Awarded 1st Distinction. Short Story and Poetry Competition 2010

Mr. Bloom`s crime

The events I´m going to narrate took place on April 9th, when Mr Bloom died.
At first, everybody thought it had been an accident. Mr Bloom was crossing a quiet street, while he was looking at a black and sick dog, which could hardly walk. What is difficult to understand is that a car would appear in the middle of that quiet and narrow street, out of nowhere, and kill this tall man, without seeing him at all. And what is worse, the driver had escaped without helping Mr Bloom. Mr Bloom was found an hour later, lying on the dark street, with the dog lying beside him.
I volunteered to take the case, and I had a hunch the dog could help me because of the amazing way in which our eyes made contact. I decided to work hard to discover the truth, and I really thought, from the very beginning, that it hadn’t been an accident.
I began to ask questions about Mr Bloom’s life. He was a forty-year-old teacher at Saint Patrick’s School. His pupils were very sad about his death, as well as the teachers and the headmaster. I also learnt Michael Bloom was in love with a nice woman ten years younger than him, who was called Sarah. Surprisingly, Sarah wasn’t as sad as the pupils and the teachers were.
One day, I was walking with the black dog, not so near the place where Mr Bloom had died, a breeze of cool wind blew my hair, and a warm smell of colitas was rising up through the air, when a car appeared beside us. The dog felt very nervous and began barking uncontrollably. I paid attention to the driver and took its number plate.
I managed to find out the name of the owner of the vehicle. I was surprised to see the same surname, Bloom but a different name, Alex. I could verify later he was Mr Michael Bloom’s brother. Alex Bloom, a handsome man, thirty five years old, lived very far from his brother’s house. Alex had been absent during Mr Bloom’s funeral.
I couldn’t help wondering why the dog had been so nervous. I had always believed that dogs had a very peculiar instinct. Could have Mr Alex Bloom killed his brother? I had to speak to Alex Bloom. I had to know more about the relationship between the two brothers and I couldn’t forget about Sarah. She wasn’t sad. Did she really love Michael Bloom? When she gave her statement she said that they had been planning their wedding. She had been living in Mr Bloom’s house for the last two years. She also said that Mr Bloom had left all his money and property to her, because he didn’t have any relatives.
Alex Bloom was staying at The Blue Hotel, room 227. The receptionist told me that Mr Bloom had left an hour before. ‘Do you know where Alex Bloom is right now?’ I asked her while I showed her my badge. She told me he had taken a taxi to the Chase Manhattan’s Bank.
Exactly at that moment, Alex Bloom was entering the hotel, with a suitcase in his right hand and embracing Sarah with his left arm. Both of them were laughing, and Sarah’s face really showed love and happiness.
At that moment, I realized that Mr Bloom’s death had been planned; they had committed a cold-blooded murder. His own brother had planned that terrible ending for Mr Bloom’s life with his girlfriend’s help, who couldn’t pretend to be sad during Michael’s funeral, as she also couldn’t hide her love and happiness at that moment.
I decided to call two police officers, and the moment they arrived, we went to room 227 and arrested the couple for the murder of Mr. Michael Bloom. The money they had withdrawn from the bank was the payment for his life insurance.
The Bank’s evidence, the car, the absence of Alex at the funeral, and most of all Sarah’s contradictions and hesitations during her cross-examination were enough to solve the crime. Both of them were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in the first degree. Their illusion to spend a life together had been rightfully shattered.


Pen name: Richard Bachman
Category C