Elevator Revelations
The lights from the cameras flash off the blood-smeared gold of the championship belt. The paparazzi press in, snapping pictures furiously. They hungrily devour all the grisly details of the dead body of professional wrestler BamBam, the championship belt he won that night stretched out beside him.
“This one is going to be a media frenzy,” I say wearily before heading home for the night.
I trudge in early the next day and spend all morning interviewing wrestlers and managers.
“Interviewing these imbeciles is a waste of my time,” I say, more to myself than to Sergeant Duggan.
It annoys me that this guy keeps ending up in the elevator with me. The descent is agonizingly slow with his dim commentary.
“A smart fellow like you must be tired of these entertainer types,” Duggan answers, slowly folding back another page of his newspaper. “But it seems you’ve ruled some of them out already. Clever.”
“True.”
The doors slide open to the lobby crowded with media desperate for a headline. The paparazzo who found BamBam’s body jumps forward and shoves a camera in my face, bombarding me with questions.
“Detective Alchemy, any new leads? We saw Golden Menace going in. Is he a suspect?”
I push through to find a quiet spot for lunch.
After lunch, I rush back to the office.
Duggan holds the elevator door for me, and, with a deep sigh, I step on
“Interviewing Mr. Cash this afternoon?” he asks without looking up from his paper.
“Yes, and Golden Menace. I am almost positive Mr. Cash is our guy. BamBam was retiring from professional wrestling. After Mr. Cash worked so hard to get him that championship belt, it must have made him mad for his golden goose to walk away. Plus, someone heard them arguing the day before.”
“That does sound suspicious.”
“But, BamBam had just won the belt from Golden Menace.”
“You were jealous. You’ve held that title for two years. He stole it from you!” I say, inches from Golden Menace’s face.
His overly-muscled forehead smacks loudly against the table as he breaks into sobs.
“I told you before, I would never hurt BamBam. I loved him.”
“More reason for you to kill him. You loved him! Gave him everything! And he stole! Your! Belt!”
He looks up, grief-stricken, “No, I couldn’t, I loved...”
“Don’t start that again!” I interrupt. “We’re done, Mr. Menace.”
Golden Menace delicately pats his eyes with a tissue dwarfed by his massive paw. We head to the elevator. The doors slide open and I am unsurprised to see Duggan leaning against the wall, nose in his newspaper. I decide to save myself from the inane conversation these two geniuses will have and head back to my office.
Yawning, I look at my watch. Almost ten o’clock! This case is going to be the death of me. I grab my scarf and head to the elevator. The doors open and who’s there? Duggan. Again.
Wearily, I step on, feet heavy and eyes gritty.
“That Steve is a nice guy,” Duggan says.
“Steve?” I ask, barely able to lift my head.
“Golden Menace. That’s his real name. He came in a few months ago and filed a restraining order against some crazed fan. Nice guy, Steve. He was really upset when he left earlier. He assured me he would never hurt BamBam. It sounded like they were actually in love. Did you know he arranged for BamBam to take his title so he could retire a champion? I read about it yesterday in the paper, and Steve said it was true.”
“WHAT? Why didn’t he tell me that?”
“Dunno. People say I’m a good listener. Anyway, when we got off the elevator, the paparazzi must have bothered him. He shoved one of them and ran out.”
“So, Golden Menace wasn’t upset about losing his belt. I suppose I’ll have to take him off my suspect list. Mr. Cash is the only one left with a motive. Damn, I’m good! I just cracked the case!”
The next day, I step onto the thankfully empty elevator and lean back against the wall.
“Hey, Detective Alchemy.” I sigh as Duggan shoves his hand through the closing doors. “How’s the investigation? Any big breaks?” Duggan steps onto the elevator, newspaper tucked under his arm.
“If you must know, no. Mr. Cash just lawyered up, and I need some quiet to regroup.” I stare at him pointedly.
“That’s interesting. I just read about him. Did you know he signed on as Golden Menace’s manager? He did such a good job getting that TV deal for BamBam that Golden Menace decided to use him too. BamBam would have been an even bigger asset to him. Apparently, the three of them arranged for BamBam to win the belt.”
“WHAT?” Are you absolutely sure about that? That means he had no reason to kill BamBam!”
“It’s right here.” He holds out his paper, pointing to the story.
I rip it out of his hands, vibrating with anger. The doors slide open and I am face to face with the cameraman who discovered the body.
“Weird, isn’t it? That guy is always wearing a Golden Menace shirt. He’s the same guy Steve pushed out of the way when he left the elevator too. And didn’t he find the body? If he’s such a big Golden Menace fan, why was he following BamBam?” Duggan wonders aloud.
“It was you!” I shout, realization dawning. “You are Golden Menace’s crazed fan. You knew where the body was because you killed him,” I say, leaping forward.
“YES, I did it! BamBam stole that belt from Golden Menace! He wasn’t worthy of his love. I was! I never would have hurt Golden Menace the way he did. I got his belt back. I proved my love to him. He has to love me now.”
“Morning, Detective.”
“Solved another one,” I say as I step onto the elevator.
“You certainly did.” Sergeant Duggan smiles at the ground.
Writing Prompt:
Write a story using the same prompt I was given for this story!
1,000 words or less
Genre: Mystery
Location: Elevator
Object: Belt
Post your piece below in the comments below or email it to info@ashleystowers.com. I can’t wait to read your take on this challenge! Be sure to let me know what you think of my version.
Taking My Lumps
This piece was written for Round #1 of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge 2020. To read the rules of the challenge, the judges feedback on this piece, and see how I did click here.