Appearing in issue #5, February 3, 2014

Title: A friend of the family

By Author: Laird Long

Tag line:   Trevor was dead, and to Marguerite, it sounded like a case of murder!

Police characters:  None.

The gist:   Marguerite and Trevor were sweethearts.  They had planned to spend a lovely weekend in his country home, but Trevor’s three kids, adults in their 30s, showed up uninvited: Brandon, Bruce and Beatrice. The kids had spent much of the day arguing with their estranged father, quarreling about how he should still be supporting them and what a tightwad he was.  The night before had been a bad night with Brandon snoring all night, Bruce tossing in his sleep, and light sleeper Beatrice yelling at both of them to quiet down. Tonight at midnight they finally all retired to bed.  A loud bang awakened Marguerite from a sound sleep an hour and a half later. She went to investigate. She saw Trevor’s bedroom door ajar at the end of the hall, which was unusual.  She went to his room and found him dead, sprawled face-up on the floor with a bullet hole in his forehead.  On her way back to her room to get her cell phone to call the police, she peeked in each of the children’s rooms. Brandon was lying on his back, eyes closed, seemingly asleep.   Bruce was on his side apparently sleeping. And Beatrice was curled up under her bedcovers fast asleep.  Marguerite called the police and then knocked loudly on each kid’s door.  The three roused themselves and stumbled into the hallway rubbing their eyes.  Marguerite told them their father was dead and the police were on their way.  There was little emotion from any of the kids. None of them claimed to have heard a gunshot.  Marguerite was sure it was murder and she knew who did it.

Crime scene:   Trevor’s home.

Clues:   How the three siblings slept.

Suspects:  All three kids.

Red herrings:  None.

Solution:  All three siblings did it.  For a loud snorer Brandon was dead quiet when Marguerite opened the door.  Bruce was still, dead asleep.  And for a light sleeper Beatrice was pretending to be asleep despite the loud gunshot that awakened Marguerite.

My two cents:    I’m underwhelmed.  So let me get this straight.  All three adult kids got up and went into their father’s room and one of them shot and killed their father, and then they all crept back to bed and pretended to be sleeping.  Have I got that right?  Marguerite was awakened by the gunshot.  She was just down the hall.  She got up to investigate.  There were no lights flashing on or off, no noise of doors closing, feet running, excited utterances…just one bang and all is silent.   Maybe they’re zombies.  Zombies are pretty cold, can see in the dark, and are dead quiet.  

Snorers don’t snore every second they’re sleeping.  Nor do tossers toss all night.  Light sleepers may not sleep well all night but they do fall into deep sleep for a portion of the night.  What Marguerite saw when she opened their doors for a moment proves nothing as far as who killed dad.  

If Trevor had shot himself there would have been a gun at the scene.  At least tell the reader that no gun was seen, so we can look elsewhere.

Three last comments from me:  I think Trevor should be shot for naming his offspring Brandon, Bruce and Beatrice; this case would make a defense attorney salivate; and  I don't get the title.

Title: Power play
By Author: Phyllis Whitfield

Appearing in issue #21,  May 27, 2013

For sale date:  May 16, 2013

Tag line:  It was a dark and stormy night when one of Pete Patton’s many enemies came to call.

Police characters:  County Sheriff Eddie Smith

The gist:  The power is out in River Falls for a half hour.  At 8:05 Sheriff Smith gets a call that Pete Patton, who lives in the neighboring town of Glen Oaks, has been shot.  Nobody likes Pete.  He’s bad tempered and has made a fortune selling organic potatoes to fast-food restaurants.   Sheriff Smith meets Alex Till at Patton’s door, who tells him the body is upstairs.  Alex, the plumber, had an 8:00 AM appointment with Pete.  He said no one answered the doorbell but lights were on and since Pete was expecting him, he just went on inside and found Pete dead.  Alex said he got along with Pete but that he didn’t always pay on time. The coroner announced Pete was killed an hour ago.   

Pete’s ex-wife, Helen, wasn’t happy in the divorce. She lives in Glen Oaks. She wasn’t sorry that he was dead.  When asked where she was at 8:00 she said she was working on her computer.

 Pete’s nephew Jesse fought with him all the time.  Jesse lives in River Falls.  He said his uncle used Jesse’s savings to start the business and even though the money was paid back, Peter wouldn’t give cut the nephew in on a share of the profits.  He said he had been home been watching TV all evening with his girlfriend and she would vouch for him. 

Pete’s sister Connie was treated poorly by Pete. She lives in Glen Oaks.  She said they were family and she just put up with his mean ways.  She claims she was reading a good book at the time her brother was killed.

 Crime scene:  Pete’s home.

Clues:  The power was out at the time of the death.

Suspects:  Ex-wife Helen, Sister Connie, nephew Jesse.

Red herrings:  None.  We had four 'suspects' but not one of them had a good enough motive to even be considered as a red herring.

Solution:  Jesse was the only one who lived in River Falls.  He claimed he was watching TV all night but there was no power for a short time.  He didn’t know the power was out in River Falls because he was in Glen Oaks fighting with his uncle, a fight then ended up with him shooting Pete.

My two cents:   Well, there are a couple of things here.  Just because the power was out in one city doesn’t mean it was not out in the neighboring city.  The sheriff never asked if the power was out in Glen Oaks.  And it was only off for 30 minutes.  The wife said she was on the computer.  Computers work without power.  The sister said she was reading.  You can read without a lamp.  Jesse said he was watching TV all night, and he could have been.  Just because he didn’t say I was watching TV all night expect for 30 minutes when the power went out doesn’t make him a killer.

How many plumbers do you know that just walk into your house when no one answers the bell?

There were four people to keep track of and two cities.  It was a bit confusing and crowded in the ‘ole suspect room’.   Nobody had a really good motive to kill Pete.  He had paid back the money. His divorce wasn’t pleasant but whose is?  (And we didn’t all kill our exes.  um...we didn't, right?) Pete treated his sister badly, but she didn’t have to take it.  There’s no compelling reason to kill here. That along with the vague inference that the power must have been on in the neighboring city makes for a ho-hum mystery

Title: Swan Song
By Author Kendra Yoder

Appearing in issue #14, April 8, 2013

For sale date: March 29, 2013

Tag line: A scene-of-the-crime-investigation revealed an open-and-shut case!

Police characters: Officer Phil Perkins and his partner Officer Wendy Kerr

The gist:  Ricky, a musician, is shot to death in his home garage where the band rehearses.  The coroner believed the victim was sitting on a folding chair, was shot by a known person, and slumped to the floor dead.  The makeshift practice area in the garage looked like this: catty-corner from the chair was a music stand with a song book, on the floor beside that was an open guitar case holding an electric guitar, and in the opposite corner stood a set of drums.

Crime scene:  In the garage with the garage door open.

Clues: Ricky knew his assailant.  When questioned Ricky’s wife stated she was in the kitchen making lunch when halfway through a song she heard a bang.  Officer Perkins told his partner that the wife was lying.

Suspects: Ricky fired Bo, the lead singer, last weekend. Bo was a bad influence, always staying out late and drinking. Bo was furious and called Ricky a dead man before he stalked off stage.  Ricky’s agent had just been accused of skimming money and they argued yesterday.

Red herrings:  The fight with the lead singer and the fight with the agent.  Both were orchestrated to throw you off the wife’s track.

Solution: The wife said she could hear Ricky practicing his guitar when he was shot, yet his guitar was still in the case.  The wife was tired of her husband’s drinking and carousing so she decided to end her marriage the quick way and try to frame one of the men.

My two cents:  It is possible for someone to enter through the garage door opening, wave to Ricky to stop playing, Ricky puts down the guitar (most musicians are careful with their expensive equipment and lay it in the case when not in use) , and when he looks back up he immediately gets shot.  I think the wife’s statement should have been written better.  “Halfway through a song and she heard a bang” is not clear enough for the officer to think she was lying.  Also Bo stating that Ricky was a ‘dead man’ was a bit of a forced clue by the author.  I don’t know that much about the music world, but do ‘garage bands’ even have agents?