The Wolf Murder

Part 1

"A murder? My first case is a murder?" I throw my hands up until they hit the top of the car. Slumping in my seat, I groan and cross my arms.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" My partner glances back at me from the front of the car, his eyes twinkling with the excitement of getting to solve another murder.

"Well..."

"I'm sure you can handle it Joseph," he interrupts me, looking forward again.

He's definitely wrong there. I grew up at the Bedford boarding school in England and I read books and wrote in my free time. I'm a stickler for rules, while my new partner, Edward Jones, grew up in New York solving puzzles since he was a kid. Even though his family was murdered, all he wants to do is find out who did it. Not to mention, he fought in the war, and for all I can tell he came back perfectly fine. So I definitely could not solve the case with Edward, who couldn't be more different from me. Of course he'd be able to handle a murder, but me, definitley not.

"Bum rap! We both know I'm most likely gonna pass out right after we see the body."

"Stop being such a geezer, you'll survive. It's just a simple murder. Now ask me about the case already."

I roll my eyes at his statement, but respond anyway. "What's the case Mr. Jones?" I ask, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well Mr. Samerson, last night Maria Templeton was found dead in her Hollywood apartment. She was found by her boyfriend, Duncan Hodel, who was picking her up to go to a party. Obviously, they never got to the party. They didn't even leave the apartment. The boy called it in around 9:45 last night and they put us on the case this morning. The victim was about 20 years old, give or take a couple years."

"Why exactly did we get the case?"

"Well, when I heard there was a murder, I forced them to give the case to me. Of course, being the best detective on their police force, it didn't take much persuasion to get the case."

I groan and slump against the back of the driver's seat. "Why did I take this job?"

"Because you needed money to pay for your apartment, seeing as your dream of being a writer isn't going so well. The police department was desperate enough to hire just about anyone. They hired the first people to sign up, which happened to include you."

"How'd you know that?"

"I read your applicant sheet."

"Oh."

"Anywho, seems we're just about here. Ready yourself Joseph, you're about to see a dead body for the first time. Personally, I think that these kind of cases are the best, most amazing kind of cases. They're the real killer dillers of cases."

The car comes to a stop and Edward jumps out, throwing on his bomber jacket as he leaves the vehicle. I thank the driver, climb out of the backseat, grab my trench coat and fedora and walk to the front of the apartment building to meet Edward. Looking up at the towering gray building, I see a black raven right as it flies past the building.

"This place looks like it could fall down any second," I say trying to hide the nervousness in my voice.

"Don't be so nervous Joseph! It's a perfectly safe building, otherwise an actress like our victim wouldn't be living in it."

He walks into the lobby, glancing at the mail boxes and heads straight to the elevators.

"Don't we need to ask which room we need to go to?" I ask with confusion lacing my voice.