Young Writers Society

1. Mrs. Johnson is the main suspect in her husband's unfortunate death. The incident was originally placed down to being an accident, but traces of a high amount of alcohol were discovered in his system and upon his person.
2. Most everyone, including the police and acquaintances of Mrs. Johnson, believe that she is responsible for her husband's death. However there is no evidence that Mrs. Johnson is responsible and therefore there will be no trial.
3. Told from the perspective of the lead detective on the case as his team struggles to find the puzzle pieces that they so desperately need.
4. Detective Winslow A. Smith, formerly known as captain to the troop that stormed through Germany, is not one to back down from a challenge, and isn't going to start now.

The Detective: Winslow Aquinas Smith - "We have a bunch of jack shit."
The Wife: Ms. Queenie Laverne Johnson - "I swear I did not do this."
The Brother: Mr. Howard Barton Johnson - "Queenie is not a killer."
The Maid: Lillian Marjory Scrabok - "I don't think it's proper for me to say."
The Butler: Sean Teigue O'Keefe - "You're an army man, Smith. You should know."
The Coroner: Dr. Brian M. Reilly - "Why do they always call me?"



Daniel Bernard Johnson - "My love for my wife and my partner are equal."





Lt. James Conner Morton - "I don't love the world but I love you."

Role in Story: Lead Detective in the Johnson death/murder investigation
Occupation: Police detective in the Mobile, Alabama Police Department

Physical Description: Winslow stands at just over 6 feet tall and has been often been told off for his ‘movie star’ looks and swooning charm. His light brown hair is ever disheveled, conveniently tucked under a hat at all times or some grease present from a vain attempt at slicking the rebellious hairs down. His blue and green eyes are part of the play into the charm he has on any person who might meet, and the second feature most commented on - after his lips of course. Men particularly care for his pink-ish lips that blend in perfectly to his face in some lighting but stand out with a touch of makeup when he wants them to be noticed.

Personality: Though he hates the phrase, Winslow is a complicated man in any aspect of his life and certainly when it comes to showing his personality. For the most part, upbringing/military in mind, he is closed off about his personal life and professional in his current work environment. Being in the police department does not breed the most welcoming atmosphere and even still, there will always be certain details that will stay out of the public eye.

His demeanor changes massively for whoever he might get a case for. Winslow deals mainly in homicide but due to some amount of personal duty will often consult on tough cases. There's the patrol men that know he's the right person to contact when there's a sensitive matter concerning someone in trouble.

Overall, he's nice and approachable to the people that he meets in the line of duty.

His personality when relating to his more sheltered personal life brings out the charm and the sweet talking he once got in trouble for as a teenager. Winslow is always nice but sometimes he tends to be aggressive with flirting, even if it's not happening very much these days.

Habits/Mannerisms: Winslow has a few tics that come out from his upbringing and experiences in the war, including the tendency to tap out phone messages and songs from the radio in morse code. It was often brought on by the details of a case (most likely to be domestic violence) or talking to a fellow veteran in a bar. He knows how to hold himself at attention and can easily slip between different stances to fit the right shift in the conversation - always appropriate in every situation.

Background: Born on November 22, 1917 (Thanksgiving Day), he started young at gaining a reputation for being a bit troublesome. He grew up in a small town outside of Mobile, leaving home at eighteen (1935) to go the army, and his usable skills to the service quickly being recognized. Winslow has always been the charmer, quick with his wit and to find a story to make it out of an unsavory situation. His commanding officers took in this level of charisma, the speed on his feet when formulating a cover story, and handiness with a gun to mean a good candidate for officer training.

Before and during World War II, Winslow was working as an intelligence officer overseas at home and abroad. Before the war (1937), his post was routinely changing and fluid. The office he was mainly reporting back to was in Washington DC and the nature of his work was on a task force looking for communist connections in the United States population, including the ongoing investigation of Hollywood. The exploration into the identity of his personal life began during this time, including a few momentary flings before moving to London in 1939 after the tensions in Europe were further rising. His official placement wouldn’t begin until 1942 when the Office of Strategic Services was pushed to the forefront.

Initially holding the rank of second lieutenant while investigating the issues in Hollywood, he was promoted to first lieutenant soon after a successful mission in London. His position in Europe was maintained but in late 1939 the British Intelligence Forces became aware of the Nazi movements and their wish to take over France. Winslow was transferred to Paris, assigned to a platoon of intelligence agents of different Allied origins. His time in Paris led to a long term relationship with a fellow lieutenant, a man from the British Army, with whom he eventually parted.

Promotion to captain during his official move to the OSS in early 1943 and assumed a position with the purpose of infiltrating Germany. Winslow began another relationship during this time with an Army doctor while he was working out of a Battalion Aid Station near the front lines. (He eventually lost this partner near the end of the war, sustaining physical trauma from the car wreck they were involved in and perpetuated the mental trauma he had sustained over the past decade of being in the armed forces.) Many of the soldiers that came through this particular station were escaped prisoners of war and that was Winslow’s justification for being there. He was there to debrief them and gather information about the further whereabouts of the camps.

When the war was over, Winslow was offered a position to stay in the new formations of the OSS. The Central Intelligence Agency was in the works at this point, no official name as of yet, but a captain like Winslow was “in high demand” and “especially someone with such an impeccable service record”. Even without the ways his trauma was starting to effect him, Winslow had no intentions of staying in the military, and decided to move back home to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father had been a soldier in the Great War, a member of the military police during that time, and became a police detective sometime after his return to Mobile. Winslow hated to admit it but the military had prepared him for exactly what the department wanted from their brash, ruthless and often very unsavory detectives.

Internal Conflicts: The sexual realizations of Winslow’s life have always been present but the work done in Hollywood and the art scenes of New York City brought him to certain identities and relationships. In those cases, where he was sometimes working mildly undercover, he was allowed to be more expressive in a way that has now been tucked back into the closet.

“Military men do sometimes have relations.” The justification he told himself for the personal relationships kept during the war. His first real, long-term partner had been wounded and discharged, returning to life with a lack of intimacy and a wife in the country side and leaving Winslow to ride the rest of the war out. When stationed at an aid unit, his close relationship with one of the doctors led to the feeling of being in “love” but this relationship was just as fleeting as the last. Winslow and his partner were injured in a car wreck - Winslow left with a tremor and his partner dead on the scene.

Overseas and in the art scenes it had been much easier to have an identity. It still wasn’t true and it wasn’t being open, but it was something more than he now had at home in Mobile. Winslow struggles to maintain the balances of secrets of the two sides of his life and hopes to find the person that will make him rest easier.

External Conflicts: Winslow is dealing with troubles in his outside life, mainly in connection to this case. The death of Mr. Johnson means the quick involvement of the higher ups in the police department who don’t want a scandal spreading. Winslow’s superiors are also under the impression that Queenie is guilty of the crime. He does believe this fact himself, but Winslow believes that there is more to the case than the cold blooded vibe on the surface. The theory that he is publicly holding is making the other detectives doubt him and Winslow has already given them too much room for doubt.
His relationship with James brings a personal conflict into his life, considering the slight chance that James might be involved in the death of Mr. Johnson. It’s not the most professional thing to be doing. He does recognize that as he hits on James while doing the interview. And still recognizes that fact while he’s taking James to bed, repeatedly and repeatedly. The involvement of the Navy Lieutenant in his life also becomes complicated when Winslow goes to some old Pentagon and British Intelligence friends for information on Johnson’s project. Plenty of particular points and particular people to rile up trouble between them. Oh and all of Winslow’s abandonment issues…

Role in Story: The main suspect

Occupation: Home maker. Former pin-up model.

Physical Description: Queenie stands at 5’4” but often wears at least 3 inch heels that elevate her position, matching a little bit of her height to the power she always holds over people. This woman is very attractive, pleasing to the eyes of women, men, and all the in between people. Beyond her ‘bombshell’ facial beauty, Queenie has spent her time making sure the figure matched up as well. She often wears dresses that cling to her waist and stretch around her hips, obviously not for keeping the attention of her husband due to his own preferences. Her long blond hair is far more natural than it seems, usually curled up high, and is often matched with deep red lipstick and rosy cheeks.

Personality: Queenie has a rather shifting personality. It all depends on the situation that she finds herself in and there’s no way to get a read on her. Detective Smith finds her to be someone who always looks like they’re pretending to be someone else. To him, Queenie acts like the most traumatized victim ever, but when he observes her from the Hall, her mourning is no longer present. To her friends, Queenie is often strong willed and brash in her wording, but to those she needs information from, is the sweetest person to ever exist.

Her personality is pretty damn confusing.

That's the main summary that Winslow has to say when evaluating this suspect.

Habits/Mannerisms: Queenie is someone who tends to talk with their hands when they get excited, waving around particularly shined nails. Or tapping those very same nails against a formica tabletop in the back of someone’s kitchen. She tends to have a resting face that is a sad sort of smile, in the rare moments when Winslow observes her to be relaxed. All behaviors that lead him to question her past life - of which there is very little information. He has determined that one of her tells is biting down too hard on her bottom lip and a glance inside revealed old scarring. An obviously destructive habit.

Background: There isn’t too much to know about Queenie Johnson or at least not too much to be know that can be easily accessed. Her history as a model became rather apparent to Winslow when he sorted through her personal items in the master bedroom closet. To say that Mrs. Johnson was beautiful was a rather bit of an understatement as someone who had lived off of her looks for a long term period.

Research revealed that Queenie was born Mary Bernadette Williams (April 20, 1920) to a Southern Baptist family in Margerum, Alabama. The small town was outside of Florence, which is a medium sized city in the upper left corner of the state of Alabama. In her youth, Queenie walked a great distance to school due to the lack of a solid education system in Colbert County. She worked first on her family’s farm, then in her grandparent’s store and then left when she was 16 to try her hand at acting. The acting in moving pictures didn’t turn out but she had great success as a model in some illicit magazines with a certain intended purpose of excitement.

Now known as Queenie Laverne, she married Mr. Daniel Johnson (March 5, 1915) when she was nearly 20 years old, making him to be 25 at the time. He left shortly after to serve overseas, and it was rumored that their marriage was never properly consummated. The Johnsons on Mobile were a higher class family who originally had no respect for Queenie, still having little as time goes on. [ See more in External Conflict] She managed to maintain a relationship with Daniel’s younger brother, Howard.

Queenie started making connections in the Mobile higher society community, faking herself into the scene that they required. Her personality adapted in a way that she wasn’t familiar with, even farther different from what had been required during the different modeling lines. Those people had been interested in her looking like sex, but many of the men and women of the clubs expected her to be engaging in sex. She hadn’t intended to have those sorts of affairs, even knowing that her husband would probably never have sex with her. Danny’s preferences did lie elsewhere. And she found that this was a way to make connections within the circles.

Internal Conflicts: Queenie often battles with knowing she’s pretending to be someone else for the sake of keeping up appearances. She would prefer to be someone else, maybe not her old self, but definitely not the person she has become now. Queenie feels trapped in her marriage and fenced in by her series of complex lies. If someone were to find a sign of her old life it would most certainly end terribly.

External Conflicts: Leading up to his death, Queenie had several public fights with Daniel, and they were quite animated. She was rescued from one altercation by Howard and this brought her husband to question “just how she was being a Johnson”. Even in the face of this accusation, she didn’t reveal the detail about why Sean was in their household and how Danny and Sean met. And when her mother in law begins attacking her, Queenie still keeps quiet.

Story Role: Victim
Occupation: Account Handler - Johnson Safety & Security
[USAF - First Lieutenant - World War II]

Physical Description: Like many of the other male characters in this story, Danny Johnson is at least moderately attractive and stands at a proud 6 feet tall, and weighs right at 170 pounds. He often sports a light 5 o’clock shadow and at the time of his death, Danny was growing out a mustache similar to what he had worn during the war. Sean had reacted negatively to it, but Queenie told him that the facial hair was appropriately masculine for the image he kept up. Daniel spends a lot of his time wearing black or gray suits, keeping one white suit in the back of the closet for certain occasions.
The black suit with a politically patterned tie is the unofficial uniform of the Johnson firm, though Daniel often takes certain liberties with the tie design, knowing that his father will never comment on the matter. In each of these suit ensembles, Danny looks as professional as he can be and plays the part perfectly.
In his casual wear, it’s usually khaki slacks or ‘cowboy’ denim, all dependent on who he is casually associating with. When it’s his wife and his partner, Daniel finds himself in jeans and loose cotton shirts. When they’re entertaining guests and friends, it’s the khaki slacks with some slightly colorful dress shirt.

Personality: Daniel Johnson is always a friendly man, in all of his business and familiar dealings. He is the person that people are always willing to go to when they are seeking advice and his range of knowledge stretches across many fields. Even in the face of being talked down by his father, Danny remains calm and collected, always ready to fight another battle against the man so concerned for his ‘safety’.
His personality with Sean and Queenie falls into the same line. He loves them both equally, but his love comes in differing ways. With Sean, he can maintain a sexual relationship, but with Queenie they are physical to the point of necessary comforts. But with the both of them, he is gentle and caring, rarely raising his voice, outside of the times when he finds himself drunk.
A drunken Daniel Johnson is slightly violent and often raises his voice when speaking to his partners. When he’s drunk, he stays away from his loved ones, knowing that he needs to protect them while the storm rages on in his mind. Danny, like many of the soldiers in this story, experiences residual side effects of his time overseas and finds it hard to control the pains that sometimes strike him.
Always the caring man for his family, he hopes to protect them. That is a key aspect of his personality.

Habits/Mannerisms: Daniel sometimes hums out small folk songs that he remembers from his childhood. His grandmother on his mother’s side had been from a noble family in Mississippi but one that originated from what was called the lesser country. Those memories of those songs helped him survive through the war, and tapping out the tunes helps to calm his mind now.

Background: The Johnson Family of Mobile, Alabama is very old and very famous. Daniel Bernard Johnson was born on March 15, 1915 to Earle Simeon Johnson and Sara Rhea Johnson née Thomas. His father was a veteran of World War I and his family’s security company had been in existence since the late 1850s. Sara Rhea worked (originally) as a secretary in the offices of the security company on a favor between her father and Earle’s father. They were moderately happy.
Daniel grew up in a rather happy household (for those who didn’t look too hard), with a sister a year younger and a brother several years behind him. His sister Dorothy and his brother Howard were the first two people to fall into Daniel’s responsibilities as a caretaker and protector. Their father had similar struggles with alcohol and shell shock that Daniel later experienced, and played into his steps to protect his family at that later point.
Airplanes had always been involved in his life, with his father being a pilot during the Great War and keeping up the hobby within his life. This later played into his choices when joining the Armed Forces, but was originally just another escape from the world that he dealt with every day. And it meant a great deal that his father would trust him with such matters.
To properly grow into his family’s firm, Daniel went off to school when he was 17 with the intent of being a lawyer. This task was accomplished but shortly after he finished his degree, and passed the exams necessary to practice, the war broke out into full strength. The United States was involved and though Danny could have stayed on the homefront in Washington DC, he chose to go overseas. This action happened with the support of the wife he had recently wed and against all of the wishes of his father.
In his time overseas, Daniel went to working with the RAF in the bombings they led over Germany and began a relationship with a young Irish mechanic by the name of Sean O’Keefe. He kept a small apartment in London with a bit of money pulled from his father’s accounts, though the building was eventually hit by a German raid. When being shipped home, Daniel made the arrangements to bring Sean home with him and began forming a plan at that moment for how his family may be set up.

Internal Conflicts: Daniel has continually struggled with his sexual preferences, marrying Queenie out of purely romantic love and their mutual want to be together and maintain a close friendship. They both kept questionable habits when it came to sex - Daniel preferring men and Queenie preferring women - but kept together as each other’s beards. They had sex a few times, but then decided to keep their marriage to be romantic and physical in non sexual ways. He is devoted to protecting Queenie and developed an intricate plan for his partners if anything were to ever happen to him, either being found out as a homosexual by the government or as a result of one of his assignments.
And he continually feels guilt for his actions overseas, experiencing terrible bouts of nightmares and flashbacks during the day time hours.

External Conflicts: Daniel has always fought with his father over personal matters. It started with his courtship of Queenie, who his family never trusted and continue to distrust as their marriage goes on. His father is mildly aware of Danny’s preferences when it comes to sexual matters, and told his son he was making a mistake by letting the “Irish fag” stay in the junior Johnson household. His mother is accepting of this fact, and also of the habits of his brother, for which Danny has also always had to protect.
There is talk in the security community of the project that Daniel is involved in. It is supposedly something concerning the new submarines being tested at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola and the new technology is part of an initiative from the Pentagon. Daniel had a few friends in his personal life he knew about the project he was working security on because they are associates from the project. One such friend (and witness to the events) is Lieutenant Morton. His testimony to Winslow informs the detective that Danny’s paranoia was not misplaced, and there was plenty of reason to fear for your life when working on this project. Between the Soviets and the United States, plenty of danger to be had.

My picture from a swamp in Florida -inspiration for one of the scenes of the crime