Murder At The Docks

1933 - Silver Lake, Pennsylvania

The town of Silver Lake, Pennsylvania, rarely had any crime. That’s why this morning, the murder of a twenty-one-year-old seemed rather odd. Detective Jack Mallory arrived on the scene a little after noon, with his partner Charlie Boone. The murder had occurred in a small shack used by dockworkers.

“A murder case! In Silver Lake! This is an extremely rare occurrence, detective.” Charlie exclaimed as he walked up to the shack with Jack.

“A rare occurrence indeed; I haven’t had a murder case in this town in at least a decade!” Jack said.

Outside of the shack stood a dockworker. Jack and Charlie approached the shack and began a conversation with the worker.

“I just found him lying there when I was about to start my shift this morning. I went to the station as soon as I found the body; everything was exactly how I found it.” The dockworker said.

“Is this shack unlocked during the night?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, there isn’t much of anything valuable in it. Besides, the lock on the door has been broken for years.” The dockworker responded.

Jack walked into the shack and began to investigate the scene. On the floor lay a dead and cold body. The cause of the death was quite obvious; there was a bullet wound that penetrated his chest. The gun wasn’t far from the body; it was a simple revolver that had a barrel that had been wiped clean. On the victim's wrist was a watch; it had been smashed against something, leaving glass on the floor. The pocket watch was frozen at the time “1:15.”

“Definitely a murder,” Charlie said, looking around.

Jack nodded and continued investigating. He began to rummage through the victim’s pockets. Inside he found a wallet and a note. The wallet contained around five dollars in cash, an ID reading “Calvin Reed, Born 1912,” and the note read “Meet me near the docks” in handwriting that appeared to be written quickly and in a hurry. On the ground was a pack of Camel cigarettes, a brass cufflink initialed “V.L.,” and a piece of paper, looking like a banknote or ledger.

The paper showed over three hundred dollars in debt due to Victor Langford. Victor was a very wealthy man in the city, known for making loans to people in binds. He was also known for being very brutal for not paying your debt on time. Unconfirmed reports suggest that he has made many people "disappear" to never be seen again after not paying their debt. This seemed like too easy of a case.

“I believe I know what happened here, Charlie. I just don’t know how we can prove it,” Jack said.

“What do you believe happened, detective?” Charlie asked Jack.

“Well, it’s simple. As we can tell by his wallet, Calvin Reed doesn’t have much money. So he needed some money. This caused him to go to Victor Langford and take out a loan. He couldn’t pay this loan back on time and was given a note to meet Victor at the docks. Victor led him into this shack and shot him. That's what I believe occurred,” Jack stated.

“That sounds plausible; however, you are talking about Victor Langford. Nobody would believe you; that man practically owns this town. He would pay the entire jury to convict him as not guilty; he would go so far as to even pay the judge. You would need some real solid proof for this theory of yours."

“Good thing I found this.” Jack holds up the cufflink initialed “V.L.

“There is only one jewelry store in town. All we need to do is confirm this was sold to Victor, and I believe we have solved the biggest case in this town in years! We can finally solve some real cases, Charlie!” Jack exclaimed,

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The bell of the jewelry store door rang with a high-pitched ding as Jack and Charlie walked in through the door.

“Why hello, detectives! Is there anything I can help you with?” The jeweler asked.

“Yes, there is! I was looking to inquire about this cufflink. I was wondering if you might know the owner of it,” Jack asked.

“Let me take a look!” The jeweler said, inspecting the cufflink,

“Ah yes! I remember this piece. This belongs to Victor Langford. There is another piece just like it meant for the other cuff.” The jeweler said.

“Thank you very much,” Jack said.

“Happy to help!” The jeweler responded.

Jack and Charlie walked outside the store. They looked over at each other and smiled.

“Case closed,” Charlie said.

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Victor Langford was arrested days later. He was charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter, one count of usury, and one count of extortion. He received life in prison for his crimes. Jack and Charlie were recognized across the state for their successful case and were both offered a position in Philadelphia as detectives. But there was one thing that still didn’t make sense to Charlie. On the last day of their jobs in Silver Lake, Charlie decided to ask Jack about it.

The office was empty, and everybody in the town was asleep.

“Jack. There is something I never understood about the case. The pack of Camel cigarettes. I know that dockworker; he isn’t a smoker. And Victor Langford can’t be a smoker either; he has chronic bronchitis. Everyone knows that. So who did the cigarettes belong to?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know, Charlie. Maybe another dockworker?” Jack said.

“See, that’s what I thought. But then I looked closer. On the back of the cigarette box, there was something written. “J. PennsylvaniaMallory.” And you couldn’t have dropped them; I saw them on the floor before you even walked in. You were there before; you were there that night. You were the murder. You killed Calvin Reed!” Charlie exclaimed.

Jack reached for a gun under his desk and pointed it at Charlie’s head.

“You know you were always too curious. Don’t you know that old saying, “Curiosity kills the cat”? Jack said, smirking.

“I was actually betting on you being curious. I planted my own cigarettes in the shack because I knew you would find them and question them. I wanted you to find out I killed him. I knew you would come here alone and confront me. And I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to kill you too.”

“Why are you doing this, Jack!?” Charlie yelled, confused.

“Charlie. I have been stuck in this town for three decades. I have been stuck with these small useless cases. Someone stole five dollars from me, my cat went missing, and I lost one of my earrings. I want to be a real detective; I want to solve real murder cases.” Jack explained.

“So, why not make a real case to solve? Yes, I killed Calvin Reed. Yes, I planted the cufflink. Yes, I planted the watch, the note, and the paper. I planted it all! I planted it all to pin it to the most influential man I know, Victor Langford. It would cause headlines; everyone would call me a hero. I could finally get real, big cases! Like I have dreamed of.” Jack continued.

“Killing you wasn’t my full plan. Curiosity will be the death of you. If you just didn’t touch the cigarettes, maybe you could have gone to Philadelphia with me, and we could have been partners. But now I get to go alone, and I get to go with another big case under my belt. Finding out who solved the murder of Charlie Boone. Hm, maybe I’ll pin it on Charles Beaumont, or Victor’s wife.” Jack laughed.

“Goodbye, Charlie.”

The gunshot echoed through the building. The bullet entered right into Charlie’s head. He was dead before he hit the ground. Jack ran to the phone and dialed the local police station.

“Hello? I am at the detective's office. Some masked man just broke in and shot Charlie! Please send someone quickly!” Jack sounded worried. But it was all a lie.