Mirror, Mirror on the Wall ✓

9 | Cleaning Up a Mess

Chapter 9: Cleaning Up a Mess

Sanchez parked the car in a familiar parking lot and jumped out. 

'Must say, Detective. You are much smarter than I thought.'

Sanchez read the name of the shop—Morris and Sons Antiques. They marched inside uninvited and Sanchez felt a tinge of excitement. He saw Scott Morris' flustered face as they entered his office in the corner of the shop. 'G-good morning officers. I wasn't expecting you.'

'Why will you, when you thought you could get away from the felony? Do you have a gun, Mr Morris?' said the detective with a smirk.

'No. Wh-what are you talking about?' stammered Scott Morris.

'Will you confess to your crime, or will I have to force you?'

'Wh-which crime? You can't accuse me without evidence, Detective.'

'Oh, so I have to force you. Tell me first: is the antique mirror a fake or not?'

Morris seemed to search for words but couldn't find them.

'Wait, I'll tell you. The mirror was engraved with the name Queen Elizabeth I. But it's fake. If it had been real, it should have been just Queen Elizabeth. At that time people didn't know there would be a second Elizabeth in the royal lineage. If it were real, they would have written Queen Elizabeth because she wasn't called Queen Elizabeth I. Plus, the gunshot is at your height. The man you framed is about a foot taller than you. Unfortunately, your brilliant plan failed,' He said in a mocking tone. 'And if you had any sense, you could have gotten away with it too.'

Morris was speechless. The sergeant asked, 'But why would someone break into his own shop and do all this?'

'Desperate times call for desperate measures, Clark. I had seen his dishevelled demeanour when I first met him. I did some background check. His business was running low and the rival shop had started to claim the customers which had once been his. I had noticed the height issue with the bullet hole too, but I could not find the motive behind all this until it clicked to me. 

'The assistant he framed was the right hand of the owner. He thought he could kill two birds with one stone: he would get some money by claiming insurance and, at the same time, make his rival's business go haywire. Sadly, the plan had loopholes and it backfired. Scott Morris, you are under arrest for misleading the police, using illegal weaponry and false insurance claim.'

There was a respectful look for Detective Sanchez in Sergeant Clark's eyes as he handcuffed Morris and led him out. 

Sanchez stayed back a minute and took in his surroundings. Well, the excitement is all over now. Guess I must go back to my boring routine now.

This had been a bit unusual. The thief framing somebody else for his crime. Unprecedented in Roxlow, he thought. But hell, he was back at square one because it was over. Having a difficult case has its own thrill. A thrill which isn't in my fate. With such other thoughts swirling in his mind, he exited the shop and walked across to the police car waiting for him with Clark and Morris inside.

What Sanchez didn't realize, however, was that someone had been surveilling him from a dark nook behind the antique shop, observing him with the corner of his mouth quirked up and an expression of sly triumph on his face.

He could never have known.

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Hey, pals!

Writing author's notes isn't my thing, but I had to. After all, this is the first big twist in my first book!

Did you like the first major plot twist in the book?

I was so excited how this would turn out. I guess it wasn't very enthralling but it feels something like the calm before a storm. What do you guys think? I'd love to know!

And what do you make of that guy snooping around? Let me know in the comments!