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MLMM Saturday Mix Lucky Dip — The Mystery of the Gamer’s Murder

Fandango13 Comments

Detective Fred Morrisey and his partner, Detective Ron Hayden, looked down at the body outline drawn out on the floor. Morrisey then looked at the uniformed officer who had arrived first at the scene. “You interviewed the family members, right?”

“Yes sir,” the officer said. “Jim and Margaret Nichols. The deceased was their 30-year-old son, Jeff, and they were both asleep when the crime occurred. The ME estimated that death was between 11:00 last night and 1:00 this morning. The deceased’s father found his son’s body on the floor of their recreation room. It was around 6:30 this morning when he came down to fix himself some coffee and breakfast.”

“And neither he nor his wife heard anything last night?” Detective Hayden asked the officer.

“No,” he said. “They were both asleep and didn’t hear a thing. And there’s no sign of a break-in. The parents are in the living room now waiting for you to interview them.”

“Thanks,” Morrisey said to the officer and the two detectives made their way into the living room to talk with the victim’s parents.

“I’m Detective Fred Morrisey and this,” Morrisey said, gesturing to his partner, “is Detective Ron Hayden. We are very sorry for your loss.”

“Some loss,” the father said. “He was a 30-year-old man-child, a video gamer who spent all day and all night sitting in front of the TV playing his stupid video games. He was a freeloader taking advantage of his mother and me.”

“Jim, please,” the mother said. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Jeff was a good boy. Who would do such a thing to him?”

Morrisey asked if anything was missing from the recreation room where the body was found. “Yes, the gaming controller, the PlayStation, his laptop, and a book of what he called ‘cheats’ are missing.”

“And the trophy, dear,” Margaret said. “He won that trophy at a video gaming convention of some sort. Oh my, how proud he was of that trophy.”

“Did he have any enemies that you are aware of?” Hayden asked.

“You should ask those people who sponsor that video gaming competition,” James said. “They are a cutthroat bunch of hooligans if you ask me. Jeff has a bunch of flyers and brochures up in his room. I bet one of those good-for-nothing gamers did this.” Morrisey gave Hayden a look and Hayden headed up to the victim’s bedroom.

“Was anything else taken?” Morrisey asked the parents.

“I checked,” James said. “Our passports are still here in a drawer in the desk in the corner, but Margaret noticed that an umbrella was missing from the umbrella holder next to the front door.”

“I did see a snowflake or two falling before we went to bed last night, but now it’s raining out,” Margaret said. Maybe the killer took it to keep dry after he killed our darling boy.”

Hayden came into the living room carrying half a dozen. Flyers about local gaming conventions. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Nichols,” Morrisey said. “You’ve been very helpful and it’s my job, along with Detective Hayden, to put together the puzzle pieces that will help us apprehend the person or persons who committed this crime.”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix Lucky Dip, where the story cubes are puzzle pieces, trophy, gaming controller, umbrella, book, passports, snowflake, and body outline.

MLMM Saturday Mix Lucky Dip — Like Oil and Water

Fandango2 Comments

With his trademark monocle and handlebar mustache, Detective Marcel Dupre walked into the lounge area we were asked to gather together. “I’m going to need you each to provide me with your passports. I will also require any cellphones, tablets, or laptops you have within reach. You will receive you’re devices back once our mystery has been solved and we can close the book on this case.”

I cautiously raised my hand. “Can you share with us what happened and how long we’ll be confined here?”

“I can tell you this much,” Detective Dupre said. “We have found some contraband right here inside this hotel and, and as guests, you are all under suspicion.”

“What sort of contraband are you referring to, Detective?” A woman sitting next to me asked.

Dupre twisted his mustache on the right side. “I have found items such as a chainsaw and sticks of dynamite, which my experience tells me go together like oil and water. They do not mix well.”

“I have a flight leaving the city tonight at seven o’clock and reserved a car to pick me up at five to take me to the airport,” I said. “Will I be able to make it?”

The detective took off his monocle, look looked at his watch, shook his head, and said, “Unlikely.”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix Lucky Dip, where the story cubes are a passport, a chainsaw, a car, a book, dynamite, a laptop, drops of oil and water, and a monocle and mustache.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #188

Fandango33 Comments
FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

Let’s have some fun this week. Or what I hope you’ll think is fun. My question is simple. It’s all about favorites. If you were asked to name your absolute favorite in each of the following categories, what would they be:

  • Song
  • Musical artist or group
  • Book
  • Author
  • Movie
  • Television show
  • Movie or TV actor (male & female)
  • Stage play or musical
  • Live concert

Remember, I’m looking for your all-time favorite in each of these categories.

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.

SoCS — Let It Ring

Fandango15 Comments

For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill has given us the word “ring.”

My post today in response to Linda’s prompt is not a piece of flash fiction or an opinion piece. It’s a true stream of conscious post about a few different rings: a camera, a phone call, a piece of jewelry, a fantasy trilogy, tinnitus, and a song. The only item in common is the word “ring.” So let us begin.

Camera

I have a Ring camera, like the one pictured above, mounted on my garage. it allows me to capture video images on my iPhone of my driveway and a portion of my front yard (see below).

I also have a doorbell camera, but it’s a Nest camera, not a Ring camera. Between the Ring and Nest cameras, I can see anything going on around my house and capture videos of any activity.

Phone

My iPhone displays the phone number of every caller, and if it’s a number I don’t recognize, I let it ring. I figure that if it’s a legit call from someone I know, but whose number I don’t immediately recognize, the caller will leave a voicemail message. Do you also do that?

Jewelry

When it comes to jewelry, the only ring I wear is my wedding band. I’m not one to adorn myself with metal, like nose rings or earrings, or any other kinds of rings other than my aforementioned wedding ring.

Trilogy

Back when I was in college, I was really into Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I had a map of Middle Earth on my wall above my bed. So yeah, I was a bit of a nerd.

Tinnitus

No post about the word ring would be complete if if didn’t touch upon the constant ringing I experience in both ears, which condition goes by the name tinnitus. There’s no known cure for tinnitus and no specific cause for the ringing sound that only I can hear, although I believe it might be due to having attended so many loud rock concerts in my twenties and thirties. When I asked a doctor many years ago what could be done about the ringing in my ears, his response was, “Learn to live with it.” Thanks for nothing, Doc.

Song

Do you remember Gary Lewis and the Playboys 1965 song, “This Diamond Ring”? Well, let me refresh your memory.

By the way, in case, when you watched this video, you didn’t notice a resemblance, Gary Lewis is the son of the late comedian and actor Jerry Lewis. Are you old enough so that name rings a bell for you?

Make It Soar

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“I should be done with the manuscript for my new novel by the end of the month,” Stephen told his publisher. “I think it will be very much to your liking.”

“It had better have some pizazz, Stephen,” Gary said. “Your last three books were flat, had no panache. They were snorers and we lost money on them. This one’s gotta be a winner.

“You’ll see when you get the manuscript that it’s a great work of science fiction. This book has a lot of excitement and flair to it, and with your team’s marketing prowess, this book should soar as if it’s powered by jet propulsion.”

“Let’s see what happens when my editor reviews the manuscript, Stephen,” Gary said. “And get it to him by the end of next week.”

Written for these daily prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (novel), My Vivid Blog (very), Ragtag Daily Prompt (pizazz), The Daily Spur (fiction), Word of the Day Challenge (pulsion), and Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (week).