Homicide on dispatch: a work of serial fiction
Previously: Detectives Hudson and Reed have been investigating the death of one Roger Wright. Wright was 47 years old, with a wife and kids asleep at home and what looked like a very happy life—from the outside. The crime scene showed signs of a hit-and-run, but soon the detectives began questioning witnesses, exploring all other possibilities. The detectives searched the apartment above and learned that there was more to the murder than met the eye.
The victim was having an affair with one Mrs. Baker. Baker lived in the apartment above the street where Wright’s body was found, and an open window suggested that Wright could very well have been thrown out. Finding out who did it and why were top priorities on the detectives’ list.
As more clues arose, they found themselves tracking down the vehicle that struck and killed Wright, taking clues from eyewitnesses across the street.
When Hudson and Reed arrived at the home of the vehicle’s owner, one Mr. Bennings, in the early hours of the morning, the suspect quickly drove off to evade them. The detectives were soon to give chase, and through the streets of San Francisco, the two cars raced off at breakneck speeds…
The early morning mist of a San Francisco August covered the streets, and the dew glistened by the street lights. There were fewer cars on the road than in the previous hour, and most people, even the night owls, were finding rest wherever they happened to be.
It was very quiet, but there was a low hum like a bee that seemed to be growing louder and was soon joined by another hum, shortly behind.
Over a hill came the roar of a motor and lights scanning the sky and then rapidly falling toward the street and down the hill.
The red Plymouth had a lead on Hudson’s Nash, but not by much. The Nash soared over the hill, and both cars seemed to bounce as their shocks painfully absorbed the blows.
Mr. Bennings was a very experienced driver and drifted left onto another street, with Reed and Hudson in hot pursuit.
“Get on ‘em, Reed. Get on ‘em!” yelled Hudson.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m on him!”
The sirens were shooting all variants of light and sound as the chase continued, turning down side streets and charging over San Francisco’s famous hills.
Hubcaps rolled off after almost every turn, but Bennings couldn’t shake the detectives.
In a desperate and risky move, he decided to fake a left turn but go right instead to try and throw off Hudson and Reed.
The left turn was a successful fake, but as he made the right, the heavy Plymouth rolled over like a harpooned shark.
The vehicle rolled straight down the left sidewalk and cleared off two mail boxes, a bench and several billboards, before coming to rest on its side against a sturdy light pole. Reed screeched to a stop near the car.
Both detectives feared the worst for their suspect …
To be continued …