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ENWorld Short Story Smackdown Summer 07
Round 3, Match 2
Extracurricular Murder
by Mike Rousos (Avatar_V)
Sergeant Guerin looked at the body again and shook his head. The scene was truly revolting. Tim Crawford, 12th grade English teacher at nearby Washington High School lay dead, his skull bashed in with a pick. Next to Guerin, Officer Dixon, still quite new to the force, shook a bit. It was Dixon that had first lifted the ridiculous party hat the murderer had been sick enough to strap on over the wound. Making that discovery had cost Dixon his breakfast and now, as lunch time rolled around, he was anything but hungry. The forensics team was packing up and paramedics would be by to take the body in for the official autopsy any moment now. At last, Guerin nudged Dixon, “Let’s go, rookie. We’ve seen all we can here and we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
As Guerin turned the cruiser out of the soccer field parking lot, Dixon flipped through his notes, still flustered but glad to be away from the grisly scene.
“I talked to the staff and a lot of his students this morning, like you asked, Sir,” Dixon explained. Guerin nodded and the young officer continued. “Several people mentioned a pair of students – Ashley Green and Katy Allen. Sounds like the two of them are pretty much inseparable – and Crawford flunked them both on some big project recently. Word is, it’s keeping them from graduating and spoiling some college plans, to boot. A few of their friends told me that they’re awfully upset about the whole thing. They’re definitely the popular choice for a motive of revenge.”
The sergeant nodded. “Let's stop back at the station and grab our lunch while we wait for the coroner’s report. Then, we’ll pay those girls a visit.”
“After this morning, sir, I think I may not eat lunch.”
“Ah, right. Well, I’m hungry. You can keep me company.”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Officer Dixon was a bit nervous as Sergeant Guerin parked in front of the Allens’ home, though he tried not to show it. He’d only been on the police force for a few months and already he was involved in a big investigation. He’d spoken with four different newspaper reporters just in the time it had taken Guerin to eat lunch. This was big. If he could help to crack this case, it would be great for his budding career. Getting out of the car, he noticed a sign hanging near the front door. It read “Congratulations Class of 2007!” and was ripped in half. Yea, they were mad. Dixon took a picture of the sign. They walked up the path, and Guerin knocked forcefully on the door. A moment later, Mr. Allen answered and asked the policemen if he could help them.
Guerin saw his partner twitching and answered quickly, before the rookie could, “Good afternoon, Sir. I’m Sergeant Guerin, this is Officer Dixon. We were wondering if Katy Allen was home. We’d like to ask her a few questions.”
“Of course, Officer,” her father answered, “Katy’s upstairs with Ashley.”
Guerin nodded, “Good, we’d like to speak to her as well. May we see them?”
“Sure, follow me.” Mr. Allen opened the door wider for police officers and led them upstairs. He opened the door to Katy’s room to let the officers in.
Inside, stood Katy and Ashley. On the floor, in front of them, sat two open, half-packed suitcases. Ashley held a bizarre alien mask. Another like it was already in one of the suitcases.
Both girls looked up, startled at the intrusion. Dixon’s heart beat faster. They were already packing for their getaway! The case couldn’t be more open-and-shut! Before Guerin could react, Dixon stepped forward and thrust his badge at the girls. In his most official sound voice, he inquired “What were your whereabouts on the night of March the 10th?”
Ashley looked at him, “What?”
Guerin interrupted. “Sorry to barge in like this. What my partner wants to know is where you both were last night.”
Katy looked baffled for a moment and then her eyes widened with comprehension, “This is about the murder last night, isn’t it! You think that we killed Mr. Crawford!”
“We never said that,” Guerin soothed. “We’re going to be talking to a lot of people – just trying to establish the facts about everyone’s whereabouts, you understand.”
“I see you’ve got some luggage there,” Dixon noted. “Are you girls planning on heading out of town for a while?”
“We’re packing for spring break,” Katy explained, “We’re leaving Friday after school to go to the coast with some friends.”
“And the masks? Perhaps you wore them to conceal your identity last night?”
“We were at a sleepover last night and we had them there,” Ashley answered. “We were scaring people during the night – we figure they’ll be fun at the beach.”
“I see,” said Dixon, jotting some things in his notebook. “I must say, it seems a bit odd to be packing for a trip a week in advance…”
“Well, it wasn’t us that killed Mr. Crawford,” Ashley said, sounding exasperated, “Like I said, we were at a sleepover with a dozen other girls – at Nadine Adams’ house. Ask anyone there, they’ll tell you we were there!”
“What time was Mr. Crawford killed, anyhow?” Katy asked.
Dixon consulted his notebook, “Coroner said that when the body was first found around six this morning, it had been cooling off for about four hours, give or take fifteen minutes – so, I guess around two.”
“Well, there you go!” Katy smiled in relief. “We arrived at Nadine’s at one last night. Five hours before six. And at least a dozen girls saw us nearly constantly the whole night. I’ll give you their names and phone numbers.”
Dixon frowned. Things had seemed so clear a moment ago. Now, Katy was ready to give him a list of a dozen witnesses to the fact that she and Ashley were nowhere near the scene of the crime.
“I see,” Guerin said, “We’ll check with Nadine, but I’m sure you’re telling the truth. Do you know of anyone with reason to be upset at Mr. Crawford?”
“Besides us?” Ashley asked.
“Right, besides you.”
“Well, there’s Samantha Simmons,” Katy offered.
Dixon began scribbling in his notebook, excited by the development of a new lead. “What did she have against the victim?”
“Oh, he used to pick on her horribly,” Katy answered. “Teasing, making fun, that sort of thing.”
Ashley tried not to laugh. Guerin raised an eyebrow. Ashley explained, “I’m sorry, Officer. It’s just so funny to remember. I mean, not funny for Samantha – she was furious – but really it was sort of funny for the rest of us.”
Katy chuckled as well now. “Do you remember the time that she dressed as a princess for the Halloween party and Crawford made her kiss a frog? She was mortified.”
Ashley nodded, “That was one of the best.”
Guerin and Dixon exchanged glances. It seemed that Ashley was going to continue reminiscing, but Dixon interjected, “I see what you mean, girls. I’m not sure that’s really motive for murder, though.”
“Ah, but that’s only half of it,” Katy explained, “You see, we said she got really upset over it, and we meant it. After particularly nasty teasing, she used to write these terrible poems and rants about how she hated Mr. Crawford and wanted to smash his skull in and stuff. It was really sick!”
Dixon began scribbling in his notebook again. Guerin answered the girls, “I see. Well, thank you for your time. I think we’ll go chat with Samantha. Will you two be around later if we have any more questions?”
Katy nodded, “We certainly will, Officer.” Then, looking at Dixon, she added, “Good luck cracking the case!”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Samantha Simmons wasn’t at home. Her parents were concerned by the officers’ visit, but after being assured that it was nothing to worry about, they told the policemen that Samantha was spending the weekend with her friend Anna Liu at her family’s vacation home a short ways out in the country. The officer’s thanked Samantha’s parents and drove out to Anna’s home. It was, perhaps, just shy of an hour before they were heading down the small dirt lane that led to the Liu’s house. Mrs. Liu met the officers as they got out of the car. “Good afternoon, Officers. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” Guerin answered, “I’m Sergeant Guerin, this is Officer Dixon. We were hoping we could ask your daughter and her friend Samantha a few questions.”
“Sure,” Mrs. Liu seemed agreeable. Dixon suspected she didn’t know about the murder yet. Regardless, she led the two officers into the kitchen where Samantha and Anna were preparing a casserole for dinner. They both looked surprised to see two policemen in the kitchen.
“Hello, girls,” Guerin greeted them quickly before Dixon could whip out his badge and his ‘What were your whereabouts on the night of March the 10th’ routine. “How are you doing?”
They both shrugged. “Fine,” Anna said. “We heard about Mr. Crawford, if that’s what you’re wondering. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To find out if we know anything?”
Guerin nodded, “That’s right. We’re just talking to people who knew him who may be able to tell us anything useful.”
“Particularly,” Dixon added, “it would be useful to know where you were last night, Samantha.” Guerin sighed. He would have to work with Dixon on his questioning technique.
Samantha sat up straight, “You think that I killed Mr. Crawford? That’s absurd, why would I do a thing like that?”
Dixon spread his hands, “I never said you killed him. Though, I have heard that there was some tension between you; that you wrote some pretty grim stuff about how you would like to hurt him.”
Samantha looked flustered. Color rose in her cheeks. “I’ve never written any such thing! Why would I do that? I always thought Mr. Crawford was great. Oh, he teased me here and there, but he knew I took it all in fun!” She was beginning to tear up.
“It’s ok, Samantha,” Guerin comforted. Dixon’s just asking questions. We’re not accusing you of anything.”
“Well, I hope not!” Anna sounded indignant. “She’s been with me all night, and I can assure you we were nowhere near Mr. Crawford.”
“I see,” Dixon had his notebook out again and was jotting things down. “And what did the two of you do last night?”
“We were here all night,” Anna said, “but there are plenty of witnesses.” Dixon looked inquisitive and Anna continued, “You see, my father died a year ago yesterday. It’s tradition in Chinese culture to hold a memorial for a deceased person on the one year anniversary of their death; it completes the term of mourning. Most of my extended family was here with us until late into the night. I was out on that hill,” she pointed, “holding a lantern. Samantha was with me as support in a difficult time. So, if you think that she killed Mr. Guerin, you’re wrong. I don’t know who put you onto her as a suspect, but they’re either malicious or just ignorant. Samantha wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Dixon scribbled in his notebook for a moment and then looked up. “I see. Just how late was this vigil?”
“Quite late,” Anna repeated. “Many of my relatives were here until three in the morning. Some stayed even later.”
Dixon frowned and grumbled to himself, “How is it that everyone’s accounted for at two in the morning? Relatives over until three – that’s worse than arriving at a party at one.” His frustration showed in the way that he aggressively wrote this newest information in his notebook.
“Party at one in the morning?” Anna asked, “Who was that?”
Dixon looked up from his notebook, “Oh, your friends Katy Allen and Ashley Green. We know they weren’t involved in this because they arrived at a party at one last night and the victim wasn’t killed until nearly two. Same way we know that you and Samantha weren’t involved since you were here until at least three.”
Anna thought for a moment and then asked, “Mr. Crawford was killed around two last night?”
Dixon nodded, “As near as we can tell. His body was found at six this morning by a groundskeeper and the coroner is fairly certain that he’d been dead for four hours at that point.”
Anna considered this and then started to laugh, “Officer Dixon, Katy and Ashley were the ones who told you Samantha had threatened Mr. Crawford, weren’t they?”
Guerin answered, “We ought not to answer a question like that, Anna.”
“That’s fine. I know they were. Samantha, can you hand me that tomato from the counter? I want to demonstrate something for these officers.” While Samantha retrieved the tomato, Anna went briefly into the next room. She returned with a short tape measure.
“What’s all this about?” Dixon asked.
Anna answered with a question of her own. “How big around is this tomato?” She lifted it up for the policemen to see.
Dixon shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe twelve inches.”
Guerin shook his head, “It’s a big tomato. I’ll say fourteen.”
Anna smiled and wrapped the tape measure around the tomato. She showed the measurement to the officers. It read seventeen inches.
Dixon whistled, “That’s one large piece of fruit.”
“Vegetable,” Guerin corrected. Dixon looked as if he were about to argue the point, but Guerin continued, “Regardless, that measurement doesn’t seem right to me. I agree that’s a prize-winner of a tomato, but it certainly doesn’t look like it’s got a seventeen inch circumference.”
Anna smiled, “Very perceptive, officer.” She opened her left hand a bit and revealed several inches of tape balled up there.
“So, then it’s not really seventeen inches around,” Dixon said. “What’s the point of all this?”
“I’m just demonstrating that things can seem longer than they are when some of the measuring standard is unaccounted for.”
Dixon and Guerin exchanged glances and Guerin asked the question they both were thinking, “What does this have to do with Tim Crawford’s murder?”
“It’s March 11th today,” Anna explained, “the second Sunday in March.” She waited but nothing registered for the officers, so she explained further, “Today begins daylight saving time! Last night, all our clocks were set forward an hour. Clocks went from 1:59 directly to 3:00.” Guerin’s eyes grew wide as he understood what she was saying. Dixon dropped his pen. “Last night,” Anna concluded, “there were only four hours between one and six in the morning. Seems to me that there was time for someone to kill Mr. Crawford four hours before dawn and still make it to a nearby party by one.”
Guerin already had his cell phone out. “Hello, Mr. Allen? This is Sergeant Guerin. I need to speak to Katy at once.” There was a pause. “What do you mean, ‘she left’?” Another pause. “With her bags? And Ashley too? Did they say where they were going?” One final pause. “No, Mr. Allen, I don’t think she was joking about the airport.”
Guerin flipped his phone shut and pounded the table. Dixon put his head in his hands. Suddenly, he was much less excited to be working this case.
Round 3, Match 2
Extracurricular Murder
by Mike Rousos (Avatar_V)
Sergeant Guerin looked at the body again and shook his head. The scene was truly revolting. Tim Crawford, 12th grade English teacher at nearby Washington High School lay dead, his skull bashed in with a pick. Next to Guerin, Officer Dixon, still quite new to the force, shook a bit. It was Dixon that had first lifted the ridiculous party hat the murderer had been sick enough to strap on over the wound. Making that discovery had cost Dixon his breakfast and now, as lunch time rolled around, he was anything but hungry. The forensics team was packing up and paramedics would be by to take the body in for the official autopsy any moment now. At last, Guerin nudged Dixon, “Let’s go, rookie. We’ve seen all we can here and we’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”
As Guerin turned the cruiser out of the soccer field parking lot, Dixon flipped through his notes, still flustered but glad to be away from the grisly scene.
“I talked to the staff and a lot of his students this morning, like you asked, Sir,” Dixon explained. Guerin nodded and the young officer continued. “Several people mentioned a pair of students – Ashley Green and Katy Allen. Sounds like the two of them are pretty much inseparable – and Crawford flunked them both on some big project recently. Word is, it’s keeping them from graduating and spoiling some college plans, to boot. A few of their friends told me that they’re awfully upset about the whole thing. They’re definitely the popular choice for a motive of revenge.”
The sergeant nodded. “Let's stop back at the station and grab our lunch while we wait for the coroner’s report. Then, we’ll pay those girls a visit.”
“After this morning, sir, I think I may not eat lunch.”
“Ah, right. Well, I’m hungry. You can keep me company.”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Officer Dixon was a bit nervous as Sergeant Guerin parked in front of the Allens’ home, though he tried not to show it. He’d only been on the police force for a few months and already he was involved in a big investigation. He’d spoken with four different newspaper reporters just in the time it had taken Guerin to eat lunch. This was big. If he could help to crack this case, it would be great for his budding career. Getting out of the car, he noticed a sign hanging near the front door. It read “Congratulations Class of 2007!” and was ripped in half. Yea, they were mad. Dixon took a picture of the sign. They walked up the path, and Guerin knocked forcefully on the door. A moment later, Mr. Allen answered and asked the policemen if he could help them.
Guerin saw his partner twitching and answered quickly, before the rookie could, “Good afternoon, Sir. I’m Sergeant Guerin, this is Officer Dixon. We were wondering if Katy Allen was home. We’d like to ask her a few questions.”
“Of course, Officer,” her father answered, “Katy’s upstairs with Ashley.”
Guerin nodded, “Good, we’d like to speak to her as well. May we see them?”
“Sure, follow me.” Mr. Allen opened the door wider for police officers and led them upstairs. He opened the door to Katy’s room to let the officers in.
Inside, stood Katy and Ashley. On the floor, in front of them, sat two open, half-packed suitcases. Ashley held a bizarre alien mask. Another like it was already in one of the suitcases.
Both girls looked up, startled at the intrusion. Dixon’s heart beat faster. They were already packing for their getaway! The case couldn’t be more open-and-shut! Before Guerin could react, Dixon stepped forward and thrust his badge at the girls. In his most official sound voice, he inquired “What were your whereabouts on the night of March the 10th?”
Ashley looked at him, “What?”
Guerin interrupted. “Sorry to barge in like this. What my partner wants to know is where you both were last night.”
Katy looked baffled for a moment and then her eyes widened with comprehension, “This is about the murder last night, isn’t it! You think that we killed Mr. Crawford!”
“We never said that,” Guerin soothed. “We’re going to be talking to a lot of people – just trying to establish the facts about everyone’s whereabouts, you understand.”
“I see you’ve got some luggage there,” Dixon noted. “Are you girls planning on heading out of town for a while?”
“We’re packing for spring break,” Katy explained, “We’re leaving Friday after school to go to the coast with some friends.”
“And the masks? Perhaps you wore them to conceal your identity last night?”
“We were at a sleepover last night and we had them there,” Ashley answered. “We were scaring people during the night – we figure they’ll be fun at the beach.”
“I see,” said Dixon, jotting some things in his notebook. “I must say, it seems a bit odd to be packing for a trip a week in advance…”
“Well, it wasn’t us that killed Mr. Crawford,” Ashley said, sounding exasperated, “Like I said, we were at a sleepover with a dozen other girls – at Nadine Adams’ house. Ask anyone there, they’ll tell you we were there!”
“What time was Mr. Crawford killed, anyhow?” Katy asked.
Dixon consulted his notebook, “Coroner said that when the body was first found around six this morning, it had been cooling off for about four hours, give or take fifteen minutes – so, I guess around two.”
“Well, there you go!” Katy smiled in relief. “We arrived at Nadine’s at one last night. Five hours before six. And at least a dozen girls saw us nearly constantly the whole night. I’ll give you their names and phone numbers.”
Dixon frowned. Things had seemed so clear a moment ago. Now, Katy was ready to give him a list of a dozen witnesses to the fact that she and Ashley were nowhere near the scene of the crime.
“I see,” Guerin said, “We’ll check with Nadine, but I’m sure you’re telling the truth. Do you know of anyone with reason to be upset at Mr. Crawford?”
“Besides us?” Ashley asked.
“Right, besides you.”
“Well, there’s Samantha Simmons,” Katy offered.
Dixon began scribbling in his notebook, excited by the development of a new lead. “What did she have against the victim?”
“Oh, he used to pick on her horribly,” Katy answered. “Teasing, making fun, that sort of thing.”
Ashley tried not to laugh. Guerin raised an eyebrow. Ashley explained, “I’m sorry, Officer. It’s just so funny to remember. I mean, not funny for Samantha – she was furious – but really it was sort of funny for the rest of us.”
Katy chuckled as well now. “Do you remember the time that she dressed as a princess for the Halloween party and Crawford made her kiss a frog? She was mortified.”
Ashley nodded, “That was one of the best.”
Guerin and Dixon exchanged glances. It seemed that Ashley was going to continue reminiscing, but Dixon interjected, “I see what you mean, girls. I’m not sure that’s really motive for murder, though.”
“Ah, but that’s only half of it,” Katy explained, “You see, we said she got really upset over it, and we meant it. After particularly nasty teasing, she used to write these terrible poems and rants about how she hated Mr. Crawford and wanted to smash his skull in and stuff. It was really sick!”
Dixon began scribbling in his notebook again. Guerin answered the girls, “I see. Well, thank you for your time. I think we’ll go chat with Samantha. Will you two be around later if we have any more questions?”
Katy nodded, “We certainly will, Officer.” Then, looking at Dixon, she added, “Good luck cracking the case!”
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Samantha Simmons wasn’t at home. Her parents were concerned by the officers’ visit, but after being assured that it was nothing to worry about, they told the policemen that Samantha was spending the weekend with her friend Anna Liu at her family’s vacation home a short ways out in the country. The officer’s thanked Samantha’s parents and drove out to Anna’s home. It was, perhaps, just shy of an hour before they were heading down the small dirt lane that led to the Liu’s house. Mrs. Liu met the officers as they got out of the car. “Good afternoon, Officers. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” Guerin answered, “I’m Sergeant Guerin, this is Officer Dixon. We were hoping we could ask your daughter and her friend Samantha a few questions.”
“Sure,” Mrs. Liu seemed agreeable. Dixon suspected she didn’t know about the murder yet. Regardless, she led the two officers into the kitchen where Samantha and Anna were preparing a casserole for dinner. They both looked surprised to see two policemen in the kitchen.
“Hello, girls,” Guerin greeted them quickly before Dixon could whip out his badge and his ‘What were your whereabouts on the night of March the 10th’ routine. “How are you doing?”
They both shrugged. “Fine,” Anna said. “We heard about Mr. Crawford, if that’s what you’re wondering. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To find out if we know anything?”
Guerin nodded, “That’s right. We’re just talking to people who knew him who may be able to tell us anything useful.”
“Particularly,” Dixon added, “it would be useful to know where you were last night, Samantha.” Guerin sighed. He would have to work with Dixon on his questioning technique.
Samantha sat up straight, “You think that I killed Mr. Crawford? That’s absurd, why would I do a thing like that?”
Dixon spread his hands, “I never said you killed him. Though, I have heard that there was some tension between you; that you wrote some pretty grim stuff about how you would like to hurt him.”
Samantha looked flustered. Color rose in her cheeks. “I’ve never written any such thing! Why would I do that? I always thought Mr. Crawford was great. Oh, he teased me here and there, but he knew I took it all in fun!” She was beginning to tear up.
“It’s ok, Samantha,” Guerin comforted. Dixon’s just asking questions. We’re not accusing you of anything.”
“Well, I hope not!” Anna sounded indignant. “She’s been with me all night, and I can assure you we were nowhere near Mr. Crawford.”
“I see,” Dixon had his notebook out again and was jotting things down. “And what did the two of you do last night?”
“We were here all night,” Anna said, “but there are plenty of witnesses.” Dixon looked inquisitive and Anna continued, “You see, my father died a year ago yesterday. It’s tradition in Chinese culture to hold a memorial for a deceased person on the one year anniversary of their death; it completes the term of mourning. Most of my extended family was here with us until late into the night. I was out on that hill,” she pointed, “holding a lantern. Samantha was with me as support in a difficult time. So, if you think that she killed Mr. Guerin, you’re wrong. I don’t know who put you onto her as a suspect, but they’re either malicious or just ignorant. Samantha wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Dixon scribbled in his notebook for a moment and then looked up. “I see. Just how late was this vigil?”
“Quite late,” Anna repeated. “Many of my relatives were here until three in the morning. Some stayed even later.”
Dixon frowned and grumbled to himself, “How is it that everyone’s accounted for at two in the morning? Relatives over until three – that’s worse than arriving at a party at one.” His frustration showed in the way that he aggressively wrote this newest information in his notebook.
“Party at one in the morning?” Anna asked, “Who was that?”
Dixon looked up from his notebook, “Oh, your friends Katy Allen and Ashley Green. We know they weren’t involved in this because they arrived at a party at one last night and the victim wasn’t killed until nearly two. Same way we know that you and Samantha weren’t involved since you were here until at least three.”
Anna thought for a moment and then asked, “Mr. Crawford was killed around two last night?”
Dixon nodded, “As near as we can tell. His body was found at six this morning by a groundskeeper and the coroner is fairly certain that he’d been dead for four hours at that point.”
Anna considered this and then started to laugh, “Officer Dixon, Katy and Ashley were the ones who told you Samantha had threatened Mr. Crawford, weren’t they?”
Guerin answered, “We ought not to answer a question like that, Anna.”
“That’s fine. I know they were. Samantha, can you hand me that tomato from the counter? I want to demonstrate something for these officers.” While Samantha retrieved the tomato, Anna went briefly into the next room. She returned with a short tape measure.
“What’s all this about?” Dixon asked.
Anna answered with a question of her own. “How big around is this tomato?” She lifted it up for the policemen to see.
Dixon shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe twelve inches.”
Guerin shook his head, “It’s a big tomato. I’ll say fourteen.”
Anna smiled and wrapped the tape measure around the tomato. She showed the measurement to the officers. It read seventeen inches.
Dixon whistled, “That’s one large piece of fruit.”
“Vegetable,” Guerin corrected. Dixon looked as if he were about to argue the point, but Guerin continued, “Regardless, that measurement doesn’t seem right to me. I agree that’s a prize-winner of a tomato, but it certainly doesn’t look like it’s got a seventeen inch circumference.”
Anna smiled, “Very perceptive, officer.” She opened her left hand a bit and revealed several inches of tape balled up there.
“So, then it’s not really seventeen inches around,” Dixon said. “What’s the point of all this?”
“I’m just demonstrating that things can seem longer than they are when some of the measuring standard is unaccounted for.”
Dixon and Guerin exchanged glances and Guerin asked the question they both were thinking, “What does this have to do with Tim Crawford’s murder?”
“It’s March 11th today,” Anna explained, “the second Sunday in March.” She waited but nothing registered for the officers, so she explained further, “Today begins daylight saving time! Last night, all our clocks were set forward an hour. Clocks went from 1:59 directly to 3:00.” Guerin’s eyes grew wide as he understood what she was saying. Dixon dropped his pen. “Last night,” Anna concluded, “there were only four hours between one and six in the morning. Seems to me that there was time for someone to kill Mr. Crawford four hours before dawn and still make it to a nearby party by one.”
Guerin already had his cell phone out. “Hello, Mr. Allen? This is Sergeant Guerin. I need to speak to Katy at once.” There was a pause. “What do you mean, ‘she left’?” Another pause. “With her bags? And Ashley too? Did they say where they were going?” One final pause. “No, Mr. Allen, I don’t think she was joking about the airport.”
Guerin flipped his phone shut and pounded the table. Dixon put his head in his hands. Suddenly, he was much less excited to be working this case.
As with the last story, I didn't get to spend as much time on this one as I would have liked. In the end, I think it's adequate. I think the picture use is pretty good, but the story still feels like something that was built around a set of pictures. Ideally, it wouldn't feel that way, but it is what it is. It's shorter than my last two, but I think that since it lacks some of the emotional turbulence I usually like to include in my stories, the length may be a good thing. That it's not terribly long helps to disguise the fact that we're really just going from scene to scene designed around pictures 
