The Mystery Of The Estates

• Stacy Panzella, Grade 6, Villa Madonna School
• Short Story
• 2001

Finalist in the '2001/2002 Schools Short Story Competition - Magic and Mystery Theme' competition

On October 25, 1980, at 5:00am, I detective James Poe knocked on the door of Hillman’s apartment. “Hello, I am Detective James Poe and I got a call about a murder?”
“Oh yes, please do come in” said Mrs. Hillman. As I walked into the apartment I immediately smelled the stench of blood and as I walked down the hallway towards the living room the smell grew stronger. I entered the living room and that’s when I saw the man, a tall man, maybe 6’4, with black hair, medium build and dressed in a nice pair of pants with a shirt and tie loosely tied. Out of habit I checked for a pulse and as I expected there was none. The blood pooled around his head and I could tell he had been shot from behind, below the skull, and it appeared to have been at close range.
I took some samples of blood, powdered around the body for finger prints and picked off a few strands of hair off the shoulder of his shirt. I saw enough for now and phoned in the medical examiner. The forensic team would be there within 30 minutes and would check the whole scene for any possible evidence. My job now was to talk with Mr and Mrs Hillman and gather as much information as I could that would give some leads as to who this man’s killer might be.
“Mr and Mrs Hillman, do you know this man?” “Yes, his name is Jim Manor, he lives in the apartment complex, apartment 2A. Mrs Hillman and I are the owners of this building and know all the tenants that live here. We know a little about their background for security reasons but other than that we try not to be too noisy and let out tenants have some privacy.” “Why was Mr Manor in your apartment Mr Hillman?” I asked. “That’s a good question detective.” Replied Mr Hillman. “You see Mrs Hillman and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner when we heard a shot. I ran out here and saw Mr Manor on the floor. I could see that he was dead so I shouted to my wife to call the police. Prior to that we heard nothing.”
“Did Mr Manor come down to your apartment often?” I asked. “No, he did not, matter of fact I think he only stopped by once in the last 6 months that he has lived here and asked if he could be a few days late on his rent. That was just last week right dear?” “Yes dear, I believe last Friday,” replied Mr Hillman.
“Mr Hillman, would it be possible to get some of the security information you talked about? I’d like to see where Mr Manor worked and check out his bank accounts” I asked. “Not a problem detective. I keep all of my files in my den. Would you excuse me for a moment?” “Certainly Mr Hillman, take all the time you need” I said.
Just then the doorbell rang, it was the forensic team. “Hi Detective Poe, miserable night to be outside isn’t it?” said Larry, the team leader.
“Sure is Larry” I said. Larry checked for finger prints throughout the entire house. I’d like your first report by noon tomorrow if that’s possible?” I asked. “No problem sir, we should have a report for you by noon, that is if nothing strange pops up.”
I asked Mr and Mrs Hillman a few more questions, took the files Mr Hillman had given me and said my good-byes.
As I was leaving, I saw Mrs Hillman through the kitchen window doing something suspicious in the backyard. I snuck around the back and peered over the fence and saw Mrs Hillman burying a bloody shirt. I decided they were now my key suspects. That night I went back to the Hillman’s and cut a piece of the shirt and placed it in a plastic bag. I quickly rushed over to the forensic lab and asked the team to run a quick analysis on the cut piece of shirt against the blood found on the body. It didn’t take them long to tell me I had a match.
I still had so many questions but there was no time for that. Right now I had an arrest to make. Mr and Mrs Hillman both came to the door after only two knocks and when I placed them under arrest for the murder of Jim Manor to my surprised, they seemed so surprised, almost in shock. Had I made a mistake? Why were they in shock? Could it have been somebody else in the backyard burying the shirt. Now that I thought of it, how did Mrs Hillman get to the backyard so fast? Yes, I had my arrest but something told me that there was a lot more to this case and that I had only touched the surface.