Harris Burdick Mysteries: Under the Rug

Under the Rug

"Two weeks passed and it happened again."

Jacob Diamond furiously threw his laptop to the wall. A loud thud could be heard, but it wasn't from the computer. The noise came from the neighbors. Jacob had only moved into his new apartment less than two weeks ago, and he regretted it immediately. There was a middle-aged couple in the apartment next to his, and the only thing they ever did was fight. They yelled all day, threw objects, and fought with shrilling voices. At first, he had felt concerned about this, but it soon became clear to him that this was a normal, everyday thing. Everyone in town knew about this couple. Millions of rumors swirled around the topic, but they were only rumors. The reason they were still married was unknown to just about everyone. Nearly everyone in town was curious about it, but Jacob couldn't care less. All he wanted was peace and quiet. Although the rent was pretty cheap for such a good apartment, he couldn't help but feel like he had been scammed. He didn't have a lot of money, so he couldn't move apartments.

Sighing in frustration, Jacob bent down to pick up his MacBook Pro. Fortunately, it wasn't too beaten up. It would have been bad if it broke since he hadn't saved his work yet. Pressing the save button, he decided to lay down for a bit. Dropping onto his bed, the writer buried his face in his pillow. The deadline for his second book was in six months, and that wasn't a whole lot of time. He needed to turn in his book on time, or his career will be finished. His first book was fairly large success, so the publishers needed it on time. There was no way he was going to meet the deadline with this noise.

Laying there for a few more minutes, a thought suddenly struck him. Abruptly sitting up, a devilish smirk slowly formed on his chapped lips. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier? Jumping off his bed with newfound energy, he raced for the living room, which was littered with cardboard boxes. They were all labeled with the word clothes, kitchen, shoes, etc, but two lonely, unlabeled boxes sat in the dark corner of the room. Clumsily mazing through the boxes, Jacob quickly opened one of the boxes. Inside were stacks of stapled paper, each having some sort of writing on it. Ignoring the contents, he averted his attention to the other unlabeled box. His smirk grew as he almost ripped it open. Inside was a shabby, black typewriter.

It was slightly run down. The metal typebars were bit rusted, a few key tops were missing, and the shift springs needed to be replaced, but to Jacob, this was his most prized and beloved possession.

In the past, this machine had been the solution to virtually all of his unsolvable problems. Now, with this typewriter, he'll be able to finish his book on time.

♦♦♦

The next morning, Jacob pressed the doorbell of his noisy neighbor's apartment.

"Open the door woman!" a gruff voice ordered from inside.

"I'm busy!" a more feminine voice barked.

"So is every other person in the world!"

Mrs. Hurst let out a frustrated cry, but nonetheless, stomped towards the door. She angrily swung it open to see a smiling, young man holding a rolled up rug.

"Hello, my name is Jacob Diamond," he introduced.

Mrs. Hurst simply stared at him, tapping her foot impatiently. Acting a little intimidated, Jacob dimmed his smile.

"Um, I just moved in next door an-"

"If this is a stupid noise complaint, then you can get your skinny butt out my sight."