The Case of David and Oswald

Submitted into Contest #144 in response to: Start your story with somebody taking a photo.... view prompt

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Mystery Crime Suspense

The Case of David and Oswald                      

It was the first day of summer, the temperature reached 90 degrees on a Friday night, and a full moon was in the sky. On-duty rollcall begins in an hour. I can hear Captain Reed tell my immediate supervisor we are in for a long hot, and dangerous summer this year; I hope they are ready. We rarely saw Captain Reed in our roll call room. He only would stop by when we have serious incidents take place in the city. In walks Captain Reed; the captain said "there is an ongoing investigation happening near East Bay St.; I'm assigning Detective David Moore and Detective Ronald Oswald to the case, I need a complete investigation, pictures of the crime scene, and evidence to be repurchased to the station. These pictures will determine what took place leading up to the car accident,". David told his partner, Oswald, said," I think we better hurry up and head over to 7640 East Bay St. and start our investigation." As we arrived on the scene, my partner grabbed his camera. Detective Oswald used to be a photographer before he joined the police force. It appears the car was traveling at a fast speed as if they were trying to escape a situation. Detective Oswald exited the vehicle and began his investigation. The two Detectives asked Officer Benson, "what was the man named that was driving the car?" Officer Benson said the dead man's name is Robert E. Charles III." Detective David was surprised. Robert E. Charles III owned the nearby mental institution that closed down three years ago. Rumored has it that he was dating a patient from the 2nd floor. 

Det. Oswald was standing by the victim, taking pictures of the accident scene, street and crowd just in case he needed to see who was there at a later date. Det. Oswald noticed there were not any skid marks on the ground showing that Richard didn't try to stop to avoid the massive tree in the middle of the road. Det. Oswald took over two hundred pictures. Det. David said I don't know why, but Richard had a knife in his hand as if someone planted it there." Det. David was puzzled. Someone must have been riding in the car with him, shot him, and placed the knife in his hand when he died to hide any evidence". David said," Hmm. "We need to take the time to go over behind the crime scene tape and see if we have any witnesses that want to talk to us. Det. Oswald and Det. David went through the crowd, asking people in the crowd if they saw anything? Did anyone see anything? The people standing around looking in the opposite direction tried their best not to make eye contact with both detectives. No one said a word. They both made it back to the vehicle to examine the body to see how many gunshot wounds were on the victim. Oswald said," I will go over to his mother's home and question some of Mr. Charles's family members to see why and if Mr. Charles had any enemies that would want him out of the picture. Det. Oswald took more photos and left the crime scene. A few days later, they went to his mother's house. This house appears to be abandoned and has not been occupied in years. Det. Oswald and Det. David approached the front porch and stood at the front door. The door opened, and a scared little girl was sitting on the floor, maybe 9 or 10 years old. She looks up at David, speechless. David said," Is there anyone in the house here with you, little girl?" The girl said, "yes," and David and Oswald walked inside.

The house was big, destroyed by vandals, and the flooring was about to cave in underneath her feet. David walks into the kitchen and there was an old lady sitting in a chair. She appeared to be in her late nineties. Det. David said, "Are you related to Mr. Charles III?." The older lady said yes that is my son." Det. David said I hate to tell you there was a terrible accident on East Bay St. a few days ago." Det. David continued with the conversation informing her that her son past suspiciously in what appeared to b a car accident. Meanwhile, Oswald walks into the living room searching for clues and taking pictures. Det. Oswald sees the little girl's mother standing there in strange-colored clothing. Oswald said," Hello, you must be Susan; I just want to ask if you know about the murder that happened two days ago?" Susan turns around with a bloody knife. She then charges toward Det. Oswald and me. I screamed, "Stop police, put the knife down, put the knife down!" My partner tackled her to the floor. De. David immediately gets on the prep and tells dispatch I need another unit to make 3310 Camden St. Susan said in the loudest voice possible, "I didn't mean to do it I didn't mean to do it". She cries profusely. The police officer arrives and takes her into custody. Before the unit drove off and headed for the precinct to process her, David stopped the unit and told them to take her to the mental hospital and get her some help. Hopefully, Susan was living in the mental hospital the victim Charles III owned.  Right before the state closed all mental hospitals Charles and Susan were a couple in hiding.  Charles agreed to house Susan at his house because she didn't have family members she could shelter in place with. He had no other choice but to take her in. Det. Oswald talked to the child and yes she told the entire story of what happened.  She said her mom was driving when all of a sudden she pulled out a gun attempting to show the victim what she found and the gun went off shooting the victim twice in the arm and chest.

Fast forward to today, Susan was found mentally ill and could not go to trial. When Susan entered the courtroom, she appeared speechless. It has been three years since she steps foot out of the mental hospital. The medication Susan took kept her under control. Unfortunately, the medication reverted her to childlike behavior, making her unable to leave the hospital. Now she will spend the rest of her life in a mental ward. 

Mario Owens II

May 06, 2022 02:01

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1 comment

Tanya Humphreys
02:49 May 13, 2022

Reedsy critiquer here, Um- I couldn't read this story after the first paragraph because I didn't understand why it was all in italics, which normally indicates a person's inner thoughts. Looking at this story, with its 4 giant paragraphs, made me just want to say- Use italics only for inner thoughts... break up huge paragraphs into smaller ones that readers can read. It may be a great story! But the way you wrote it is impossible to read.

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