by Kalifer Deil
to contact those cryogenic outfits to have her head frozen.
Younger Policeman: Why would she shoot herself in the head if she wants to be revived someday?
Older policeman: Many times older people get kinda nuts. Who knows what they’ll do.
Younger Policeman: What about the note. It’s a will. Kind of hastily written wouldn’t you say?
Older policeman: It just says ‘Give my possessions to God’ a phone number and her signature. I phoned the phone number in and it’s the phone number of a big TV ministry, hardly a motive for murder. The neighbor says she has no other living relatives so who else is she going to give her money to.
Younger Policeman: I phoned in the gun registration number like you asked and it’s registered to her husband.
Older Policeman: According to the neighbor he’s been dead for ten years.
Younger Policeman: Is the signature really hers?
Older Policeman: Close enough to her driver’s license. As people get older their signatures get a bit on the feeble side. See, she printed the rest of the note so it’d be legible because her writing was deteriorating.
Younger Policeman: Her bedroom window was open to the patio. Doesn’t that indicate an escape route?
Older Policeman: So were her patio doors we just came through. If you’re going to commit suicide you are not necessarily going to button up your house. What’s the point?
Younger Policeman: Aren’t you going to do a paraffin test to find out if she shot the weapon?
Older Policeman: I smelled her right hand and it smelled like powder. No need to do any testing.
Younger Policeman: But she was shot in the left temple! She may have put her hand up to try to fight back.
Older Policeman: You’ve been watching too many murder mysteries. You’re making too much out of this. She is probably left handed and used her right to steady the barrel so it got the powder burns.
Younger Policeman: What about those other women showing up for bridge?
Older Policeman: She probably wanted to make sure her body was found before it got too ripe. Look around, she keeps her house very neat and it smells very pleasant. Some people are more concerned how they and their house look in death than they do in life.
Younger Policeman: A gunshot to the temple is not a way to look good. Boy, this just doesn’t smell right to me.
Older Policeman: Hey look, her gun in her hand, her bullets, money to God, where’s the motive. This is an open and shut case. This was a clear suicide. Let’s go solve some real murders. If you want to get all that forensic stuff done you’ll have to work for a big city police department.
Younger Policeman shakes his head as they both walk out: Yeah, I guess you’re right.
Final curtain
House lights
Closing music: “Final word”
###
About the Author:
Kalifer Deil’s day job is as a computer hardware designer, programmer and engineering manager in Silicon Valley. He writes true stories, poetry, fantasy, science fiction and science fact. His brand of science fiction is firmly science based free of senseless technobabble. To learn more about the author visit his website at https://www.kaliferdeil.com and the Speculative Science Publishing website https://www.speculativescience.com. and his blog https://www.kaliferdeil.wordpress.com Also join him on Facebook and Twitter.
Two more volumes of Tillian 5 - Return to Earth and Tillian 5 - The Overseers will be released soon to complete the Tillian 5 trilogy.
The Possessor - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24949
Editor’s Notebook - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/28825
