Young Writers Society

A man walked down the street a light wind ruffling his curly brown hair. He wore a three piece suit and whistled a cheery tune. Suddenly someone clamped a hand over his mouth. He struggled to break free of the person’s grip. He felt the blade of a knife at his throat. “Come with me” the captor said.

I approach the scene of the crime. “Sir I’m afraid this area is a crime scene you can not enter” a cop stops me. I sigh “I’m Thomas Kemp, I’m a private detective. Detective John Hall has given me permission to enter the scene of this crime.” The cop turns to John “is this true sir” he asks, John nods. The cop lets me enter. “What do we have here?”

“Victim’s name is Jacob Riley, aged 24. He has no relatives. The victim was found in these woods at around 9 this morning by a dog walker. He was killed by a knife wound to the chest. Time of death is somewhere between 7 and 8 last night. We found all of his belongings so it’s likely not a robbery. Also we found this in his coat pocket.” John hands me what looks like a card. I read it.

Dear Jacob,

Come to the regular meeting place at 8:30. Be punctual. We have finally done it.

Signed King

“How peculiar” I mutter “any idea who this King might be?” John shakes his head “none.”

“I wonder what they did,” I say. Suddenly I hear a commotion. I turn to look. A bald man in his 40’s is trying to get into the crime scene and a few officers are holding him back. “Let me through” the man yells, his face turning blood red “This is outrageous!!”

I walk over to them “what’s going on here,” I ask. “Ah sir maybe you can help me” the man shouts. “Sir please calm down and explain what is happening.”

“I came here as soon as I heard...is it true? Is Jacob really dead?” I gesture to Jacob’s body “look for yourself.”

“Who are you sir,” I ask. “I’m Adam King. We were on the verge of success. Me, Jacob and some others.”

“Ah I assume you wrote this letter” I hand it to him. “Yes, yes I did.”

“You wrote that you had finally done it...may I ask what you had finally done?”

“Well we created something amazing. A fully functional super speed train capable of travelling faster than anything ever seen before. Jacob and Matthew were in charge of the design of the train...Jacob had all the blueprints.”

“Ah, do you have any competitors?”

“No one super big, they’re all nowhere near us...well besides Tesla. But I doubt they would kill Jacob. They considered themselves superior to us.”

“Who else is an important asset to this invention.”

“Well there’s Sarah Hardy, our top investor, Peter Graham, Matthew Yin and George Meadows.” I nod. “I will have to speak to each of them individually.” Adam nods “of course.”

“What’s this,” I ask. 

“I’ve spoken with all the people who were important to the project that Jacob was working on. Nobody had any motive besides Matthew. From my understanding they had some disagreement about the design of the car. Jacob wanted a more round shape, while Matthew wanted a more pointy shape. Apparently their arguments about this would sometimes get violent.”

“Ah, so he’s our prime suspect then.” John nods “yes but there’s one small problem.”

“Oh? And what’s that.”

“Matthew has a reliable alibi. He was at his apartment all day. The concierge, his girlfriend and a few of his neighbours can vouch for that. The only two people with non reliable alibis are Peter and George. Peter says he was asleep most of the night and George said he was out for a walk. Nobody can vouch for either of them but they don’t have any motive.”

“Maybe Matthew made one of them do it,” I suggest.

“But why go to all that trouble if he could have simply killed him, himself. Both of these men held no grudge against Jacob, asking for their help would be extremely risky.”

“Unless there was lots of money involved.”

“Hmmmm...Adam told me he’s hosting an event for possible investors. All of these people will be there. They all know what I look like. So...care to do a little undercover work?”

I walk among the crowd of investors. I spot all the suspects on the stage except for Matthew and George. I decide to search for them. I find them. They are arguing. “We had an agreement…”

“I know George...later...risky.” They walk into a Staff Only Room. A few minutes later Matthew walks out and goes onto the stage. I wait around for a long time but George doesn’t show up. I see Adam walk over to the microphone “attention everyone. Um...it appears as if we have a minor problem and so this show must be delayed. I apologize. But don’t leave, we'll solve this problem very soon.”

I approach Adam. “What’s going on,” I mutter. He clears his throat “come with me detective.” He makes sure we’re out of earshot from the investors. “It would appear as if George Meadows has gone missing.”

“The test subject?”

Adam nods “yes, him.”

“I believe I saw him and Matthew arguing, they entered that room.”

“Ah, thank you detective.”

Adam walks over to the room and steps in. Not long later I hear him scream. Everyone rushes over “what is it sir” I try to push past the crowd. Then I spot it. “Oh dear god.”

“Care to explain to me why George Meadows was found dead mere minutes after you spoke to him?”

“I swear...I-I-I don’t know.”

“Oh? But I think you do. You hired George to kill Jacob, when he had done it you feared he would betray you so you killed him.”

“This is absurd....where’s your evidence.”

“Do you recognize this?”

I show Matthew a bloodied knife in a Ziploc bag.

“No, should I?”

“It was found in your locker.”

“I didn’t do it! I swear! I’m being framed...you have to believe me, detective.”

“Tell me then Matthew, what were you and George arguing about?”

“That is of no business to the police.”

“It is if it relates to a murder case.”

“OK fine, me and George were planning on leaving Adam to join a new company.”

“Was anyone else in on this?”

“Yes sir...Jacob

“So is he our man,” John asks. “No, I don’t think so” I shake my head. “I think he’s being framed.”

“Well if he didn’t do it...who did?”

“Adam King.”

“Adam? Why would he do that? Killing them would ruin him.”

“Yes but keeping them alive would be more damaging for him. George, Jacob and Matthew were planning on leaving to join a new company.”

“Ah, bring him in for questioning.”

I sit down across the table from Adam. “Why am I here,” Adam asks. “For the murder of Jacob Riley and George Meadows.”

“What!? That’s absurd killing them would ruin me...they are important assets to my project.”

“Which is exactly why killing them would be the most beneficial to you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I never asked you sir, where were you when Jacob was murdered?”

“I didn’t kill him.”

“Please just answer the question sir.”

“I was reviewing my notes for tonight's speech.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“No.”

“I know you killed them.”

“Please explain to me why in the hell I would do that.”

“You found out that Jacob Riley, George Meadows and Matthew Lin were planning on leaving. So you killed Jacob when you found out that Matthew and George had been arguing you saw your chance. You killed George and framed it on Matthew. He would rot in a jail cell and no longer be your problem. Do you deny this?”

“Where’s your evidence?”

“You have opportunity and motive...I think that’s enough evidence. Also your biggest mistake...you forget about the security footage.”

“What security footage?”

“The one that shows you pull a knife out of your sleeve as the door was closing. You were too impatient and thought the door was closed...but you were wrong.”

“Now do you deny killing these men?”

“Please...they would ruin me. Everything I worked for would be gone...I had no choice.”

“Sir that’s not a good enough reason to kill two people.”

“You’re a detective, what do you know about business? Let me tell you this is all just business...it’s all just business.

John approaches me after the interrogation. “There’s security footage?” I chuckle “sometimes you need to lie to get what you want.”