Murphy's Law

Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Murphy was the only female detective working at Hell Solver, a company for detectives to solve crimes. No one knew that she was a female of course. If they knew they would fire her and criticize her. Murphy had legally changed her name to Murphy Lawrence when she turned eighteen. She had secretly gone to a detective school that specializes in training females. Murphy lived in a world where men were praised for everything they did. The only way to keep her identity secret was to disguise herself as a man. As far as she knew, no one knew her true identity.

To hide her identity, Murphy had to do a few things to make sure no one could tell physically that she was a female. She wore two baggy shirts to cover her chest. Murphy also always wore a long trench coat for extra protection. Her long hair was twisted up into a bun that was covered by a hat. She wore men’s boots that were wide. Murphy had to wear thick socks to keep her small feet from sliding around in the too big shoes. Makeup was never applied to her face, otherwise that would expose her. Murphy knew she was playing a dangerous game with all of her disguising techniques, but it was a game she was willing to play.

Ring, ring! Murphy’s desk telephone rang. Reluctantly, she picked it up and placed it to her ear. She knew her insufferable boss would be calling her to his office. Murphy didn’t like her boss, Charlie. He was married to a woman who couldn’t have kids. He slept around with other women to try and get them pregnant. Charlie always wanted a son to take over his business. The women whom he slept with were not treated well by him. Murphy knew this by conducting her own investigation on him. But Charlie was the only person who would hire her right after she completed her detective training. So she kept quiet.

“Hello?” Murphy said with forced enthusiasm.

“Yeah, get down to my office right away! It’s urgent.” With that her boss, Charlie, hung up the phone. Murphy sighed and got up from her desk. She grabbed her brown trench coat and put it on. She made sure her long brown hair was tucked into her matching brown hat. Her black boots lightly made a tapping noise as she walked down the tile floor to Charlie’s office. When she entered she found that Charlie was sitting with his bare feet lying atop his desk. His hair was disheveled and he was smoking a pipe. He motioned for Murphy to take a seat in the red velvet chairs. Charlie placed a black and white photograph of a young woman lying dead on the street. Her blue dress was stained with blood. Her long black hair was in knots and she had a slit in her neck. Charlie showed her more photographs of other girls who looked in similar states.

“We got a Ripper going around town.” Charlie said. “Your job is to find the killer and make sure that he pays for his crimes. He seems to be randomly killing young women and leaving their bodies out in plain sight.”

Murphy grimaced at the sight of the bodies, but she nodded her head. “I can handle it, boss. I’m assuming that there was a more recent murder so that I can take a look at the body and the scene?”

Charlie grinned at her with his wide, toothy smile. “Over on second street next to the brick building in Hellane is where the most recent murder was. She was found about an hour ago. Head over there and investigate,” Charlie explained.

Murphy nodded her head and got up to leave. “Oh and one more thing, Rhyann will be joining you on this investigation,” Charlie called after her.

Murphy sighed. “Put your shoes on and get them off your desk,” was her only response. She heard Charlie chuckle on her way out. Murphy hated working at Hell Solver, but she knew it was the best place in the town of Hellane to work.

Murphy got a taxi and headed out to the crime scene. When she got there, Rhyann was already there. He was wearing his gray jacket with his red handkerchief tucked into his breast pocket. His thin red lips spread into a smile when he saw her. They were at the crime scene for three hours observing the body of a young white female. Her throat was slit and her face was stained with blood. Rhyann and her went over everything that could’ve possibly happened. There was a sign of a struggle, but Murphy thought that the killer had an element of surprise. They determined that the girl was killed by the same killer as the other victims. But there was not much evidence at the crime scene to suggest who it could be.

Murphy and Rhyann, feeling defeated, went back to the Taxi to head back to Hell Solver’s. Murphy planned to review the case on her own when she got back. But before she left the girl’s body she had noticed a small piece of red fabric tucked into her shirt. Murphy had left it for the forensics team, but didn’t think too much about it.

As the weeks went by more bodies of young women showed up. It was always with a slit throat and a piece of red fabric. Murphy and Rhyann continued to work together, although Murphy still did a lot of the work on her own. She spent days going over the cases and trying to figure out the motive of the killer. But the crime scene was always clear of any evidence. Murphy studied the cases over and over again. She went back to the crime scenes and thought of every scenario of what could’ve happened. From what she could find, the women were strangled around the neck and knocked unconscious. From there, the killer would slit their throat. He always had the element of surprise. This made Murphy angry, all these innocent women were being murdered for sport. But she never knew why there was always a shred of red fabric laying beside the victims. This made it obvious that it was the same killer. She just couldn’t figure out his motives.

Murphy was getting more and more frustrated as weeks passed. She was one of Hell Solver’s best investigators. She had solved hundreds of cases. Murphy noticed that Rhyann had been acting strange. He wasn’t as helpful in the cases and would disappear for hours on end at a crime scene. She shrugged it off as him just being queasy of the dead bodies.

Rhyann and Murphy had worked together a few times before. Rhyann was a good detective and well respected. Murphy could tell that he didn’t really like her that much. She couldn’t figure out why. She supposed it was because she had solved more cases than him and was often quicker in doing so. Murphy was the one to march into Charlie’s office and tell their boss that she was the one who solved the case. Maybe that upset Rhyann, but she wouldn’t let him take all of the praise for the cases she solved. She wondered what Rhyann would think if he found out she was a female.

One day something strange showed up on her desk, it was a letter. Murphy opened it, assuming it was a letter from her boss. It read:

Dear Murphy,

I bet you are frustrated not being able to solve these cases. You spend nights and days thinking about it, don’t you? Well I’m the killer. And I know your secrets. I suggest that you catch me before I expose them…or kill another young woman.

Sincerely,

Your Truth Seeker.

Inside the letter was a scrap of red fabric. There was also a picture of an apartment building. Murphy gasped. She knew that this is where the killer was going to strike next. And she knew exactly where that building was. She gathered herself and acted calmly. Quickly, she walked out of Hell Solver’s. She made sure to bring her pocket knife with her and her pistol.

When the Taxi took her to the apartment building, she quickly got out. Murphy observed the entire outside of the building and concealed herself in the shadows. She listened for any sounds of a scream. Then she entered the building and climbed up the rickety stairs. All of the resident’s doors were shut. She didn’t see any signs of someone breaking in. She decided to climb up to the roof. When she got up to the roof, she looked around. Murphy saw a red scrap of fabric and crept closer to the edge of the roof. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but there was a deathly silence up on the roof.

She heard the sound of footsteps. Grabbing her pistol out of her trench coat she turned around and faced someone. There was Rhyann standing in front of her. He put his hands up and looked at her in surprise. She lowered her gun and tucked it back into her coat. Murphy sighed a breath of relief.

“What are you doing here, Rhyann? How did you know how to come here?” She questioned him.

“I saw you leave and followed you here. You can’t have all of the glory solving this case now can you?” He mused.

Murphy looked at him more closely, up and down. She noticed that the same red handkerchief was sitting still in his pocket, but a piece of it was missing. Murphy glared at him and slowly started to reach for her gun again. But Rhyann noticed and was quicker. He knocked it out of her hand and had his arms wrapped around her neck. Murphy struggled against his grip and started to choke.

“Why, Rhyann? Why did you kill those innocent women? Why did you do it? How did you find out about me?” She gasped for air.

Rhyann smiled a crazed smile. “Women are greedy and ignorant. They deserve to die! Women don’t belong in this world. You think I didn’t notice how you always wear baggy clothes to hide your womanly shape? You think that I don’t notice you tucking your long hair into your cap?”

With that he grabbed a knife and slit Murphy’s throat. Murphy gazed up at Rhyann as she choked on her own blood. She fell slowly to the ground. Rhyann tucked another shred of red fabric into her coat pocket. With that he left Murphy Lawrence lying on the ground and walked away. And there stayed the body of Murphy Lawrence. Everything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong.