Mystery Idea

(All descriptions of the crime are not told in chronological order throughout the story, but instead figured out by the readers as the detective discovers them. He investigates both suspects and the story would provide the reader with accounts and details on both of these investigations. The reader has an idea of who committed the murder after a while, but are still unsure of how the criminal did it.)

Setting: Toronto. A basement washroom in a doctor's office building. Entering the hallway from the stairwell, a narrow white hallway extends 50ft. The walls are stained beige and have multiple smudges of dirt smeared across them. The floor however, is waxed and the tiles reflect the rectangular fluorescent lights with a slight sheen in parts. On one end of this hallway is a janitor's office, and on the other is a set of washrooms. The crime takes place in the men's washroom. It's small, having only a doorknob, two stalls, and one sink, but the walls and floors are clean and a strong scent of Lysol seems to constantly linger in the room.

Crime: A body is found in the basement bathroom. The victim: a private investigator with no apparent physiological problems. There is only one small abrasion on the subjects body, a non lethal cut along his throat. However, a lethal does of morphine is found in his system in the autopsy report. The perplexing part occurs when the police find the apparent criminal stuck in an elevator, the PI's doctor, and beside him a garbage bag containing a pile of garbage, and among it the needle and morphine bottle as well as the incision knife used for the cut. The bag reeks of Lysol, and is damp.

Criminal: Dr. Bishop is cunning, ruthless and an expert involving police discretion. Running a prescription drug trafficking system is no piece of pie, Dr. Bishop knows that the best way to defeat a detective is to blatantly make a mistake to sway their attention to something not as obvious. Private investigator Smallwood was expendable. In fact, he had to go. He had figured the drug operation out, and could prove it, meaning life in prison for the doctor. If it wasn't for the PI's need to gloat of his intuition for suspicion to the doctor, he might still be alive and the operation figured out by the police.

The murder had to be committed to ensure the doctor's freedom, and spontaneously none the less. Not only that, but the doctor had a need to be in plain sight while hiding. Dr.Bishop chooses to test his luck and skill in acting, by framing the office's janitor, an ex violent patient of the psychiatric clinic attached to the back of the building. Dr. Bishop jabs the morphine needle in forcefully and unprofessionally when killing PI Smallwood. He steals a set of keys and a full garbage bag from the janitor's office, and puts the murder weapons inside. Next Dr. Bishop proceeds to prop the murder victim in a stall to avoid being conspicuous until the right moment. He returns to the washroom after noticing the janitor is heading to the basement to take his break. That's when the doctor sprawls the corpse on the bathroom floor, then proceeds to enter the elevator with his bag of murder weapons (needle and morphine container). Halfway up the elevator, he uses the keys to stop the elevator. Then Dr. Bishop continues to dispose of the keys by exiting the top of the elevator and throwing them down the shaft. He has now purposefully trapped himself with the murder weapons. When the police arrive, the Dr. is stranded in the elevator with the murder weapons. He is arrested on the spot. However, he pleads with rookie detective Chase and the police force that he is innocent and has been framed by the janitor who asked the doctor to place the garbage bags with others on the way up, then locked him inside the elevator. The criminal's talents in improvisation and lying are frightening, but fascinating, and make his ability to persuade and deceive others (including the readers) very appropriate for an antagonist in a mystery.

Detective:
Detective Chase is a rookie, assigned to the case. The rookie detective has just lost it all. He was injured in the field, and now the chief of police has forced him to take the detective position. After all, he did achieve the highest scores among the trainees, but refused the offer of the sleuth position. Detective Chase, is met with the two suspects, the janitor and the Doctor. Both suspects claim to be framed by the other and both do not have any apparent motive. Both pass the polygraph tests. The janitor's psychiatric and violent history, as well as the Dr's coincidental presence with the murder weapons of one of his patients create conspicuous aspects to both characters. And even after the court has dismissed the Doctor, declaring him innocent, the rookie detective is faced with the same intuition of suspicion that killed PI Smallwood. He investigates the janitor and doctor in more depth, despite being against the code of conduct regarding closed cases. The Detective's cunning, patient, precise and persistent nature allow him to find clues at the scene of the crime, and in the lives of both suspects. The detective also manages to break the doctor by becoming one of his patients, and making frequent trips to engage in mind games with him.