Mystery crime
Chapter 1: Unfortunate Tides
It was early in the morning when the silent bank alarm rang out as a gunshot punctured the eerie silence. The police were already on their way to the bank, but by the time they got there it was too late to catch the killer or to save the victim that now lay dead on the bank floor. Harding Luke walked through the door with his head held high and I jump in his step. Nothing really every got him down, or confused for that matter. Not even the poor security guard that now lay in an open body bag in front of him. Harding was a fairly tall, skinny man in his mid-20s; he had short hair that stuck out everywhere and a clean shaved face, generally he wore a black suit and classy hat. He was a well-known crime investigator throughout the whole city. Everyone called him Spot because of his expert talent of solving any crime, big or small, on the spot.
When Harding had walked into the bank, he noticed several details that would have definitely escaped the attention of the police that were scanning for finger-prints and clues. He had a knack for picking up on the smallest of details, like the way the person had actually died, or the scuff marks created by the desk being moved as if saying there was a struggle. All that would have eventually been discovered, but it would have taken time for a person without his extraordinary talent.
The man's name was Mark Bowen; he was the bank night time security guard. He worked every night of the week except Thursday night, which was his night to spend with his wife. "Morning spot", called out Grantey from the other side of the room, "it appears the murderer picked the lock, walked in stole some money and poor old Mark here happened to stumble upon him in the act". Harding already knew this of course but to spare Grantey's feelings, and the embarrassment, he acted if it was news to him.
Grant, as most people called him, was a stout man in his late forties, he had a lot of stubble on his chin and looked extremely tired. He wasn't as good at picking up on clues as what Harding was but he was learning, and with rapid success too. He and Grant had only been partners for 3 years but they were so close to each other as if they were brothers. Not to Harding's surprise, he noticed that Grant was black under the eyes and his movements weren't as fluent as they usually were. He assumed that the dreams had come back.
"Has the weapon been found yet?" inquired Harding, "No, not so far, but we're still looking" replied Grant. Again, this didn't come as a surprise to him, who would want to leave the murder weapon behind for the chance that finger prints, a hair or even the tiniest fibre may be left on it for the police to find and use to track the killer down. But what had interested him was what type of gun it was. A revolver. Not many people owned one of these and fewer yet knew how to use it properly. "I take it, you've found something interesting, have you not?" mocked Grant, although he was genuinely interested in what Harding had found. "The gunshot wound was made by a revolver, but that isn't what killed him. See how the bullet went on a diagonal path from here, down below the left side of ribs, all the way up to his right shoulder. It missed his heart, punctured his lungs and caused a lot of damage, but that isn't what killed him. No, see that greyish black mark here behind right his ear, created from the butt of the gun being smashed against the side of his head" Harding paused and then continued to explain his observations "It would have killed him instantly, brain trauma". "Then why go to all the trouble shooting him if he's already dead?" questioned Grant. The sides of Harding's mouth twitched as if about to smirk but he thought better of it. He then explained, "Ha-ha, you still have much to learn; by that question I take it you didn't know there was a struggle? It doesn't matter. In time you will learn. Anyway, as you can see here, there are scrapes and scuff marks created by the desk. When Mark saw the killer, he tried to stop him but the killer started to pull out the gun. In a desperate act to stop him, Mark jumped at him. They struggled trying to get possession of the gun, when they ran into the desk. From this, it distracted mark for a few seconds, giving the killer enough time to snatch the gun and pull the trigger. But, because of the awkward position they were in, the gun wasn't facing Mark properly, hence the wound being diagonal. With Mark lying on the floor leaking blood and slowly dying, the killer must have had a little bit of sympathy and put him out of his misery, but he wanted to do it as inhumanly as possible".
