BLOOD MONEY
It was a rainy September morning
when this dame threw open the door to my office. She stood in the doorway with
a frantic look in her eyes. She was dripping on the floor and the white blouse
that was now soaked through gave me a good indication of what she may look like
without it and she was very attractive.
“I think my husband is having an
affair,” she gasped as water sprayed from her luxurious blonde hair when she
tossed her head. I groaned inwardly when she said the word husband. It wasn’t
the sort of case I usually took on but there was something about this dame that
I couldn’t say no to. I motioned to the chair across from me and she took a
seat. She took a seat and pulled out a cigarette. I immediately followed suit
and lit up one of my own.
“What makes you think that Mrs…”
I started.
“Black but please call me Jenny,”
she responded through an exhale of smoke.
“Alright then, Jenny, what makes
you think that your husband is having an affair,” I queried.
She told me about his late
nights, long business trips, the smell of perfume lingering and even a lipstick
stain on his collar that she described as a most hideous shade.
I took her details and an upfront
deposit to commence my investigation. She rested her hands on my desk and
leaned forward giving me even more of a view of what I could already see
through her blouse.
“Thank you very much detective.
You will be rewarded handsomely if you can help me out,” the words practically
purred out of her mouth.
The next few weeks involved me
following her husband around. He was a portly balding man that was way beneath
the sort of man I thought would have successfully bagged a dame like Jenny. I
discovered that he was very focused on work. He was a banker and from the
moment he left the home until the moment he got home he worked. When he took a
business trip it was work. When he smelt like perfume it was the linger of work
colleagues that sprayed it when they were too near. There was not a thing about
the man that indicated any unfaithfulness towards Jenny.
I turned my back on him for only
a moment one day and when a gunshot startled me to turn back I was shocked to see
him on the ground with a pool of his crimson blood spreading across the
pavement. Moments later I found myself being dragged into another detectives
office. I had been spotted following the deceased the last few weeks.
The sun had set and the moon was
high when I finally let myself into my office to sit back with a glass of
scotch. I had barely touched the glass to my lips when my door was flung open.
“He’s dead,” Jenny sobbed as she
threw herself into the chair.
“I know. I’m the main suspect,” I
growled. “You had me follow him and now they think I murdered the guy.”
“Oh Johnny I’m so sorry,” she
sobbed. I couldn’t stay mad at this dame but knew that I would have to find the
killer myself. I took Jenny home and she insisted I join her for a nightcap.
Never one to say no to a dame, especially one as attractive as Jenny I followed
her in. Her definition of nightcap turned out to be very different to the beverage
I’d had in mind. After many hours of passion in her bedroom I knew I’d better
head home. My mind was reeling with the possible suspects that could have done
away with Mr Black. There was the neighbour I’d noticed watching jealously
every morning when he left and even more intimidatingly was still awake
watching through the curtains when I left.
Name: William Burton
Motive: Wants to bed Jenny.
There was also the colleague that
claimed to be his best friend but whenever Mr Blacks back had been turned the
daggers came out. The upcoming promotion had only two candidates and with one out
of the way the other was sure to get it.
Name: Samuel Davidson
Motive: Wants the promotion.
A number of other possibilities came
to mind but with the absence of any gang related activity from the victim and
no signs of another woman there was nothing that indicated anyone else could
have committed the crime.
The following morning in my
office Jenny came in sobbing again.
“Jenny you need to stop coming
here they think I am the one that killed your husband,” I told her.
“I know Johnny. I’m dreadfully
sorry,” she told me. He perched herself on my desk and let me know that she was
interested in a repeat of last night.
“Jenny I can’t I need to find
your husband’s killer before they lock me away,” I sighed.
“They think it was me and won’t
release his inheritance to me until his killer is caught,” she cried.
“I promise I will find whoever
did this,” I told her.
“Run away with me,” she pleaded.
After a few hours of passionate convincing I agreed we would run when she
received her husbands inheritance. I should have known the only way a man like
him could have scored a dame like her was with money. With the $2 million she
would receive I didn’t need much convincing. We decided that I would confess to
the crime and then she would pay the guards off and we would drive off into the
sunset. I picked many flaws in the plan but she appeared to have a way around
all of them.
I took home anything that was of
value to me and left the office in a state that someone else could take over. I
knew I would never work in this business again. I turned myself in and was
thrown in a cold dark cell. I waited patiently knowing that as soon as Jenny
had the money she would be there. It seemed to take a lifetime before I saw
her. When she came to visit me I could hardly contain my enthusuiasm and felt
like a young puppy having his master come home.
“Jenny what took so long?” I
asked as I took her hands through the bars.
“I’m sorry Johnny,” she
whispered. We kissed through the bars.
“Is the deal done?” I asked.
“Of course darling,” she replied
pulling me close. Then my heart started aching. I hadn’t realised I’d felt so
strongly for her. When she pulled away from me she had a look in her eyes I’d
never seen before. The ache immediately became unbearable.
“Jenny?” I asked as I looked down
I saw a bloody knife in her hand. “Why?”
“Couldn’t have you taking any of
my $2 million dollars,” she smirked. My hand rose the pain in my chest and
pulled away covered in blood. I sank to the floor and heard her walk away
leaving me on the cold cell floor with my life seeping away.
Challenge- Write a Noir
Word Limit- 2000
Actual word count- 1188
