Who Did It?

TW: Murder

The door pushed open, hesitantly at first. Two men squeeze through the opening. Their eyes wander, taking in the scene. You can smell the apprehension on them, an acrid aroma that wafts through the small room.

"The call came in at 5:30 this morning. The Mrs. heard a commotion down the hall. Said her husband wasn't in bed with her, so she called out for him. That's when she heard gunfire, then a loud crash. She ran out of the room to find him here."

"Looks like he was shot up there," Man Number One says, gesturing to the second story landing. "Then he fell over the bannister and landed here."

Man Number Two walks toward the lifeless body, eyes darting up to the broken bannister and back down to Joe, the now dead husband. The iron smell of blood hits their noses at that moment. Iron and death. Two very distinct smells. Recognized easily by both dogs and homicide investigators.

"Any signs of an intruder?"

"The backdoor was left ajar. The Mrs. said they didn't always lock it at night."

Man Number Two takes out his notepad and quickly takes some notes. "Well, from what I know about this guy, he might've had an enemy or two. He runs a few businesses in town...and not always on the up and up."

"A business deal gone wrong, maybe?"

Pencil in hand, he waves off the comment, "I'm not jumping to conclusions yet, just gathering all the information that I have available."

Man Number One takes a step back, looking around the home. "Wife's a heavy sleeper, I guess? To not notice that her husband is up, traipsing around the house in the middle of the night? What finally wakes her up? The gun going off?" A hint of confusion in his voice, paired with the slight scent of doubt.

"She told dispatch she heard "a commotion." So that's what woke her up. Not sure how much time passed between the commotion she heard initially and the gun fire."

Man Number One scoffs as he says, "I wonder if "the commotion" was her husband sneaking his girlfriend in through the kitchen door?"

Man Number Two quickly looked up and said, "So you've heard that rumor too, huh?"

Putting his hands in his pockets, Man One glances over at their wedding picture hanging on the wall. " Yeah, well, it's a small town. People talk. He might've been unpopular with the Business Folk, but he found a little more favor with the ladies. Or so rumor has it."

Man One and Man Two start making their way down the hallway into the kitchen. The smell of last night's dinner still lingers in the air. Bacon has a way of permeating the whole house for a day or two.

"There's a dog leash by the back door. Where was the dog? If an intruder came in the house, why didn't it bark? Not much of a guard dog, I guess."

Man Number Two closes his notebook as he says, "Let's get the crime lab called in. Get some pictures of the scene, swab for fingerprints. The Mrs. is at the station, if you could go over there and get her official statement. I saw the neighbors have some security cameras, I'll check on getting access to their video footage."

"It's gonna be a long day for us. If only walls could talk, ya know? Our jobs would be a lot easier."

"The walls can't talk, but I can." whispered the dog cowering in the corner. "His girlfriend's name is Jules. And I know where Mrs. keeps the gun."