‘The Sands of Love.’ Sy pulled on one glove then the other, his fingers resembling over-stuffed sausages, straining against the latex.
‘What was that?’
‘Her first film role. Nineteen fifty three. Blink and you’d miss her.’
Francie looked down at her paperwork. ‘Never seen it.’
‘Not missing much. Gangster B movie. But she had glamour. Stood out, you know?’
Francie scribbled her signature at the bottom of the form before looking up.
Soap scum floated on the bath water, strands of long grey hair looped on the enamel. A crumpled square if tin foil – grubby brown shining at its centre – lay by the taps. One of the officers had found a teaspoon and a lighter in the bottom of the bath wedged under the body. She must have wriggled some as she died.
‘Doesn’t look too glamorous now. Okay, Sy. You can move her.’
Written for Stephanie at Word Adventures’ #tuesdayuseitinasentence. See here to join in and to read the other stories.
Word Shamble 
Not a glamorous end for sure
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Nope, you’re right 🙂 Thanks Stephanie
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Oh, well done, Lynn! I was a little confused at first, but I think that was intentional; on second read, it’s just perfection.
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Ah, thank you Joy. Yes, I wondered if I’d made the whole too brief, whether it needed a little more detail to make it clear what was happening? But I wanted the reader to imagine they were just making idle conversation about the actress before the reveal of the corpse in the bath. A tricky balance sometimes, isn’t it? Thanks for reading 🙂
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I always wonder the same thing, but yes, I think the deception worked in this case.
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Thank you, Joy. I’m glad you thought so 🙂
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What a teaser, Lynn, albeit rather sombre. Your usual high standard.
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Thank you, Chris. Strange how I keep being drawn to crime fiction, having hardly read or written any before! Thank you for reading 🙂
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Lynn, you are the champion of the dramatic tableau!
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Ah, thank you so much, Penny! That’s a lovely thing to say. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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