The Cases of George Alpha #1 - Cupcakes

Arriving on the scene

Arriving at Rowdy street half an hour later, I worked my way through the crowd and ducked under the police ribbon. A man lay sprawled on his back, quite obviously dead given the gaping hole in his chest. His clothes were filthy and the soles of his shoes were half off.

Probably a homeless guy.

I walked up to sergeant Rascal who was interviewing some of the - undoubtedly innocent - bystanders.

'Good morning Rascal, what have we got here?'

''Morning George. A deceased John Doe, probably mid forties, shot in the back while running away after he stole a bag of cupcakes from one of the Brothel's customers.'

I needed a second to let all that sink in.

'Cupcakes?'

'Small cakes baked in a paper that looks like a cup.'

'Yes, thank you, I know what they are. What I don't see is the connection between cupcakes and brothels.'

'Oh right, sorry, I was referring to Brothel's Bakery, it's a popular bakery one street over, through the alley right here. Our John Doe grabbed the bag from a customer there and was trying to escape, but got shot in the back when he turned into this street.'

'Any witnesses?'

'Only the two men that were chasing him, the customer and the baker boy. They're the ones that flipped the victim over to check if he was still alive. They didn't see the shooter though, as they were too far behind. We've got their details and initial statements already, we're done with them. I kept them here in case you still wanted a word.'

Looking at where Rascal pointed, I saw two men standing, one of whom was wearing a bakery apron. I thanked Rascal, approached who I presumed was the customer and flipped out my notebook.

'Hello sir, my name is detective George Alpha, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions, mister...'

'Eddie Larkon, sir.'

'Hi, Eddie. I've been told you saw what happened here, could you tell me your story, and start at the beginning please.'

'Eh, ok. We were on the way to the bank when Mistress Panache told the driver to stop and asked me to get some cupcakes. Wh--'

'I'm sorry, Panache you say?'

'Yes. I'm the primary servant of lady Valeria Panache.'

'Ah, who owns the Panachian Bank?'

'Yes sir, where we were headed.'

'And your mistress asked you to buy some...'

'Cupcakes, sir.'

'Cupcakes.'

'Yes sir.'

'Does that happen often, that your ladyship wants cupcakes?'

'Oh yes sir. At least once a week.' He glanced around and whispered conspiratorially, 'Mistress Panache has a real sweet tooth.'

I accepted this as a fact and wrote it down.

'So, you bought these cupcakes, and then...'

'When I stepped back outside the store, that man there grabbed the bag from my hands and ran away with it.'

'Had you ever seen the man before today?'

'He was leaning against the wall when I entered the bakery. But before that, no, not that I recall.'

I nodded. 'Please, continue.'

'I chased after him through the alley. It was after I saw him turn the corner into this street that I heard the gunshot, but he was already on the ground when I arrived here.'