Saturday Mix

MLMM Saturday Mix Lucky Dip — Small-Time Hood

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Detective Fred Morrisey and his partner, Detective Ronald Hayden, pulled up to the crime scene in Morrisey’s car. “I’m going to touch base with the ME, Ron,” Morrisey said. “Go talk to the officer who was first on the scene and see what he can tell you.”

“You got it, Fred,” Hayden said. Both men got out of the car and headed off in different directions.

Morrisey found the medical examiner inside the tent the crime scene team had erected over the location of the victim’s body. “What can you tell me, Doc?” Morrisey asked the ME.

“Blunt force trauma to the back of the head,” the ME said. “Time of death was around mid-morning, say 10:30 or 11:00. Stomach contents shows he had a bacon and eggs breakfast not long before he was murdered.”

“Any personal effects with the body?”

“I gave all that to the office on the scene who bagged it,” the ME said. “But strangely enough, there were two passports, one U.S., and one from the UK. And let me see. Oh yes, one aerosol inhaler for asthma, one child’s crayon, and a 35 mm film strip with maybe half a dozen frames on it. Anyway, I should have a full postmortem report for you but the end of the day.”

“Okay, thanks, Doc,” Morrisey said as Ron Hayden came walking up.

“So, our vic is a small-time hood,” Ron said, “But what may have gotten him killed was what was on this film strip.” He handed it over to Fred, who held it up to the light.

“Jesus,” Morrisey said.

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix Lucky Dip, where the story cubes are car, egg and bacon, crayon, tent, aerosol, passports, body outline, and film strip.

MLMM — Story Starter — Oops

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Gary pushed “send” on the email and hoped for the best.

Satisfied, he put down his smartphone, went to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of Corona Light, and sat down on his sofa, feeling like he accomplished what he set out to do. After all, it was Saturday, and his response would be the first one his boss would get, giving him a leg up on his coworkers. He was confident that they would all wait until the end of the day on Monday to get their responses in, since that was the deadline their boss had set in his email.

Gary opened up his second bottle of beer when his phone rang. The name on the phone’s screen was that of David Winthrop, his coworker and friend. Gary accepted the call and said, “Hey Dave, how’s it hanging?”

“Things are good Gary, thanks for asking,” David said. “Hey buddy, I just wanted to thank you for giving us a sneak peak at your response to the boss’s request for efficiency ideas he asked us to come up with. You had a few really good ones in there and I hope you don’t mind my borrowing some of them.”

“Wait,” Gary said, “What are you talking about? How did you get that document, Dave? I sent it to our boss, not to you or anyone else.”

“Gary, Gary, Gary,” David said. “Sorry, old pal, but you tapped “Send All” instead of “Send,” so the whole distribution list got your email with your attached document. Be more careful next time, buddy.”

Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Story Starter Saturday Mix. Photo credit: getfxhere.com

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

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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 — Story Starter — This Option is Off the Table

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She threw back the glass of wine and stormed out of the room.

“Sharon wait!” Nick called out as he ran after her. He finally caught up with her on the street just outside the restaurant and touched her shoulder.

Sharon spun around so she was facing Nick. Looking directly into his eyes, she said, “What? There’s nothing left to say, is there, Nick?” Sharon tried not to cry but her eyes started to well over. “We’ve been together for almost a year and a half and I was expecting an engagement ring. I was not prepared for you to announce that we need to take a break from each other.”

“It’s not that I don’t love you,” Nick said. “I do with all my heart. But I think the prudent thing for us to do as a couple is to take a few months off so we can make sure this is what we both want.”

“The prudent thing to do? Are you serious, Nick?” Sharon said. “Well, if you’re not sure whether or not you want to marry me, then by all means, take as much time as you need to consider your options. But just so you know, this option,” Sharon said, pointing to herself with her thumb, “is off the table.” And for the second time in five minutes, Sharon turned around and stormed away.

Written for Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Story Starter Saturday Mix. Photo credit: inspirationalblog.com

SoCS/MLMM Saturday Mix Lucky Dip — Hodgepodge

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“Whatcha doing, Jon?” his roommate asked him.

“I’m writing a script for a film,” Jon said.

“Cool, will you show it to me?” Archie asked.

“Well, I’m only on page one, so there’s not much to show you at this point,” Jon said, “but I can tell you about it.”

“Yes, please do,” Archie said.”

“It’s got a little bit of everything in it,” Jon explained. “It’s an action/adventure film with exploding hand grenades and it’s a musical comedy, too. It starts out with this woman, hat on her head, reading a self-help book when she decides she needs to turn over a new leaf. She fixes herself some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then she grabs her baby boy, puts it him the baby carriage, and heads out onto the bustling streets of Manhattan. And that’s when the adventure begins.”

“Sounds like a bit of a hodgepodge if you ask me,” Archie said. “I think you ought to focus on one or two elements rather than on everything under the sun.”

“Don’t worry,” Jon said. “I’m only on page one. It will all come together by the end. I’ll prove to you what a great film show it will be.”

Written for the Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Saturday Mix Lucky Dip, where the story cubes are person in a hat reading a book, egg and bacon, pram, music note, leaf, grenade, and filmstrip.

Also for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, where the word is “show.”