"You all know why you're here." Adam said to the assembled officers. "There's been another murder. The same M.O. as the serial killer the newspapers dubbed 'The Candy Killer'."
"That's impossible!" One of the officers shouted. "He's been in jail for the past week."
"It's not only possible, it's true." Adam replied. "As you can see, this is a nightmare for our department. Either we arrested the wrong person, or there's a copycat killer out there who knows more about the real killer than we do. We've called in a professional for this one, he's waiting for us at the crime scene. David and John, come with me. I want the rest of you to find out if there's any talk on the streets about this. Discretely!"
With that, the crowd broke up, heading toward the exits. "One final note!" Adam shouted at the departing officers. "Until we know more, I want the press out of this at all costs."
Two black VW Bugs pulled up in front of the run down house, beside the red minivan parked carelessly on the street with one tire on the curb. Adam pulled his large frame out of the cramped front seat of the first car while David and John jumped from the second.
"I wish the department had a better selection of unmarked cars." John remarked as he finished extracting himself from the vehicle. "I feel like a clown riding around in these sardine cans."
"You're not made for undercover work." John replied, laughing. "You can be spotted from a mile away."
"Enough with the jokes." Adam said. "I'd like to introduce you to our expert. Boys, meet Shirley." Adam looked around for a moment, finally spotting Shirley on the front lawn, crawling on her hands and knees. Adam cleared his throat and tried again. "Ahem, I'd like you boys to meet our expert, Shirley."
"I heard you the first time." Came the reply from the crawling figure. "Did you even bother looking outside the house before calling me?"
"Of course we did." Adam replied, insulted. "I told you we processed the crime scene and couldn't find any new clues. There was a rainbow colored lollipop beside the body. We dusted for prints and got nothing. We went over the front and back lawn, driveway, and garage without finding any evidence.
"Obviously you didn't look close enough" Shirley said. "I've been here for less than 30 minutes and I can already tell you who did it."
"What! Are you telling me that you know who is responsible for killing Mr. Corke?"
"I don't know their name, but yes. I can tell you exactly who you're looking for. Your men carelessly trampled the grass, so it was difficult to find the footprints I knew would be here. There was a light rain last night, once I found them, the marks left by the killer were easy to tell apart from the prints your men left. The actual prints are the same, leading me to believe that they were made by the same regulation boot all your officers wear."
"Are you telling me it's one of our own? That's ridiculous!"
"Is it? There are also marks at the edge of the driveway that match the tire treads of your 'sardine cans'. You yourself told me that the killer knows information about the case that the media didn't report. It's quite obvious."
"You said you know who it is. I can't question everybody in the entire police department."
"And I do. The footprints left by the killer show that they have a slight limp. There are a few other things that might help you narrow it down. It's a male, and the print is fairly small. There can't be too many officers who wear that boot size. He smokes, and was recently promoted or given a raise."
"How can you know that?"
"I found a number of cigarette butts, the older ones were a cheap generic brand, but the butts from the past few days are an expensive name brand. With an expensive habit like that, a change in brand often shows a change in personal finance. The killer obviously had past relations with Mr. Corke, the prints and tire markings go back a few months. He used an unmarked car, so I doubt the relationship was professional. I'm sure you'll find the officer responsible without too much difficulty."
"I already know who it is, I'm just shocked that you solved it so quickly."
"All it takes is observation. If your men had taken the time to look, they would have seen the same things as I did, and my services here would not have been needed. I hope you remember that for the future, Adam."
End
I hope you enjoyed the first story in my "lollipop and rainbow" series. It's short, and I used the theme, but I didn't let the theme dictate where I wanted the story to go.
As this is just a warm-up exercise, I didn't spend too much time on it. I kept descriptions basic, and tried to let conversation run the story. It could use some editing, and that's your choice when you do a warm-up. You can use it to get the creativity started. You can use it to help get yourself ready for things like grammar and punctuation.
Come back soon, I'll have another example for the "Lollipops and Rainbows" theme. Until then, keep writing and have fun!
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