Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Posted in Mystery on Jul 27, 2021

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✍️ 117 stories

“The Death of Duty” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #72

***Author's note: I've never really tried doing this type of story before, so any and all feedback on how to improve it or your thoughts overall would be most appreciated! I hope you enjoy! ***December 12th, 8:30pm Police Station, Roosevelt, NC Okay, so I’m still not entirely sure what the hell is to be gained from this, but if the counselor really thinks that keeping my feelings a damn diary will help my wife comprehend my daily stress or whatever, fine. I love her and I want this to work, so here it is. (It should go withou...

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“Halloway's Faces” by Joshua G. J. Insole

Submitted to Contest #72

Detective Halloway walked down the stone steps. He took his time, despite the onslaught of rain that soaked him to the bone. Every article of clothing was damp and heavy, from his socks to his briefs. His feet squelched with each sodden step.Grant weighed it all up in his mind.The looks of recognition in the faces of those he’d interviewed.The reactions.The descriptions.The eye-witness accounts.And, because Grant was a visual man of a certain era, there was the CCTV footage.You couldn’t argue with CCTV footage. Especially not in this day and...

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“Secret Uncovered (part 2 of the ghost of the past)” by Marcail Nevaeh

Submitted to Contest #72

I take down the smallest duffle bag I can find, I won’t be able to carry a huge suitcase around town. I’m not sure what led me to run instead of pleading my case, but I felt like I needed to avenge Levi’s death, and I can’t do that from a jail cell. I look around my room, wondering what I should pack. Obviously not everything can come with me. I pack as much clothes as I can fit and that I think I’ll need, and then I pull out a scrapbook from under my bed. A single tear traces it’s way down my cheek as I open it. On the first page is a pictu...

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“Attempted Murder” by Zoé Nöel-Lemieux

Submitted to Contest #72

“New case, Noëlla.” Thump. A stack of files in a manilla folder lands on the desk in front of me, sending my papers flying. Great. Now my spotless office has papers everywhere. I huff and look up to glare at my boss’ departing back. “No case summary?” He turns back, talking a few strides into the office and closing the door behind him. That’s the good thing about being one of the top-ranking detectives in our firm, I get an office to myself, unlike others such as Otto and Schorlek who have to share one. It gives the privacy and thinking spac...

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“The Adventures of Charlotte Holmes” by Tessa Takzikab

Submitted to Contest #72

It was a seemingly completely ordinary day when the new kid, Charlotte Holmes, turned around in her chair and looked me in the eye. “Jane, right?” She asked it as a question, but the teacher had just finished going over the attendance and we both knew it wasn’t really a question. “I need your help.” It was a bit surprising to me, because I consider myself a pretty boring person. The most exciting things that ever happen to me are to the alter-egos I write about in my journal, so I was pretty sure she would go ask someone else for help as...

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“Emily” by Tim Law

Submitted to Contest #72

The mist was like a pea soup. So thick that Detective Donaldson could barely hear the sound of the oars as he dragged them through the calm ocean tinged green. The locals had informed Donaldson that there was an island out there somewhere, barely visible on a clear day. The detective was trying to find it in the middle of winter. It was an impossible task but one that Dan Donaldson was desperate to achieve. He hoped he was going to find land soon. The tiny rowboat continued to slide through the water until after what seemed like hours the hu...

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“The True Traitor? Part 1” by Phoebe DeNeve

Submitted to Contest #72

The interrogation room was cold, small, empty, and dark with the only light source being a small lightbulb hanging on a string. In the middle of the room was small, table with a chair and a girl that was in her mid-twenties sat with her pale wrists handcuffed to the table. Auburn hair covered her pale face, and green eyes that were blood-shot, and had bags under them. She was staring down at the shiny metal and silently shivering when she heard the door open. "Reanna?" she heard a familiar voice say, but she refused to even glance up. Rean...

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“Anything but Elementary” by Kate Winchester

Submitted to Contest #72

“It’s elementary my dear Watson!” Det. Watson rolled his eyes. It was only the umpteenth time that he had heard that statement. “You know Sherlock never technically said that right?” He replied. “And besides, Watson was the doctor, remember?” “Who made you the Sherlock expert?” Det. Schwan asked rhetorically, but Det. Watson responded anyway. “Me, expert? Haha, yeah right.” The two departed their vehicle and entered the police station. They walked by the reception window and Det. Schwan punc...

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“Eyes that never SMILE.” by An Echo

Submitted to Contest #72

"Just another suicide case. Nothing to see really."You'll be the judge of that.Welcome, you must be the new detective. I'm guessing this is your first case. No problem, I'm Maya, I'm your guide. The scene sets in a teenage girls bedroom. The darkness, a thick fog, in the room. The hair at the back of your neck stands, not because of the humidity but for your thirst for Justice."Geez, open the blinds. What is this? A horror movie."You roll your eyes at the extra large police cop, Berny. You're new here, but you already know that you two would...

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“I've Got You Now...Or Do I? (Part 1)” by Trinity Womack

Submitted to Contest #72

Detective Blaine Joiner walked around the scene of the crime. He pulled a pair of black gloves from his pocket and stretched them over his hands. He stepped to the first of the two victims. Shot. Both of them. Right through the heart. “It’s him, alright.” His young partner, Peter nodded and scribbled something into his notepad. “That’s three shootings this month.” Peter was younger than Blaine by a decade at twenty years old, but he was smarter than men decades older. “Now, we just have to...

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“Suspects at Sea” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #72

Captain Thomas Dumaresq of the HMS Repulse, a sixty-four-gun, fully-rigged, Intrepid-class, third-rate ship of the line, received the report of his first-mate whilst sipping his elevenses breakfast tea. “Sir, as ordered, we have put the derelict cutter in tow. We have searched the vessel and there are no living sailors aboard. The only crew we found was the desiccated body of a man with the markings of ship’s quartermaster in the brig. Oddly enough that is also where we recovered the ship’s log and manifest for your inspection.” The mate g...

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“Father's Daughter” by Vivian Bee 🐝

Submitted to Contest #72

The case was as straightforward as any. The knife was found in the back of the drawer, accompanied by towels crusted with a crimson coating. Why was this case so different from the rest? I'd seen this a million times, but somehow this one felt wrong. Like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit in quite right. The whole thing was too clean, too easy. I clenched my eyes shut and took a deep breath, inhaling the icy air that always came with our Maine winters, wishing I hadn't parked across the street. I sped up and half-jogged towards the statio...

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“The Blood Mandelas” by Catherine Hill

Submitted to Contest #72

Wojcik sat across the heavy metal table from Thomas Dyson, staring into his mismatched eyes, one bright blue, the other dark brown. That’s what did it; the genetic profile revealed that the perpetrator had chimerism, two unique DNA profiles. Wojcik remembers the call from Rodney Chiles in the crime lab. It came after almost 9 months of no leads and 8 murders. The killer left his DNA at the crime scene, his own blood, intentionally.“It’s a long shot, but he could have mismatched eyes or hyperpigmentation of the skin. It’s not much but it’s so...

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“Justice Justin ” by Lilah Blackburn

Submitted to Contest #72

It was detective Justin’s first day on the job. He was dripping sweat because he was so nervous. He couldn’t mess this up; it was his only chance to prove to his family that leaving the family grocery store was a good idea. They did not approve of him becoming a detective but it was his dream to help people. He was just assigned his first case about a girl kidnapped and murdered. The caption of the station was very clear that this case needed to be solved quickly. It could turn into a serial killer quickly and t...

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“Murder” by Emily Gray

Submitted to Contest #72

Warning! This is quite long. On google docs it was 8 pages and 1617 words long. I hope you like it though. Eleanor Gray knew who the suspect was. She was one of the best detectives in Europe, and never got a case wrong. But this one was different. Different because it was harder than her previous ones. Harder because all the suspects she had chosen could be guilty, or innocent. It could be Riley, or Olivia, but she knew it definitely wasn’t Emma. Emma was too sweet. But Eleanor had chosen Emma as one of her suspects, because she was ...

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Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 117 stories

“The Death of Duty” by S. Closson

“Halloway's Faces” by Joshua G. J. Insole

“Secret Uncovered (part 2 of the ghost of the past)” by Marcail Nevaeh

“Attempted Murder” by Zoé Nöel-Lemieux

“The Adventures of Charlotte Holmes” by Tessa Takzikab

“Emily” by Tim Law

“The True Traitor? Part 1” by Phoebe DeNeve

“Anything but Elementary” by Kate Winchester

“Eyes that never SMILE.” by An Echo

“I've Got You Now...Or Do I? (Part 1)” by Trinity Womack

“Suspects at Sea” by David Brown

“Father's Daughter” by Vivian Bee 🐝

“The Blood Mandelas” by Catherine Hill

“Justice Justin ” by Lilah Blackburn

“Murder” by Emily Gray

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

Write about someone getting a job offer they never would have thought to apply for.

Write about someone who gets an inheritance from a relative they’ve never heard of, but they’ll need to do something completely outside their comfort zone in order to collect it.

Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Contest #72

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

687

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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