48 Hour Short Story Contest

The Vacation

Detective Albert Parker had just finished a big case and was in Maui, Hawaii for a much needed vacation. Looking on the horizon at the Island Falls he felt as if he were in heaven. He had been working everyday straight for the last month. This was his time to relax and not have to worry about work for a while. Maybe he could find love while he was here. Albert didn’t think he looked that bad. Sparkling steel blue eyes, slender built, golden brown mustache and being out in the sun a lot gave him a nice bronze tan. He never had trouble getting the ladies; he just had trouble keeping them with his demanding job. But this recent case was the last big one. When he came back from vacation he was to have an office job.

This is what was supposed to happen. But plans can change at any time. Albert Parker found this out when he returned to his hotel and found a crowd gathered around the pool.

“What’s going here?” He asked the nearest person.

“They found a body in the pool.” The girl next to him said.

Albert made his way to the front of the crowd. He made it there in time to see them cover the body with a body bag.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Albert asked. “I’m a detective.”

“No sir, we’ve got it covered.”

Albert looked around at the scene and at the people who were standing around gawking. He looked up at the hotel rooms that overlooked the pool and noticed a door ajar.

“Do you know who stays in that room up there with the door open?” Albert asked one of the police officers.

“That would be the victim’s room,” the officer said. It appears that he jumped off the balcony into the pool.

“Did anyone see him jump?” Albert asked.

“No but we have witnesses that say they heard the splash.”

“Did they investigate right away?”

“The lady in the room adjacent to the pool says she looked out her window and saw him floating but just thought he was swimming. Everyone else that said they heard the splash at about the same time didn’t look out. It wasn’t out of the ordinary to hear a splash from the pool.”

Just then a lady walked up and interrupted them. “Officer Petty did you talk to all the witness?”

Albert eyed the lady in front of him. She was strikingly beautiful. Her chestnut eyes sparked in the sun and complimented her auburn hair. She was talking to him but he couldn’t hear what she was saying.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get your name,” She said.

“Oh I’m Detective Albert Parker. And your name?” He said with a grin.

“I’m Lieutenant Shields.” She said firmly. “Detective huh, you’re not from around here.”

“No ma'am, I’m here on vacation.”

“What a coincidence, my detective just happens to be on vacation.”

“Do you need some help?” Albert said without hesitating. If it meant he could be around her he didn’t mind.

“I think I will take you up on that offer.” Lieutenant Shields said.

Albert investigated some more and found the victim is a male. He rides a Schwinn bicycle everywhere he goes and had been staying at the hotel for the past two weeks. He talked to the girl who is staying in the room next to the victim and she said that about an hour before everyone says they heard the splash she could hear yelling in his room. It was between the victim and another guy. The person in the room on the other side was not there. He also learned that no one had heard screaming before the splash. This told him that he could have been dead before he hit the water and was thrown over or that he jumped and simply didn’t make a sound.

In examining the victim’s room it appeared that everything had been disheveled. He didn’t know if the man was just not tidy or if someone had gone through his things. He had the room checked for fingerprints and wanted the autopsy report on the body when it came in.

In cleaning the room of the man’s belongings Albert noticed one black sock with no mate. “Did the victim have a black sock on when he was found?” He asked one of the police officers.

“No, He only had swimming trunks on.”

Albert didn’t know why this bothered him. Maybe he packed one and forgot to pack the other.

Albert decided to go for a walk to take a breather. He stepped outside the gate to walk toward the nearby beach.
As he opened the gate he noticed a black sock that was a perfect match to the one that was in the victim’s room.

“How did this get here?” Albert wondered out loud. He grabbed a stick and picked it up and took it to the police officers to have it checked for fingerprint or foreign fibers.

Albert then went for a walk on the beach that was nearby. He breathed in the fresh air. His thoughts quickly went to Lieutenant Shields. She was captivating. He hope he would get to know her better before his vacation was over.

When Albert had gotten back one of the police officers had left a note for him at the front desk.
Call Lieutenant Shields when you get back. Albert dialed the number that was on the note.

“Yes Detective can you come to my office? I have the results of the fingerprint check.”

Albert met Lieutenant Shields in her office. “We found someone besides the victim’s prints on the black sock you brought back and there was hair that didn’t belong to the victim. The victim has blond hair, this hair was brown. Also there was a bottle cap lying on the floor by the trash. The fingerprint that were on the sock match the bottle cap.

“Which prove whoever had the sock was in the hotel room.” Albert interrupted.

“Yes, but what would they want with a sock?” She asked.

“Was there anything else unusual about the sock?” Albert asked.

“Well it was stretched out in the toe section and it looks like there was something kept in there like coins or something.”

As they were talking the phone rang. “Lieutenant Shields!” she said firmly into the receiver. “Thank you.” She said and hung up.

“They have the autopsy report. He didn’t drown. He died from suffocation. They found fibers in his throat that were consistent with fibers from the pillow in his room.”

Albert sat back in his chair and tried to decipher everything he had just heard.

“What kind of bottle cap was it?” He asked.

“It was from a Corona.” She said.

“I’ll check out the local bars and see if I can come up with anything.” He told her.

“Ok.” She smiled. Albert almost couldn’t stand up. The smile made him melt.

Albert checked the bar that was right off the beach by his hotel. He sat at the bar and ordered a drink and looked around.

“Did you hear about the man who died in the pool right down the way?” Albert asked the bartender trying to start conversation.

“Yeah, it’s the talk of the night.” The bartender said nonchalantly. “They say he drowned.” He added.

“Did you notice anything weird or different around four o’ clock?” Albert asked casually.

“Well now that you mention it, there was a man who came in a little after four. He was sweating profusely, I though he was on the verge of a heart attack. I asked him if he was ok and he just told me to get him a Corona. I got him a bottle and he tried to pay me with a gold coin. I told him we don’t take that kind of money here. He looked at it and shook his head as if he didn’t mean to give it to me.”

“What did this man look like? Albert asked.

“He was a little taller than you, brown hair, and dark brown eyes.” The bartender said.

“Thank you.” Albert said leaving a tip.

He called Lieutenant Shields from his hotel room and told her what he found out. It was getting late so he decided to go to bed.

He was awakened by the phone ringing. It was Lieutenant Shields.

“Detective we found the man. We got a call last night with a complaint that there was a man causing a ruckus on the beach. When the officer showed up there was corona bottle caps and gold coins scattered on the ground. The officer decided to have it checked out and it was the same fingerprints and the hair matched.”

“That’s great.” Albert said.

“Well thank you for your help detective, I don’t think we could have done it without you. At least not so quickly.”

“Lieutenant Shields may I take you out to dinner?” Albert asked.

“I would like that, but I think you should start calling me Lynn.”

1519 Words