The body was found the next morning, washed up on the pebbled beach of the lake. The corpse lay sprawled, it's white, bloodless limbs exposed to a biting breeze that skipped off the frigid water lapping repeatedly at the man's lifeless feet.
Two men stood solemnly over the body, one scrawled briskly upon a shabby notebook.
“Herman,” the elder of the two spoke softly, “You been reading the papers recently?” He asked, as he squatted down to examine the deceased man's face.
The man writing paused,“...no, haven't 'ad a chance, Ari. Why's that?”
Ari didn't answer, still casting his calculating gaze over the dead man's features,“Well, it appears as if we know the identity of our man who decided to take his own life...”
“...We do? Already?” Asked a somewhat confused Herman, his pencil still suspended mid-sentence.
“Did you hear about that recent case of that millionaire Mr. Hale being accused of murdering that housemaid at his home?”
Herman squinted into the distance, racking his brain, “...Yes...I believe so...” He paused, then, “Oh, I remember now! He disappeared a few weeks back, everyone assumed he ran away. A sure sign of guilt, I'm sure.” He finished with a knowing smile.
“Yes, indeed. But, what you may not know is that Mr. Hale was taken in for various medical and psychiatric tests at the time he was charged.” Ari was quiet, taking in the serenity of the lake and it's surrounds, almost oblivious to the body laying unceremoniously upon it's shore. Then he sighed, glancing down at the corpse of Mr. Hale, “it appears as if he was suffering, unknowingly, from some sort of short-term memory loss...something which may have caused him to believe he really did kill her...”
Ari retrieved a crumpled newspaper, and handed it to Herman. “There was also some new evidence found...”
Herman turned the paper over, and was confronted by a large picture of Mr. Hale's face. Accompanying the image, were four words:
Missing Millionaire: Not Guilty.
29-Sep-2011 14:27:24
- Last edited on
29-Sep-2011 14:48:45
by
Rune Woolf
