Detective Story

1. Choose a time period and locale:
The setting of any story is crucial to the plot. It has to mesh well with the plot and character. The only way for everything to make sense is to make sure everything fits well with the setting. For example you can't have a suspenseful story set in a playground with 4 year old children. My detective story would be set someplace that I know very well and know the type of people very well; what better place than a supermarket, considering I do work in the office of one.

2. Develop a detective:
A detective must be inquisitive, observant, intelligent and on their toes. The detective I have chosen for my short story is a retired police officer. Now that she has retired, she has a great deal of free time on her hands and has decided to get a part time job at the local supermarket as security and doing odds and ends every now and then. She is everything you can imagine a detective to be and more; bold, fearless, observant, a bit rude, and snoopy. Doreen Faherty is the ultimate retired police officer turned supermarket detective.

3. Outline the crime:
You must be wondering, what can possibly happen in a supermarket that requires intense detective work. Well all supermarkets close at night, but, the lights remain on all night for the overnight crew. However, there is an alarm so there is a boundary that you can not cross or else the alarm will go off and alert the police. It seems that the ones who have committed this crime knew a great deal about the story because when the manager arrived at 6am like every morning, he noticed something horrible, the computers and scanners were missing!

4. Include some clues:
The logical and probably first thing you think of is of course it had to have been an inside job. Who could possibly know where not to step to set off the alarm, or get by the overnight crew unless it was the overnight crew. The problem is the overnight crew was off the night before so there was no way of them getting into the store after closing. Doreen, being the detective that she knew she could be noticed the clues. The tools nd gloves left behind that were used to disable the computers and scanners were those provided to employees who worked in stock. They could have been anywhere but Doreen knew any other thieves would have brought their own and only amateurs leave something like that behind. Doreen continued to investigate and also found opened items left in the back stock room. Before the supermarket completely closes they empty out the stock room but it seemed that someone stayed after closing or arrived after closing and added items into the back after eating them. Another important clue Doreen found was the thieves did not even conceal the cameras located around the store. This must mean the criminals knew about the store considering only the employees knew the cameras didn't work.

5. Identify the MMO:
The motive, method and opportunity for this crime to have been done are simple. The fact that the employees worked at the store gave them enough of an opportunity and method to do it. They knew everything that needed to be known. The motive for this was also simple. These 3 young men were getting paid minimum wage and doing more than one job. Being that they were bitter they felt the need to seek revenge on their "slave" boss and demanding manager.

6. Identify the alibis of the suspects:
Considering the suspects is everyone and anyone who knows about the store, it was very critical to get an alibi for everyone. However, because the crime occurred overnight it was difficult to believe everyone. The young, new and cashier employees were ruled out first. They did not know about the cameras nor would they be able to carry out 10 scanners and computers. Doreen also ruled out the department managers, bookkeepers and those working for a long time. They wouldn't possibly do that to the store they had been working at for years. So those left are the stock employees and the overnight crew. When Doreen asked the 3 overnight employees where they were the night before it hit her as odd when they all claimed to be at the same place at the same time. Even their details were exact.

7. Provide a climax:
A climax of a story must tie all the events together. In order to achieve this dramatic event Doreen would have found the 3 overnight employees eating the same items she found that morning in the stock room. She confronted them asking them if they enjoyed these items very much. One of the three, stupidly replied that he hadn't tasted the items since the night before (the night they were supposed to be off from work and the computers went missing). Doreen knew right then and there they were indeed the culprits.

8. Write your denouement:
Doreen revealed to the managers what she found out in one day of snooping around. Everyone was extremely grateful, except of course the 3 overnight employees. When they were forced to reveal where the computers were, everyone was shocked to find out that they couldn't even carry out all 10 computers at once and had given up in the middle of their task. They hid the rest above the stock room, in the small area before reaching the roof.

9. Summarize with a short conclusion:
To conclude my story, Doreen was seen as a hero to all and the rest of the employees knew that no one would be able to get away with anything anymore. Not only did the police department praised her but no one called her a snoop again!