Want to be a Detective?

Sure you do. You love to watch all those CSI and NCIS and whatever other bunch initials that declare a team of investigators will scrounge an area after some hideous crime trying to fine the solution with some tiny little hint to find the culprit within 30 minutes. Luckily the sponsors give enough time to drive cars fast and use cool electronic gizmos and possibly have some emotional romantic interaction that can question the next episode.

No matter the crime or the solution you know these fine folks will solve the mystery so there is no intense worry of another closed case that will never be reopened or meet a final conclusion. You can even choose the character you think would reflect how you would react in that assignment.

Give this a try.

Walk through a room that is unfamiliar. Nothing unusual could be a restaurant or a hotel lobby or a friend’s house that you have been into before but hadn’t noticed anything different.

Now stop. What did you see?

The woman walking by with a small boy and a dog? The man in the corner reading a newspaper? The chair next to the door with a magazine open? The doorman’s smile.

What type of dog was that? Why did the dog smell the doorman and then the elevator? Why was the little boy in such a miserable way? How did the woman react to the child? How did the woman react to the dog? Who was on the elevator when it opened? Was it going up or down? What color was the rug? Why was the man reading the newspaper wearing a heavy overcoat inside? What newspaper was he reading? How did he comb his hair? Why was the doorman not wet while it was raining outside? Why weren’t there wet footprints from the woman, child and dog?

From surveillance footage and questioning the doorman, the woman was Mrs. Jenkins from apt. 21C. She had been recently separated from Tommy’s father and was having difficulty paying the rent. She had asked if anyone in the building wanted the mutt and he assumed she was talking about the dog. The makeup on the child’s black eye didn’t hide the screams or the scratches on his arm. Before the dog entered the elevator with some resistance it relieved itself on the floor. The doorman noted the man in the grey tweed overcoat would come in and watch the activity in the lobby and then leave without a word. Maybe a PI hired by Mr. Jenkins to check on his family? The biggest problem was he’d smoke cigarettes and smash them in the green carpet. He didn’t recognize him as a tenant but let him in out of the rain. The magazine on the chair was his as he had just taken off his raincoat and hung it on the hook next to the plaque on the wall.

What plaque on the wall?

What kind of detective are you going to be? Maybe you should stick to writing?

Next week: Let’s Play Doctor: Take Off All Your Clothing