Friday, August 29, 2014

Appearing in issue #35, September 1, 2014


Title:  The missing Caddy

By Author:  John M. Floyd

  

Tag line:     Ms. Potts wondered: Who’d be dang fool enough to steal Miss Burnette’s car?

Police characters:   Sheriff Chunky Jones

The gist:    The sheriff and Ms. Potts were playing checkers on his office windowsill when 85-year-old Miss Burnette showed up.  Sheriff Jones grumped a little as is his nature.  Miss Burnette, a 90-pound, five-foot-tall lady, was there to report that someone had just stolen her car.  She reported that she parked her car at the curb at the drug store and left her car door open when she went in to buy a newspaper. Apparently she also left her keys in the ignition because someone jumped in and drove off.  She noted there were three males standing nearby when she parked. When one of them stole the car, the other two took off running.  Miss Burnette could not identify the thief as her eyesight is poor. Ms. Potts scribbled a note to the sheriff to call the drug store owner, while Miss Burnette rambled on about how she never really like her fancy Caddy because it had power everything; door locks, car seat, windows.  The sheriff asked her if she hated it so much maybe she didn’t want him to find it, and she told him she remembered him in Sunday school and said he asked stupid questions back then too.  The sheriff called the drug store owner and put him on speaker phone. He said he saw the three boys, even knew their names, but didn’t see the incident. Ms. Potts told the owner that ‘we’ would need their names and descriptions.  The owner described the three men (with their names); one was tall and broad shouldered, one was lanky and long legged, and one was short.

Ms. Potts knew who stole the car.

Crime scene:    Car theft in front of a drug store.

Clues:    The features on the car and the descriptions of the suspects.

Suspects:   Three teens: tall and broad shouldered, lanky and long legged, and short

Red herrings:    None.

Solution:  Only a short person could jump into a car set for such a short woman as Miss Burnette and speed away without adjusting the power seat.

My two cents:    Well, good thing for the town that the sheriff has Ms. Potts.  Otherwise he would never have known to call the owner of the store where the crime occurred, nor would he have thought to ask for names and descriptions of the teens that the owner saw.  What kind of police academy turns out such morons? 

They were playing checkers on his window sill.  I don’t know what I’m more amazed at the fact that they were teetering a game board on a windowsill or that they were playing checkers.  Checkers for Pete’s sake.

Now we have two old women telling Chunky he’s stupid and slow.  Perhaps they’re right.  He put the drug store owner on speaker phone in front of civilians.  Cops don't do that.

Now here’s a good comment: This was the best non-clue clue that I’ve seen in a long time.  Floyd buried it up in the beginning and then slipped it in again at the end seamlessly. 

I’m not a fan of the Chunky/Potts string of stories because I think the characters are trite and corny and it makes for weary reading. I think you either love the Gomer Pyle gooberness thing or you don't.  But you’ve got to hand it to John, he pumps them out in a consistent manner.  His writing is smooth, his pace is good, and his characters are steady.  He peppers in small town colloquialisms to cement the scene. Those factors, along with his great clue, earn him 4 stars for this week’s story.

19 comments:

Mary Jo said...

Well,Chris and I both got the "clue" right away because we are both shorties. Any time anyone else drives my VW Beetle, they have to put the seat back and adjust the mirrors. Otherwise, they would be twisted up like a pretzel.

I have to say I like Potts a lot more than Chunky. How does that guy keep getting re-elected?

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Mary Jo. I never considered that Chunky could be the Chief of his station. I always assumed it was a small town and they only had one or two cops per shift, or sheriffs, and he was one of them. I don't think he was elected. But he was hired at some point.

Here in Florida we have a sheriff's department full of county sheriffs that handle parts of the county that city police don't cover, and we have city police, officers, that work out of the city police office. So when you call 911 it's up to the dispatcher to figure out which department to send to cover the call. And of course to confuse the matter even more, we have state troopers who can police any roadway in the county. All of them have a higher-up to answer to. I think, and I could be wrong, that our Chief of Police is appointed. I know the Sheriff (the big guy) is elected. Don't know about the state police.

I'm tall, 5'10", and I should have figured it out because I just had that happen to me when I valet parked the car. When I went to get back in I couldn't fit. I had to adjust from the outside.

Mary Jo said...

Well, elected or hired, someone must have thought Chunky was up to the job. Must have been John Floyd. Ask him if these two characters are based on Jessica Fletcher and the sheriff of Cabot Cove. I love Angela Lansbury and keep trying to fit Ms. Potts into her shoes. Sorry, but Jessica seems much nicer.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@Mary Jo. You can ask him yourself. Just inquire on wwwriters and he'll get back to you. I would have guessed the Andy Griffith show.

Mary Jo said...

Andy Griffith? Surely you are not equating Angela Potts with Barney Fife. And Aunt Bee stays home and cooks dinner.

Who are the WWWriters? If that is a special group, I guess I do not belong to it. If it is on Yahoo or Google, I know I don't.

Tamara said...

I'm impressed with the clue, too. I thought it was clever and well-placed.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Mary Jo. Go to Kate's romance blog and under Links you will see WWwriters. It is a Yahoo group of around 400, who are writing for and/or selling to WW. Mostly the posts are who sold what and how long it took to get the rejection or sale. You can ask questions, etc.

I was equating Chunky with Andy Griffith and Aunt Bea, although Ms. Potts is meaner.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. I left a post on WW's FB page on how much I loved your story. A Mark Teel 'liked' my post. Do you know him? Maybe you have a fan.

Tamara said...

How do I view it, Jody? I am on Facebook, but I am somewhat inept with its use.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. Go to your Facebook page. On the top tool bar, blue, on the left it says something like family, friends, etc... type in Woman's World and you will be directed to their FB page. Under posts, which I think is in the left column, look for my post. I have a different photo in FB...when I started it they didn't want avatars, they wanted the real you.

Tamara said...

Thanks, Jody. I did look, and I didn't recognize Mark Teel. Looks like he's from Texas. Maybe his mom reads WW?

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. Maybe another John Floyd?

Tamara said...

We should watch for his by-line.

Tamara said...

That story you mentioned should be coming up on Kate's blog pretty soon. Johnene didn't change it much.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. That's a compliment to your story that Johnene didn't fiddle with it. Did you get your check? What did you splurge on?

Tamara said...

The dentist.

Mary Jo said...

Tamara, isn't that just the way? There is always something waiting to be paid for. Does anyone get to go to the spa or take a weekend getaway? I didn't think so.

Jody E. Lebel said...

@ Tamara. On one hand it's nice that you had the money to pay a big bill and didn't have to worry about scratching it up. On the other hand...Noooooooooooo

Tamara said...

Yes, I would have preferred a down payment on the vampire facial I've been reading about. But, no use having a smoother face if I have no teeth.:)