Upon the completion of Dubious Meeting, I turned my attention to the second piece of flash fiction for my patrons, a ghost story. While it took me some time to figure out which ghost would take center stage, once I figured that out, I knew what the rough story line would be. Back in Inquiry Marcus found a clue to Benjamin’s murder. Granted, I’ve told a few stories focusing on this pair since then, but I wanted to revisit the clue and what it means for the partners.
As I thought about how this discussion would unfold, my mind flashed to countless cop shows where the investigators chat about their cases in their department’s break room. The other wrinkle about this partnership stems from the fact that only Marcus can see or interact with Benjamin. With that knowledge weighing on Marcus, he’s going to have to go to extraordinary lengths to ensure his coworkers don’t think he’s cracked under the pressure of his own caseload.
Grab a seat and hunker down as we witness the latest installment in Benjamin’s afterlife.
Several months after finding a clue about his murder, Benjamin demands answers from his living partner about what he’s discovered…
As the green spheres pulsed about the detective like a miniature whirlwind, a disembodied voice boomed inside of Marcus’s head. “Have you made any progress in finding out who was responsible for killing me?”
Marcus rose from his desk and stalked across the room, ducking into the station’s small break room. With an exaggerated yawn, he pulled the coffeepot off the heating element while grabbing one of the porcelain mugs from the nearby stack. Once he filled his cup with the liquid caffeine, he topped it off with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and a shot of cream. He dropped a stirrer into the cloudy liquid and whirled it into a uniform tan color. After he finished, the detective tossed the strip of plastic and brought the cup to his lips, letting the intense notes of caramel and spice fill his nose.
He turned around and leaned against the counter as he covered his lips with his coffee. “Benjamin, the documents I secured earlier suggest but do not mention any names for the job. All it said was that you were becoming a troublesome burden.” The detective sipped the steaming drink and allowed the creamy dose of caffeine to roll across his tongue. As a slight silence swelled, he stared through the pulsing collection of verdant pinpricks. “Even without a concrete list of names, I brought the information to the chief.”
“How’d that go over? Did he approve your pulling the case out of the freezer?”
Marcus lifted his cup, obscuring his lips. “Do you mean, aside from unleashing a torrent of curses that would make any seasoned sailor blush?”
.
.
.
To continue reading head over to my Patreon page and become a patron, $2 a month will give you access to this and other flash fiction stories.