Note to readers: This is part of my writing practice series. I decided to post as a blog, then I’ll add to my page here to keep all of my practice stuff together. So, don’t be mad as there’s no ending to this, it’s just something fun I did. 😀
“That’s impossible…nobody knows what happened to him.”
“I do.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
“I saw it, as clear as day.”
“I thought you said you were with you wife that day?”
The detective studied the small, brown sparrow that lit upon the crumbling ledge outside his office window. She appeared unconcerned with the precarious nature of her perch as she pecked at the window before taking flight again.
“When you can fly, I’d say that all fear is gone. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Never mind. You were telling me about what happened to Roberts…”
“Yes, well, I can’t prove it, but I’m almost one hundred percent sure that he turned into the haberdashers on Jefferson Street, about an hour before he was reported missing.”
“And…where were you?”
“I’d been promising Angela I’d take her out for weeks, so when I finally got a break in my schedule, I told her, “hey, won’t don’t we try that new Chinese restaurant over on Bishop?”
“Okay, so when did you say you saw him…before or after you ate at Li’s?”
“Huh? Oh, you mean the Chinese place?”
“Yeah.”
“Before. I’d lost the address, so we were looking around for the place when I noticed the professor walk into the store.”
“And then what did you do?”
“Nothing. I figured he wanted to buy a hat or something, I don’t know. When Angela finally spotted the right street we went to eat. Then we went home. Wanna know anything else?”
“No, that’s fine. By the way, what did you think when you’d heard the next morning that he’d thrown himself from the top floor of the Mad Hatter’s?
“Well, I kinda felt sad if you wanna know the truth. The rumor mill around campus was that his wife was gonna ask him for a divorce, so I figured maybe that’s why he offed himself.”
Nodding, the detective stood up and walked towards his office door. “Right. Now, what department did you say you worked in?”
“Uh, finances…why?”
“Oh, nothing, just want to be sure I’ve accounted for everything. You can leave now, I’ll be in touch.”
“But…why, I can’t tell you anything else. I don’t know what happened to him.”
Frustrated, the detective finally slapped a book on his desk, in front of his only suspect. Shaking his head at the man standing behind Matthews he sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say…”
The rotund administrator peered over his glasses at the book. It was his second ledger, the one he kept hidden under a loose board under his bed.
“You see Matthews…we know what Roberts was up to, and we also know your involvement in it. Come clean now, and they’ll probably take it easy on you.”
“But I…”
Suddenly, the man’s voice shifted, grew stronger.
“No, I don’t think you will, detective. You see, we were successful, only Roberts had no idea what he’d created. He had no vision. I do. So, sorry to tell you, but I’m not going anywhere with you today.”
Then, moving more quickly than it appeared possible, the man rushed the detective, pushing him aside and then lept out of the open window.
Both men looked at each other before running to the window. Looking down, they saw…
