Unsolved Mystery

Part of the One Page Series

The green neon sign flashed above the corpse. It made the congressman’s body look like it was beginning to rot but the body was still warm. His wallet was full of cash and his diamond ring was still on his pinky. Last week the bill this guy pushed got shot down and now the same has happened to him. The next morning it was all over the papers. The oil man Mackron was quoted saying he’ll miss his close friend.

Mackron was a bald headed bull, 300 pounds, and had sharp green eyes. He gave one word answers and said he couldn’t know who would rub out the congressman. Then a man a little smaller than Mackron pulled on my shoulder and told me Mr. Mackron had no more time for questions. Leaving my office that night that assistant of Mackron’s was on the sidewalk. He jammed a .38 into my ribs and told me to get in his car. I told him I’d rather walk. I yelled, “Thompson,” over his shoulder and the big lug fell for it. I pulled my automatic and put it under his chin. I took his piece and then gave him a punch in the kidney for good measure.

I visited Mackron the next day. His snake eyes shot daggers as I questioned him why his monkey paid me a visit. He told me that high paying jobs rarely prevent men from acting out their baser insticnts. I told him we were in agreement about that. I asked if a wealthy, powerful man would commit murder, such as himself. He threw me out of his office. Traditional logic tells me this guy is as guilty as sugar is sweet. He probably had that monkey pull the trigger, but it was Mackron’s order. Any private eye his first day on the job could see that and I’ve been doing this long enough to consider a career change.

After weeks of investigation by myself and the police, we couldn’t find any evidence tying Mackron to the murder. I investigated Mackron alone because the cops looked elsewhere, by order of the police chief. I set up a meeting with the chief to ask why he was waisting his resources when Mackron was the clear suspect. He told me Mackron has always been a stand up guy and a close friend of the city police force. He then said tomorrow he would start focusing on other crimes and pull all men off the congressman case. That night after several glasses of bourbon, I decided it was time to rip up my P.I. license and start working as a carpenter.