Short Story Fiction - Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000 #19

A new, classic-style fiction detective is solving crimes in only 1000 words.
Inspector Pascal Mysteries 1000

INSPECTOR PASCAL MYSTERIES 1000
#19 Best Suited, by T.K. Naliaka ©2016-2023

Sgt. Braque had to break into a trot to catch up, “Sir! What happened?”

He stopped.  A long moment passed before he finally replied. “I was informed that I take too many risks. Therefore, my performance evaluation was rated only Satisfactory.  If I don’t start conforming better, it’ll be revised to Probationary status.”

Braque gasped. “No!”

He glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry, I have an appointment.  I can’t be late.”

Braque watched disbelieving as he went to his car, got in and drove off.  Frustrated, Braque finally called after him. “I know you don’t have an appointment!  I manage all of your scheduling!”

The next morning, he was subdued as Braque followed him up three floors and along a corridor of offices.  He stopped, knocked, then opened a door.  “I am reporting to Inspector Fortuna.”

“You are?”

“Inspector Pascal.”

“Ah yes! You’re the reckless one.  Need a bit of supervision, so I’ve been told.”

Pascal colored slightly.  Braque’s eyes narrowed.

Fortuna lifted a large, heavy binder. “I have just the job for you.”

Pascal took it, “Sir?”

Fortuna told him. “You go to the police records warehouse depository and locate the original files on this case so we can have them digitized to make cross-referencing them easier.”

Braque blurted, “Sir! That’s a clerical job!”

Fortuna squinted at him, “Sergeant.”

“Sir.”

“Would you prefer patrol duty?”

Braque wanted to reply, yes I would, but he restrained himself, “No sir.”

Two hours later, Pascal stood dejectedly as he surveyed acres of crowded shelving, cartons, boxes and files.  He finally sighed. “Let’s see what Fortuna wants.”  They found a small folding table, two metal folding chairs, set them in a small space they cleared and sat down.  Pascal opened the binder, “Case number 0023-897-1000435.”

Braque grumbled. “That’s clear as mud.”

Pascal became still, then his hazel eyes widened.

Braque asked. “What is it?”

Pascal straightened as he leafed through.  He looked up with excitement. “This is the biggest unsolved murder in the entire department!”

“What!”

Pascal exclaimed, “The Depository murder!” He jumped up and swept out his arms, “Thirteen years ago - right here!”

A half hour later, they paced slowly along a narrow aisle. Pascal referred to the binder as they went, “Stop.  No, keep going… another meter.”

Braque stepped aside and pointed. “The police officer’s body was found here?”

“Yes.”

“Had it been moved?”

“No, killed where he stood.”

Braque indicated with his chin. “Officer Dawson was shot from behind from a distance of fourteen feet.  His murderer was standing there.”

Pascal considered the packed shelves. “We can keep ourselves busy.  Let’s suppose the victim was doing something right here that was a threat to the killer.  The only firm assertion was that the murderer was - perhaps still is - employed in some manner at the police department – with access to this building.  They interviewed hundreds of staff without generating any leads.” Pascal shrugged. “So let’s just take a look at what’s archived here and see if we find anything.”

“These are vehicular reports for the twenty years prior to the murder.” Braque grimaced, “Twenty years!”

“Hold this.” Pascal passed Braque the opened binder.  Pascal pulled out a piece of chalk from his pocket and copied the original outline of the body as it had been found, plus two lines. “Officer Dawson fell exactly here, so let’s make these our margins.  We have all week; we’ll systematically check every single document inside this boundary, starting with the section he was in front of when he was shot.”

Three days later, Braque looked up, alarmed. “I think I found something!”

Pascal glanced over. “Tell me.”

“A hit and run fatality… twenty-eight years ago; Charlene Tandy, married to Todd Tandy.”

“And?”

Braque whispered. “He’s Lieutenant Tandy now!”

Pascal quickly paged to the master list of interviews, found Tandy’s name and read the summary notes. “He was attending a three-day conference at the time of this murder.”

“He could have slipped out of it!”

“Perhaps!”

Pascal straightened warily. “Sergeant…do you smell anything?”

Braque stood up quickly. They grabbed the binder, the file and ran to the closest exit as the smoke alarm blared.  Pascal pushed the exit doors, but they hardly budged. “They’ve been chained!”

As they turned to head for a different exit, they heard the links clattering and the doors were thrown open.

They stepped out to discover Inspector Fortuna and his men. Pascal exclaimed. “How is it you’re here?”

“We’ve been watching the building since you started.  We just foiled an arson attempt.  Unfortunately, the perpetrator escaped.”

“You didn’t send us here to retrieve files! We’ve been here as live bait?”

“You have an interesting reputation, so I thought I’d test it.  The culprit was inside the police department.  After reviewing the personnel evaluations I decided that you both were the best suited for the job.  Pascal, you started somewhat recently so you were clean for my purposes and a potential real threat to the murderer - provided he or she was still in the department.  Braque, you joined just after the murder and worked up the ranks; you know almost everybody.  I passed the word that you two were working on a new lead on the case.”

“You could have told us!”

Fortuna chuckled. “Pascal, you had that egregious performance evaluation sticking in your craw.  You couldn’t be assigned this case, but what if it was unexpectedly in your hands?  Might you actually discover something everyone else missed?”  Fortuna peered at them. “Wait… you really did?!”

Braque replied. “Decades ago, before he became a police officer, Lieutenant Tandy was married to a woman who was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run accident.”

Pascal added. “Possibly Officer Dawson found out, suspected it hadn’t been accidental and was murdered while trying to locate the record.  Officer Dawson died within two meters of the original vehicular report.”

Fortuna smiled as he took the incriminating document, “Outstanding!  While we press the pursuit of our mysterious arsonist, let’s confirm the whereabouts of Lieutenant Tandy.”
​ by T.K. Naliaka ©2016-2023, all rights reserved