Random Acts of Murder    Posted to FKFIC-L    Date: Thu, 01 Sep 1994 (c) 

Hey, folks, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here!
Merle Micklin (m.micklin1@genie.geis.com) suggested that writers
write a story using a title she came up with--"Random Acts of
Murder."  Then Janet Dornhoff (jad44314@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu)
suggested a story challenge of 200 words or less with plot,
character development, dialogue, action, and humor.  A tall
order and I couldn't quite confine myself to 200 words (that
*was* murder).  But I got close. :)

Anyway, hope you all enjoy my effort.  Comments and criticism
to tmp_harkins@dirac.physics.jmu.edu.

Sandra Gray (now you all know what I sometimes do at 3 a.m.)
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Random Acts of Murder

A Forever Knight Story

By Sandra Gray


     Nick sat heavily at his dining table with a bottle and a
glass of blood.  He was not looking forward to going in to
work.  He *knew* there would be another case to add to the
baffling series of murders (at last count, five) that he and
Schanke were investigating.  Murders that seemed to have no
common links at all, that were almost...
     A small brown spider crawled across the table.  Nick
squashed it.
     *Random.*
     Schanke was waiting for him.  "Got another one.  An old
woman--walking her terrier in the park.  Same M.O.  Stabbed
in the back.  Not much blood."
     Nick sighed heavily.  But Schanke smiled.  "What?"
     "Dog took a chunk out of the guy.  *And* we got a lead
on a suspect."
     Soon Nick and Schanke were in Nick's car heading for
Concord Arms Apartments.  After interviewing the neighbor
of a "Ray Wise," the detectives decided to interview the
"suspect" himself.
     Wise bolted instead of babbled.  Nick caught and cuffed
him.  After he was secured in a police car, they returned
to Wise's apartment.  The bedroom wall was papered with
dart-studded telephone book pages.
     "Well, this should do it."  Schanke grinned.  "Good
thing we had a dog to 'take a bite out of crime.'"
     Nick groaned.  A cockroach was crawling over a
telephone page.  Nick raised a hand to squash it.
     Then he let it live.

                       THE END

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