The Death of Sophie Crook (A John Smith Case) (by Rika)

The Death of Sophie Crook
(A John Smith Case)

“So Detective, What have you got?”
“Well, not much I guess, a dead body and a messy crime scene, but don’t worry Mr. District Attorney, I will get the hang of it eventually”
“Yeah… you certainly always do John, a guy like you who keeps our business running”
“Ha-ha.....That’s affirmative, sir. Now, will you excuse me for a moment? I need to ask the husband a few questions”

“Hello Mr. Crook, I am Detective. John Smith, please accept my condolences”
“Thank you very much detective, who do you think could’ve done something like this?”
“To soon to tell Mr. Crook, but I promise you we’ll get who ever did this”
“Is there anything I can do to help?, I really want justice takes place here”
“There are some questions I need to ask you, Sir, if you don’t mind”
“No, anything Detective”
“To your knowledge, did your wife have enemies or perhaps some people who might not be friendly?”
“Hm…. now that you mentioned it, we do run a small business that’s starting to make the competitors nervous”
“You mean your restaurant at the end of this block?”
“Yup, The Sophie’s Taste recently has been quite famous around here and since we decided to market it online, nonlocal customers keep coming”
“I see….. which reminds me, Sir, now that your wife has passed away, what will happen to your wife’s restaurant?”
“Sophie loved her business, detective, so I will try to keep it running for her, as the proof of my love for her”
“Of course, and the competitors that you mentioned, any name in particular?”
“Yes, Patty O’neil, she owns the diner right in front of our restaurant, she has really been showing unpleasant behavior lately”
“What kind of behavior?”
“Unfriendly ones, like last week she intentionally put some stinky dead rats right in front of our restaurant, the smell was really hard to get rid off so that we lost some customers that day”
“And how do you know she’s the one who did that?”
“Because the next morning she said to my wife that what had happened that night was only the beginning”
“Okay, Mr. Crook, I will look into this, thanks for the sharing”
“Anything to help you found the bastard, detective!”

“Good morning, Mrs. O’Neil”
“Good morning, do I know you?”
“I believe not ma’am, I’m Detective Smith. Can I have a word with you?”
“I’m kina busy here, detective, what is it about anyway?”
“You know Mrs. Sophie Crook?, the owner of The Sophie’s Taste in front of your diner?”
“Oh, her, of course I knew her”
“Knew? So you already know what had happened to her?
“Yeah I know, people talks you know, they said she was killed? Is that true?”
“That’s right, ma’am, that’s why I’m here, I need to gather some information that can help me to solve this case”
“Okay, what do you want to know exactly?”
“Hm….. for a start, I can see that you’re making some extra profits from your diner today…quite customers here you’re having? I understand that you haven’t really had much of customers lately?”
“What? Are you accusing me of something here? It’s true that her place was my ultimate competitor, but I would never do something that stupid”
“But don’t you think the Rat Incident last week was also a little stupid?”
“Oh…that… that’s like a one time thing okay? I was very upset, she had been using her boops as the ultimate ad to attract more customers”
“Is that so? And that made you out of your mind?” So, it is also possible you couldn’t resist it anymore? That you just had to do something to shut her business down?”
“No, I’m not that crazy, I have kids to feed Mr. Smith and maybe you found me not as intelligent as you are, but I do know that killing somebody is a major crime and will get me behind bars for the rest of my life …because as you can see detective, I’m already an old lady”
“Sorry, ma’am, but I just need to dig in a little deeper.. that’s all, do you have any alibi for lastnight?”
“Yes, I was here, serving some customers…. You can ask my 2 waiters”
“Don’t worry Mrs. O’Neil, I will”
“Be my guess, Detective, but if I were you, I would check on the husband as well”
“And why is that Mrs. O’Neil?”
“He is not exactly a good husband himself, detective, he had an affair with his very own sister in law…. a 22 years old girl … as sweet as honey......I saw them kissing a month ago......and believe me Detective, it was definitely not a kiss of a brother in law. And that Detective….is something for you to check on”
“Sure thing ma’am, I most certainly will”

“Hey, Pete, what has your team had so far? Don’t disappoint me, my friend”
“This is a tough one, John, no prints what so ever, no bloody knife, nothing accept….these”
“Ah… Some hairs… what do you know?” Have you got any idea whose hairs are those?”
“As you know John…. We need some DNA samples to confirm that, but I do know one thing though, they’re far too long to belong to a man”
“Okay, thanks for the information Pete, and about those samples? I have to keep digging first before asking the court a warrant”
“Good luck with that, then. Keep me posted”

“Miss. Simmons, isn’t?”
“Yes, detective, have you got the person who did this?”
“Not yet, ma’am. We’re still working on it, thank you for coming”
“No problem , Detective. If I can anyway be in assistance?”
“In a matter of fact, there are some questions that you should answer, Miss. Simmons”
“Certainly, Detective…. And please just call me Claire”
“Very well, Claire, Did you or did you not have a close relationship with your brother in law?”
“Excuse me? Where did you get that idea from?”
“From some reliable sources, including Mr. Crook himself…. We have asked his confirmation earlier this morning”
“Okay I did, but it's over now because I realize that he's a jerk.... but for your information Detective, I’ve never meant anything to hurt Sophie, I love her”
“We’re not exactly talking about hurting someone only by heart here, Claire”
“What do you mean?”
“We found some hairs at the crime scene, Claire, ….long brown hairs…..like your hair Claire, I bet it will be a match if you’re willing to give us some samples of yours”
“Don’t bother, Detective, I admit I was there that night, Sophie called and confronted me about the affair… I decided to go there to apologize and we had a big fight…but It was not like what you think….I did not kill her… I would never do that…. she was still my sister”
“Claire, it would be easier if you just come clean about this”
“I’m telling you, Detective, I didn’t have anything to do with it”
“Your hairs are the proof that you’re the only one there that night….but here what I don’t get….. why can’t we find a single fingerprint there? Did you wear gloves? Did you plan this all along?”
“What? No prints? That’s impossible….. I didn’t wear any gloves that night, you must have found some of my fingerprints on her red blouse because we did have a physical struggle that night. She was very mad at me and maybe one of us would get hurt if I didn’t run away”
“Red? I believe she was wearing a black pajamas when we found her…. And we didn’t find any red blouse in her laundry either”
“That’s impossible. I’m sure it was red and it certainly not pajamas. What’s going on here?”
“Did you tell any body you’re going there that night…Mr. Crook perhaps?”
“No, I didn’t tell him, I didn’t tell anybody accept my mother”
“Your mother? Mrs. Simmons? Can she verify that?”
“I think so, she’s outside the room, she did not want me to go alone”
“Alright, I’ll get her”
“Mrs. Simmons? Can you join us for a moment?”
“Is there anything wrong? Can Claire go home now?”
“Please come with me, ma’am, your daughter may need a company”


“Okay Mrs. Simmons, have a seat, please”
“Your daughter said she told you that she was going to Sophie’s residence that night? Can you confirm that?”
“What? Claire, why did you tell him that you were there that night?”
“I have to Mom, he already knew”
“What?? No! That’s impossible!”
“Why is it impossible Mrs. Simmons? We found a physical proof at the crime scene that connect it to her”
“You’re lying! You couldn’t have found anything there, not even a single finger print!”
“How can you be so sure, Mrs. Simmons?? From your tone, you make it sound that you have made sure that we couldn’t find any finger print at all?” Did you do anything that night to make sure we can’t find our way to Claire?”
“What are you saying, Detective?”
“You killed Sophie didn’t you Mrs. Simmons?” and you wiped out all possible print made by Claire, didn’t you? Including changing Sophie’s blouse” “And I can see that you’re wearing gloves today, because you wear them everyday, don’t you? Including that night? You went there to make sure Claire was alright…. Somehow ended up stabbing your own daughter!” And I’ve just realized that you have the same hair color like Claire’s… maybe the ones we found were not Claire’s after all, They’re yours, aren’t they?”
“No, Detective, Stop it! My mother would never do that. She loves us both. She wasn’t there!”
“Well, Claire, she can proof her innocence by giving some hair samples of her own”
“No, detective, I’m telling you, she wasn’t there!”
“I was, Claire. I was there. I came after you that night, just to make sure that you were alright and I saw her slapping you around…. And blame you for the whole thing, and said that her husband is innocent…. While she had known all along that he has been playing around with at least a half dozen of women. She had always known, but still kept hurting her sister for him. As soon as you’re gone…. I tried to get her sense on this matter… but in returns, she accused me to love you more than her. She accused me that… after all I’ve done to make her dreams come true….you didn’t even have the chance to go to college because I don’t have any more money…. because I have had to make sure Sophie got all she wanted….making sure she got her degree ...including giving her financial support when she wanted her own restaurant…..after all that…. she still accused me of having more affection for Claire. So, I simply got really disappointed and angry, and I saw the knife…. I realized that Claire will be the one who will look very guilty so I made sure the police could not find anything….. I just didn’t realize that an old lady doesn’t have strong hairs anymore.”
“Oh, Mom, why did you do that?”
“Because I love you…. I may have been always loving Sophie more the whole time….. but it turns out that the last stupid thing I did is because my love for you Claire, not for Sophie”

(Rika, rikacintara@gmail.com)