suspect that she was cheating on her spouse with your husband. What do you think about that statement?”
She was still silent.
Then she spoke up. “He has been going there every night for the past few months. It was driving me nuts. I didn’t even know what to say. I just didn’t have the guts to bring it up.”