District of Columbia Chief Detective Comagee trudged into his temporary NYC office on January 6th. Little Christmas to some. There was one last stocking stuffer for him to unwrap to close out the holiday season. A fresh case waiting for… Continue Reading
I heard footsteps come into the house. Then, silence. As young girls, after we helped plant vegetables in the garden, my older sister Ammara and I would fill our straw baskets with mangoes and climb to a high place on… Continue Reading
The warder and the priest come before dawn to rouse me from shivering non-sleep. Heads shaved, barefoot, we are pushed from the gaol into the shadow of the cathedral. My fellow murderers are both men. The thin grey one rubs… Continue Reading
I was a good girl today. Really good. Probably better than any eleven-year-old you’ll ever see. It started in the morning when I got out of bed without my mom even having to wake me up. It’s not hard, I… Continue Reading
Fuck the ugly dog. That’s what he said as they were taking him away. Somebody shouted to him as the police were leading him away, “Hey, Joe, what do we do with the Boy?” and he just leaned back over… Continue Reading
Melvin Fernsby buried his hands in his overcoat as he approached the one-room unit at the end of the cramped hallway. The thin carpet tried in vain to swallow noise from neighboring apartments: televisions squawking baseball games, infants crying, people… Continue Reading
Orange light beamed across my eyes through a gap in the vertical blinds where my cat had yanked out one of the vinyl strips weeks or months earlier. I was coaxed awake in the otherwise dark room by the familiar… Continue Reading
Todd Benway is out in his backyard, assembling the swing set he and his wife bought for their daughter Lexy’s birthday. Todd’s wife, Angela, is by the patio weeding her rose garden. They exchange a smile and a wave. Lexy,… Continue Reading
Summer days dozens of boys jumped off the train bridge. Their skin was pale at the beginning of summer, deep gold by the end. They shouted, laughed, shoving each other, horsing around, hurling insults and challenges. When a train came,… Continue Reading
“Are you sure it’s the defence you want to go with?” her colleagues asked her. Nina leaned against her desk, chewing on that mangled pencil that always calmed her nerves before a big case. “I think so.” “When has that… Continue Reading