The Writers' Circle

Everything about this case had been unusual.  First, there was the time of death.  He didn't know the statistics, but 9 o'clock on a Monday morning was surely the most unusual time for suicide.  To him it was a time for beginnings not for endings.   Second, there was the phone call from the deceased.  He had dialled 999; told them his name, address and telephone number; told them that he was committing suicide and hung up.  The ambulance was there in 8 minutes.  It wasn't far and they hadn't been busy.  Getting there so soon after the call, they ought to have been favourites to at least get the patient to hospital.  But those 8 minutes had been more than enough.  The ambulance crew knew that resuscitation was not a possibility and the matter was passed on to the Police.  And thirdly, there was the consideration given to them - the emergency services.  The deceased had left  the front door was open and even moved the furniture to one side and put down plastic sheeting and sawdust to make the clearing up easier.  It was on the face of it, an open and shut case.

There was something puzzling him though.  It was possibly those stupid childhood riddles about a man found dead in a locked empty room.  At any rate, soon it was going to be an SEP - somebody else's problem.  That long overdue holiday was imminent.  He was due to fly out first thing tomorrow and he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything else.

Sergeant David Johnson had 3 years of policing behind him and had packed a lot into those years.  He tried to focus on the job in hand.  He knew from experience that the next few minutes were vital to the investigation.  Make a mistake now and he could have a lot of awkward questions to answer long into the future.  The forensic team were called and on their way; the scene was cordoned off and he was in position outside the front and Dan, his partner, was out the back.  The scene of the crime, if it was a crime, was being preserved, that was his job.  The ambulance crew had returned to their ambulance and were keeping themselves to themselves.