A Study in Scarlet

This week’s new flash fiction. A crime wave raises some questions.

A Study in Scarlet

A plague of deaths was afoot. A deranged killer on the loose? Well, there was a pattern. Commonality. Kills with similarity, a level of repetition endemic to the pathology of the repeat offender. But with a maddening twist to each new death. The challenge was to solve them all.

The first crime appeared straightforward. Homicide. Murder one. Blood-soaked body at the foot of the front stairway. Bullet in the brain. No clues to who buried it there.

Next, what looked like another similar case. Body at the bottom of the entryway staircase. A pool of blood around the head. Coincidence or spree? On closer examination, however, no bullet holes. The autopsy solved the riddle. Heart attack.

Then another shooting. Looked like a copycat killer. Another headshot. Body bleeding out inside the front door. But the homeowner soon confessed. He had turned the tables on an armed intruder, perhaps the previous killer on the prowl. It was kill or be killed. Self defense. Stand your ground.

But the deaths continued. Another corpse found in another entryway. Another skull bathed in a river of blood. But nary an entry wound. Perhaps thrown down the stairs? Security cams captured it all and cleared up any confusion. A simple slip and fall. No killer at all, in this case. The deceased should have sprung for an extra couple bucks for the gripper socks. Or gone big, for an elevator.

Then, a fresh body. Another gun killing. This one no accident. Two slugs to the back of the head. But bullets different from the first kill. Meaning a different gun. Different shooter? Ballistics to the rescue. The spent shells turned out to be a perfect match for a demure pistol found in the yoga bag of the victim’s wife.

Finally, another apparent homage rubout. Body crumpled in the foyer. Gunshot to the head. Carbon copy of three earlier shootings. Until the body was rolled over. To show a smoking gun in the corpse’s hand. And a farewell note in his lapel pocket.

So much for a serial killer.

But then how to explain this orgy of demise? The parade of passing. The curse of the bottom step.

And where were the police?

Each death slightly different. Distinct. But connected. No doubt about it.

But how?

Oscar rubbed his eyes. Logged off for the night. The module completed. His eyes blurred. Head swam. How many practice questions had he done in all? Dozens. But these last six went down easy. Maybe he had turned a corner.

He simply could not fail the state life insurance license test. Again. He needed that bump in pay that would come with finally being a fully credentialed agent. His fiancée, Sissy was a patient girl. But would not wait forever.

By the way, the answers, for the curious, are as follows:

1. Murder, double indemnity

2. Natural causes, standard payout

3. Death during commission of crime, coverage denied

4. Accidental death, double indemnity

5. Murder by interested beneficiary, coverage denied

6. Suicide, coverage denied.