Old Story Ideas Brought Back to Life

When I first started to write I bubbled with ideas so much so it drove one of my contemporaries mad. She was struggling to make her novel happen at the time and I being new to a writing group was showing off, saying things like, "just get the words down and worry about the punctuation and sentence structure later."

It may have been of no use to my colleague, a woman who is perfect at creating a sentence and placing a comma, but to me it made sense because my ideas disappear as quickly as they come. However, I did realise that if I were to improve my writing, I would need to expand my author's toolbox and so over the last few years have taken notice of what an active sentence is, where a comma is needed and where to place a full stop. I still get it wrong, but the editing is now less of a chore than it once was.

Getting back to looking through some of my plans from those early days has unearthed some treasures though and by changing the detective’s names, this is one that should make its way into a Detective Voss novel.

The Desk Clerk’s Diary

Mario Modetti keeps secrets, many secrets. He is a desk clerk in an inner city Melbourne Hotel with an International and famous Australian clientele.

Among the regular guests are Pilots, cabin staff, Government officials and Casino high rollers.

Sunday morning a maid enters the room of a Kazakhstani business man to find him and two high price escorts bound and gagged. A Polaroid photo designed to shame is discovered fixed to the mirror with toothpaste.

Detective Inspector  Rose Nguyen is in charge of the investigation, but at every turn she is stymied by bureaucracy.

Chapter Outlines:

1.    The guests are discovered and no-one is talking

2.    DI Rosie Nguyen (Rosie) is on the case

3.    Across town a wholesale jeweler is found at his still locked safe with two bullet holes one in from the side of his chest the other in the back of his head. (was he alone? Where is his wife? Does his mistress know anything)

4.    Another murder in rural Shepparton, this time a known drug dealer with International connections.

5.    Are they random murders or connected.

6.    Journalist Rob Nugent is sniffing around and has picked up a connection

7.    Rosie, frustrated by Nugent pushes him away

8.    The trip to Shepparton for an exhumation finds another unknown body buried below the coffin of a drug boss just below the bottom of the same grave.

A novel length story will need more than eight chapters to wrap up this investigation but it does give me a start. Therefore, when the writing slows down on my current work in progress, I can duck over to this tale and create a much bigger yarn.

Wish me luck.

Bang

I knew my target and knew the time he would arrive. The Awards Presentation would be crowded and people lining the red carpet would work to my advantage.

Television crews were everywhere and it was easy to blend in, my only concern was the occupants of room five, fifteen. From there an easy shot, of four hundred metres and the carpet offered excellent alignment.

Checking the apartment mail boxes revealed Faith and Cindy McLeod lived in 515. I posted Logies tickets to them on a ruse that they had won an in-store competition. The girls would be out of their apartment by noon and not return before midnight. Once inside, all I had to do was wait.

Dressed as one of the hotel's handymen I found the fifth floor and picked the pocket of a housemaid for her pass to gain access, throwing the item into the passage near her trolley. At one o’clock the girls left via the lift at the end of the hall.

Once inside, I took a towel from my bag and laid it on the table. I  assembled the rifle and pulled a cleaner through the barrel. A quick look down the bore and attached the scope. I filled the five shot magazine and put a cartridge in the chamber.

I shifted furniture, to ensure I was comfortable, and opened a small gap in front window. There was nothing between my position and where the target would take his last breath.

I closed the window. At 2.30 the phone rang, I ignored it. By 3.30, I heard people in the hall, but they walked on. I kept the television muted and watched reporters accosting celebrities who were making their way to the ceremony.

At 5.00 pm I opened the window again and took up my position. Flags hung listless from their poles, no wind, that would help. I lined up a couple of guests who were about the same height as Finch.

A stretch Hummer arrived at 5.10 and he and his escort stepped out. I whispered a curse, the limo blocked my view. I cocked the rifle, slid the safety off and waited. The Hummer glided away. He was clear, I squeezed the trigger and watched the bullet take its mark.

My contract fulfilled. I packed the rifle, put the furniture back and sauntered out.