The Widow of Palos Verdes Drive

For the first time in a long time, a quiet calmness swept over the town. The murder of business magnate Richard Knight had finally been solved and the townsfolk could return to the mundanity that filled their existence prior to the incident.

Detective Banner left the local diner with a casual smirk. She was greeted by the usual crowd on the way out. Her fingers were bent tightly around two cups of joe, prohibiting her from waving back. It was her fault for choosing to grab her partner’s excuse for a caffeinated beverage back to the office.

“Coffee. Four sugars and lots of cream.” The disgust was clear in her voice.

Her partner received his coffee with childlike excitement. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you judging me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, not all of us like to take our coffee as black as our souls,” he growled.

“What a shame.” She took a long loud sip, making sure to give him unwavering eye contact. 

Tick. 

The staring contest was interrupted by Norman, their secretary. “Detective Banner, Detective Ray. This came for you.” He placed a small wrapped gift on the desk.

“Who from?” 

“It’s unmarked.”

“Did you see who dropped it off?” 

“It came in the mail.”

“What time?”

“Around three.”

Banner looked up at the clock, seeing both of the hands stuck on the two. She had almost forgotten that it was broken. “Alright, thanks Norman. And, before you go, call someone to come to fix that darn clock.”

He nodded, turning away to exit the room, but stopping before he reached the door. “Oh, one more thing. You’re new desk also came in.”

“I knew something was different,” Detective Ray commented, examining the woodwork.

“Did I order a new desk?” Banner inquired, taking another sip of her beverage. “I must’ve been so wrapped up in the Knight case that I forgot. You can go now, Norman.”

The detectives took a second to finish their respective cups of coffee. Their gazes soon shifted over to the package, and then to each other. Neither of them wanted to be the first to touch it. In this business, there were infinite possibilities as to what could be inside. Norman took a risk even bringing it to them.

“I’m not touching it,” they both uttered at the same time.

“You’re gonna do it.” Banner backed away from the parcel, throwing her hands up.

“Me? You do it. I’m older than you, so I should get to decide,” Ray declared.

“Really? Are we in grade school? You’re gonna use the two and a half years that you have on me. I’ve been on the force longer than you. That gives me power.”

“That means nothing.”

“It means everything.”

“We need some other way to figure this out.”

“Fine. I solved the Knight case. I get to choose, and I choose you.” 

Ray shot Banner an irritated glance before silently surrendering. He headed over to the package, slowly untying the perfectly executed bow at the top. If this were a birthday present, he would’ve torn through the wrapping paper without a second thought, but this was different. 

The bright pink packaging was a bit offputting, but he knew not to pull any punches. Peeling each layer back slowly, he finally revealed a tiny box of chocolates with a note. 

To: Detective Banner & Detective Ray

From: Rebecca Knight, née Song

“It’s from Rebecca Knight.”

 “Oh,” Banner responded, still watching from afar.

Tick. Tick. 

“She sent us chocolates for finding her husband’s killer, I guess. It must be hard for her right now.”

“How sweet. Remember at the start of the case when you thought it was her?”

“Hey, statistically speaking, it’s usually the wife who kills her husband.”

“That’s a sexist point of view.”

“You know what I mean. The spouse is usually the prime suspect. Family members and friends have a higher potential for being the killer in these cases. It’s facts,” Ray explained. “Nobody would’ve thought the pool boy did it.” 

Banner laughed, opening the box of chocolates to make sure she snagged her favorite ones with the nuts inside before they were gone. She knew that Ray was soon to go off on a long tangent and she needed something to keep her interest.

Being wrong about a case always seemed to piss Ray off. This one, in particular, made him absolutely livid. From the start, he believed Rebecca Knight was the one to blame in the case of her late husband, Richard Knight.

Admittedly, he made some points at the beginning of the case. Richard had a mistress, Marjorie Meyers, who happened to be a close friend of Rebecca’s. It was believed that Rebecca had found out about the infidelity in the days leading up to Richard’s death. There was also the mention of the 31 year age difference between Rebecca and Richard and the lack of a prenup, leading Ray to dismiss this as a gold-digging situation. 

It turned out that Rebecca was having an affair of her own with the 19-year-old Brazilian pool boy, Fernando Montes. Fernando soon became so infatuated with Rebecca that he asked her to run away with him, but she told him that she couldn’t because of Richard. He then took it upon himself to murder Richard to have Rebecca for himself.

Fernando was found trying to flee the country, but with text conversations provided by Rebecca Knight, Detective Banner and Detective Ray were able to stop him before he got away.

Detective Ray just couldn’t bring himself to believe the facts that were so clearly presented before him. “I gotta say. When it comes to pool boys, her taste is lacking, but she’s got good taste in chocolates.” 

Detective Banner let out a hearty chuckle. “For a murderer?” 

Tick. Tick. Tick. 

“Hey didn’t you say that clock was broken?”

“It is.”

“Then what’s that ticking soun-” His voice trailed off, as he started to pick out two more pieces of chocolates from the box. “Uh…”

“What?” Detective Banner asked, marching over to him, seeing a message hidden beneath the chocolates. “What is this?”

Greetings Detectives,

I never got the chance to truly thank you for arresting Fernando. I’m so grateful to finally be rid of all this chaos. I still can’t believe that he would do something like that. Well, I guess the reason I can’t believe it… is because he didn’t.

“What does she mean by that?” Ray inquired.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

“There’s more,” Banner mumbled, flipping the box over.

Having Fernando take the fall was a no brainer. Poor kid just wanted to make a living, but he’ll do fine in prison looking like that. By now you must’ve figured out that you had the wrong person all along. I’ll give you a breakdown. It was never about Richard or Fernando or any of these men who take way more than they should because they believe it's their right. It was about me and Marjorie and our plans to finally be happy. 

Richard Knight was the perfect target and we devised the perfect plan — to rob the man who owns half the land and has a hand in basically every company, then leave him six feet under. Acquiring a man his age was simple, just be young and pretty. I married him and she seduced him to keep him busy when I didn’t want to. Fernando was just collateral. 

Now Marjorie and I can finally be together and not have a worry in the world. Unfortunately for you, we’re already miles away from you. And it’s too late. Loose ends need to be cut. The chocolates weren’t the bomb. However, they were made special with an ingredient to slow you down before you could get to it. It was a pleasure playing this game with you. I hope you planned on making today your last day. Oh, nice new desk, by the way.

Best Wishes,

The Widow of Palos Verdes Drive

“Th-The bomb. Is u-under the d-desk,” Banner stuttered, crumbling to the floor.

Ray was mere centimeters from reaching it, collapsing right before he could make it. Both detectives stared up at the bomb in pain as it counted down, knowing full well that they couldn’t do a thing to stop it. 

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