Dexter and Mrs Houser Go Over the Days Events Chap 1 pt6

Dexter paused for a moment, trying to think where to start, "I was sitting here spending quiet time reading when I heard shots coming from outside. I immediately went out to find out what was going on. One of the police officers happened to be an old high school friend of mine."

Mrs. Houser, smiled, "I think you need more friends in your life. And need to get out of this stodgy house more."

"I get out with Christopher a lot. Besides I like my stodgy house." with the emphasis on the word stodgy. Dexter looked around with satisfaction. His house had always suited his needs. Mrs. Houser wasn't the first one to try to gently push Dexter out more into society. He just wasn't a people person.

"The scene outside when I got there was all confused. People everywhere, police cars and, of course Mr. Peobody's body lying in his front yard in the mud. He must have had his sprinkler on earlier in the day."

"Did the cops find anything to go on? I assume you and Danny were poking around the crime scene" Mrs Houser said.

Damn, Dexter thought, she just knows me too well. "Well, yes, I took a look around and offered them a little help. There wasn't much to go on." Dexter stopped to drink a little of the tea. "I told Danny that maybe we could get together at some point in time for drinks or something"

"That's good. See, I told you having more friends would be a good thing" said Mrs. Houser with a smile.

Dexter paused and looked down at the floor.

"What's wrong, isn't that a good thing?" asked Mrs. Houser

Dexter looked at her, not knowing quite how to express his thoughts on the matter at hand. "Danny has a family, he loves his job, he has everything that most people are suppose to have. And usually when people say they will meet up, it's just something to say and it never happens."

"In this case, Dexter, you CAN make it happen. If he doesn't contact you, you can call him. Invite him out with you and Christopher one night. That way it isn't awkward with you. God know that Christopher can talk any ones ear off." Mrs. Houser encouraged Dexter. She genuinely care for him, and only wanted the best. She knew she wouldn't be around for ever and would love to see Dexter married before she died. Married and the word Dexter just doesn't seem to belong in the same sentence at all. But, everything changes and you never know.

"I feel like I have nothing to show for my life. Yes, I'm intelligent. Yes, I have special gifts. But, look around, what do I really have to show for my life. I love my life, but i guess when I saw Danny today it just got me started thinking" Dexer said with a big sigh.

"You have family and friends who love you." Mrs. Houser started, "You have  beautiful house, you have your books that you always have your nose in. You are content. Even if I say you should be out more often. You have to do what will make you happy in your life." Mrs. House said, not really believing anything she said. The total opposite was true.

Just then the phone rings. Sometimes Dexter hesitated on answering the phone. He didn't like talking on the phone too much. However, after looking at the caller ID, smiled, and then picked up the phone,"What's up Chris?"

Dexter Helps Out at Murder Location

Danny leaned forward to check out the prints. As always Dexter noticed the little things which were the difference between solving and not solving cases, "Yes, I see them now. And I wouldn't have even given them a second look except the one under the body. That would have had to have been there before the body fell. And it's too small for Mr. Peabody's feet."

Dexter pulled the button out from his pocket and handed it to Danny, "I also found this where the body was. It seems to be a button from a uniform shirt of the bus company Mr. Peabody worked for, but Mr. Peabody wasn't wearing a uniform shirt at the time. There is a good chance this came from the murder's shirt as they were struggling."

Danny took the button from Dexter and put it into a plastic evidence bag, "Dexter, you never cease to amaze me. Maybe you should have gone into the police work instead of me."

"Nothing amazing about it, I just noticed these things. I'm sure anyone here would have eventually.", Dexter shrugged and didn't really understand his friends praise. He never thought of himself as anything extrodinary, just a normal man. Even with his apparent extra esoteric skills, Dexter still always thought if he could do it, anyone else could."Oh, one more thing.."

"There's more?" Danny questioned, pausing to see what his friend had to say.

"Yes," Dexter started, "before they took the body away I noticed the stab wound was very odd. Almost like it was made with a very wide knife or some other similar object. I was thinking perhaps something jagged." He was still confused as what could have made such an unusal entry wound. Perhaps the coronor would have more luck with that.

"I'll mention that to furensics when I talk to them," Danny said, "Dexter, it's been great seeing you again. And it's nice to know that you still have your gift of seeing things that no one else can."

Dexter shook Danny's hand, and said, "Good to see you again Danny, sure brings back some good old memories. Maybe we can get together sometime for some drinks?"

Danny smiled, and said, "That would be great. Give me a call at the station and we'll make plans." Danny paused looking back at the other officers, "I gotta get back to work here. Take care Dexter." Danny turned around and headed back to the group of police near the cars.

Dexter stood there watching him go, smiling to himself, looking forward to getting together with him soon. Hoping this wasn't one of those occasions when people say they are getting together and then never do. Dexter really liked Danny and his company. Maybe he could invite out one night when he was out with Christopher. Christopher is Dexters cousin, but  since Dexter's Mom and Dad passed away at an early age, Christopher's Mom raised him. So, Christopher was very much like a brother to Dexter. And his only and best friend. Except Mrs Houser down the street.

"Whatcha talking to the cops about, Dex?", said Kelly, who had been hanging around waiting for Danny to leave so she could have her turn with Dexter. Dexter never understood why Kelly always was hanging around him. They had nothing in common, but yet it seemed she was always wanting to hang around him. Dexter jumped, a little startled out of his thinking about the case, "Kelly, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, my name is Dexter, not 'Dex'." He stated firmly.

Kelly rolled her eyes and said in a slow sarcastic voice, enuciating every sylable, "Dexter, whatcha talking to the cops about?"

Dexter sighed, sometimes it took all his strength to maintain his calm exterior while dealing with Kelly, she could be exasperating, "Nothing important, Kelly. He is an old friend of mine from high school."

Just then a car pulled up 2 houses down and an older woman got out and started walking toward Dexter and Kelly. Dexter realized that Mrs.Houser wasn't home at the time of the murder. She had been a friend of Dexter's grandfather, mother and father before they had passed away. Dexter knew Mrs. Houser for as long as he could remember and when he bought this house near here he always made sure she was ok. She wasn't getting any younger and Dexter was always concerned about her. He helped her with anything she needed. Minor home repairs, errands when she was sick, or just walking her dog once in awhile. In return she often cooked dinner for him and much to Dexter's dismay, cleaned up around his house for him. Every time that woman cleaned the house he could never find anything. She meant well and he loved her for it. Right now, though, she was heading toward the murder scene and he needed to head her off and explain what happened. She wasn't a weak woman, but this murder was too close to home and he wanted to explain it to her first.

Detective With a Touch of Magick-Chapter 1 Part 4

"Yes, certainly looks that way. Suspect ran off and we're looking for clues as to what happened. No one saw anything. Wanna give it a crack and have a look around?"

"Been a long time since I've been challenged, I'd love to have a look around." Dexter walked over to where the body was laying he noticed that there were small footprints leading away from the body. However these footprints were heading the opposite direction from where the witnesses has said the murderer had fled to. And they were small, not from a large man as Kelly had described. Of course there were a lot of people out here and they could have been from anyone, but these particular foot prints were close to the body with even one of them being half underneath the body. No, these were made before the body fell to the ground. Almost the size of a child. Newspaper boy maybe? Probably there and gone before the murder happened.

The ambulance crew were making preparations to remove the body now. The body had been placed in the body bag and moved to the stretcher. Some of the police officers were studying the the surrounding area trying to gather more clues.

Before the body bag was zipped up Dexter saw that the man had been stabbed in the chest. The stab mark looked particular, as if it was done with something other than a normal straight knife. The wound was wider than that of an ordinary knife. Perhaps a jagged edge blade? He happened to look down and see something shiny embedded in one of the footprints. Taking out a pen from his shirt pocket, he leaned down and stuck it in the mud under the item. Looked like some sort of button. He carefully picked it up from the mud and examined it. It had the initials "JBC" on it. The dead man had been wearing a black T-Shirt without buttons. JBC....Dexter thought. Then it came to him, those were the initials for the bus company that Mr. Peabody had worked for. And since Mr Peabody hadn't been wearing a uniform at the time of his untimely death, it stood to reason that this was probably committed by one of his co-workers. He or she must have lost the button during the struggle between the two people. Time to get someones attention and point these things out.

Dexter looked around and found Danny. He was talking to some more of the crowd. He walked over to talk to him. When Danny was finished with what he was doing, Dexter said, "I think I have some things you might be interested in. Not too much to go on though."

Looking back toward the now empty spot where the body had been, Danny said, "We tried to find the suspect that took off after he was murdered but came up empty. Looks like it was caused by some sort of fight or something. What do you have?" Danny looked at him expectantly, remembering how Dexter could walk into a room and see things that nobody else could. Dexter had often amazed Danny by the level of detail he saw in things and how his mind was able to put even the smallest things together to come to a reasonable conclusion. Even his best detectives now weren't as good as he remembered Dexter being. It was shame Dexter never did anything with those valuable skills. What Danny never knew was that Dexter just wasn't very observant but was very sensitive to other things no one else could feel or see. They call it magick, but it's not the 'pull a rabbit out of your hat' magick. It's just being more in tune with what is going on.

Dexter said, "Come here for a moment," Motioning for Danny to follow him over to where the body had been in the yard. Danny followed Dexter over to the yard. Dexter pointed at the foot marks he had noticed earlier, "See these footmarks there?"

"Yes, but they could have been made by anyone by this time." Danny said

"Your right except for the fact that one of them was actually under the body before the body was removed", Dexter pointed out. "And they are heading in the opposite direction from what the witnesses noticed the suspect running. And these footprints are from a child or a small adult. I was thinking maybe the paperboy, Mr Peabody doesn't really like children and has none in his family. At least I've never seen them. And these footprints are leaving the scene." Dexter paused to see if Danny saw what he saw.

Chapter 1 Part 3

Smiling, Dexer walked over and tapped Danny on the shoulder. Danny turned around and for a moment it seemed like he wouldn't remember who Dexter was, but then a smile crept across his face, "Dexter Franklin, I'll be!" What rock did you crawl out from under? What has it been, 20 years?"

"I actually live in over there," Dexter pointed to his house across the street, "Been about that, I think. Seems like a life time ago. So, I guess things have been good for you. When did you become a cop?"

Danny paused for a moment, "About 12 years ago. Tried a couple of other things and they didn't pan out. I needed something more solid and regular. And after all that time with you, hearing about all those mystery books you used to read. And helping you solve little mysteries around school, I thought I would try out law enforcement. It has it's ups and downs but it pays the bills. The wife and kids like to eat, you know. You married?"

Dexter looked down for a moment, here was his friend with a successful career, wife and family and what did have to show for his life? A house that he inherited, rows and rows of books, but not much else, "No, never found that right woman, never felt the need to  be married. Life is good the way it is." He knew his friend could see right though the lie, but he knew he wouldn't push the subject. "So, you got a murder on your hands here?"

I'm Sorry I've been MIA

Hi all, this last two weeks have been long for myself and my family and I took some time off from blogging my book. I have not forgotten about it. I will now blog regularly now. And get this book into print here. Although I am publishing the book here, is is not in it's entirety. The though is if I have enough followers reading this book this way that when it gets published in it's complete form, my followers here will be want a copy. Or so, that's the way it's suppose to go.

So, I'm sorry I have been so MIA, but I am here and will continue to write. It's my passion and I love writing .

Part 2 of Chapter 1

An officer, 6'5" if he was a foot,  was trying to take control. He asked loudly, "Can anyone describe what the suspect was wearing, or give any kind of description of him?"

"Yes, I can." A middle aged, slightly overweight man stepped forward. "He was wearing a dark red hoodie and dark pants, not sure if they were dark blue or black."

A young woman, maybe in her early 20's, stepped forward and said, "Yeah, and he was a big guy, over 6' tall. And heavy."

Dexter recognized the middle aged man as Mr. Jenkins, a computer programmer for a large corporation downtown. He kept to himself mostly, only coming out to talk to someone when he couldn't avoid it. He was a nice enough gentleman, just quiet. Apparently never got married.  The young woman was someone Dexter had come to know as a bit of floozy in the neighborhood. She was the daughter of the Campbell's who lived next door. She was often seen with this boy or that boy, out late at night and quiet often drunk. Her name was Kelly Campbell.

As the police were trying to clear the area and put up police tape around the scene, Dexter surveyed the area. People were still crowded around the policemen trying to get their bit of the story in. The ambulance had just pulled up and they were preparing to take care of the body. Dexter looked around to see who was in charge and was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend of his. Danny Johnson. Dexter hadn't seen him since graduation from high school. They had been good friends back in those days. Dexter paused for a moment remembering all the good times they had had together. Danny was one of the few people who gave Dexter a challenge when it came to things like chess and cards & D & D, but Dexter had been the victor more often than not. Danny had about as active imagination as Dexter did.Those were good days indeed.

First Part of Chapter 1

     The two gun shots startled Dexter as he was sitting quietly reading a book and listening to Bach. Instinctively he grabbed his gun and headed for the door. Once outside, he looked around to see where the gun shots had come from. Across the street people were beginning to gather.   Across the street There was a man,on the grass, laying there, bloody, possibly dead. There seemed to be mass confusion as the police cars pulled up. Everyone was talking and yelling at once. Dexter put his gun in the back of him in his belt.  As Dexter got closer, one of the police officers got out of the car and was asking everyone to be quiet so he could figure out what was going one. The body on the ground was most definitely dead. The man was one of Dexters' neighbors, Mr. Peabody. Mr. Peabody frequented the local race track and often came home angry and drunk when he lost. He held a job down as a bus driver. He was a very loud and irratable character. Often drunk he would yell and cause fights in the neighborhood. That someone finally killed him wasn't a hugs shock, but who?  God knows he had a lot of enemy's in and out of the neighborhood.
     Finally, a woman in a blue low cut shirt said, "Nobody saw what happened but we when came out we saw someone running away from the body in that direction", pointing up the street. Everyone around her was nodding or verbally agreeing. It seemed everyone was in agreement that the murderer had run east up the street. Several police cars took off in that direction. 

Yesterday we met Dexter, our main chacater, today meet Christopher Owen

There is not only background about Christopher in here but some story plot as well...read on...

Christopher is a lot different than Dexter. Christopher is following in his fathers footsteps and is a Junior Associate in his fathers law firm. There is nothing else Christopher wanted to be other than just like his Dad. His Dad and him took trips together, spent time throwing the ball around, played basket ball together. There were just so many good memories.  Like Dexter he's very intelligent but has a hard time seeing outside the box. Christopher is also an only child but raised with Dexter, so they are like brothers. Christopher knows Dexter better than anyone else, except for maybe Mrs. Houser. If it wasn't for his pestering to get Dexter out of the house all the time, Dexter would probably never go anywhere. They enjoy shooting pull, movies and sometimes eating out but Dexter is so picky. Christopher has a hard time finding good places to go. Unlike Dexter, Christopher is materialist to a point. He loves gathering new things. His apartment looks like a retail store, at least to Dexter. There are very few books, as Christopher doesn't read much. Dexter has given more than one book to no avail. Christopher is very close to both his parents until his Dad passes away. He is there for his mother, as she has fallen apart. They were everything to each other. and then the insurance company calling it suicide and threatening not to pay up has his mother to the point all she can do is cry. During this whole ordeal, Christopher has been more emotional and just plain not himself. Dexter does what he can, but he's feeling the loss deeply himself.

Dexter

Hello and welcome to the start of a fun filled, thrilling novel featuring our main character, Dexter Owen. Dexter is in his mid 30's, around 5' 10", dark hair, and very intelligent. Dexter's parents died when he was a child and his Aunt Judy raised him up with his cousin Christopher. Christopher is in his late 20's. Dexter's parents were very wealthy and as he was the only child, he inherited everything they had. As such, Dexter is independently wealthy, although he is not materialistic by any means. He has a small house, filled with books that is often in disarray. Natalie Houser was a close friend of Dexter's parents before they passed. She lives down the street from Dexter and is often at his house chiding him for the mess he leaves. Although Dexter and Mrs. Houser both know the chiding is just lighthearted and the two are very close. She is another mother figure for Dexter. She often picks up after him and cooks for him. Dexter is not very much a people person. He does go out with his cousin, Christopher often but not to really socialize with other people. Mrs. Houser swears Dexter will be old and lonely if he doesn't start socializing to find a potential wife. Dexter scoffs at the idea and insists he's happy with his life as it is. Dexter, when not with Christopher is a hermit. He doesn't talk to anyone in the neighborhood unless he has to except for Mrs. Houser. He prefers to be in his house, reading and listening to classical music. Sometimes he does listen to different genres but mostly classical. One of Dexter's traits he has had his entire life is the ability to often figure out mysteries rather quickly. Whether it was a missing piece of equipment in high school, or something amiss in the neighborhood, Dexter usually figures it out first. Having been well read on mysteries and detective novels, some of his talent comes from there. However, Dexter has a lot of natural intelligence which sets him apart from a lot of people.

More later about the character outlines before the real story starts.