C.: I’ll let my mind wander while I wait for d.c. to answer the phone. I need the rest of that manuscript, or I’ll never get more than sixteen hours of sleep today!
“What is the strangest word in the English language? I think it’s forty-four, how ever much that is. Why aren’t both parts of the word spelled the same, if it’s the same number twice? And what about the number fourteen? Why is there a “u” in that number, but not in forty?”(ring) Oh, hi, d.c. Did you go to work today?
d.: I did work, but not at The Kennel. I was rewriting part of my manuscript. As I’ve said before, “Writing is rewriting,” to quote my favorite author, Earnest Hemingway. I also quoted another famous author at the beginning of this manuscript.
C.: Was it the guy who wrote THE MARTIAN?
d.: No, Cal.E., my manuscript has very little profanity in it. I only used it when it fit the narrative or made a point stronger, not for shock value. I must give Andy Weir credit, though. He printed that book in his blog piece by piece. Three years later, he had a book deal.
C.: That’s good, because I really want to read some more of your manuscript. If it’s made into a book, that would make it easier. Maybe I’ll read that other book you just mentioned when I’m done with your manuscript.
I read what you sent me of your manuscript in the last two days, but I want to read more. I may read slowly, but what I read I remember. Now, what was your book about again?
d.: Well, I know I gave you what I proposed to be the beginning, but I rewrote that part of the book. As I told you a long time ago, I write the end of my books first, then go back to the beginning. That way, I know what direction the book will take.
I tell you what, Cal.E., over the next five days I’ll put what are now the first five chapters of THE MAGRUDER MYSTERIES MURDER 8: THE INERT INGREDIENT in this blog. That way, you can read the first part of the manuscript as many times as you would like.
THE MAGRUDER MYSTERIES MURDER 8: THE INERT INGREDIENT
CHAPTER ONE: THE POLITICIANS
'Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George Orwell
Orchard, Texas; May 25, 2035; Dandridge Ranch; 2300 hours:
Taylor settled into his hiding spot in one of the few strands of trees left in the Greater Houston, Texas area. He cleaned the blood off his trench knife and then pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed the number of his cleaner. He was a fastidious person, and dead bodies make such a mess.
Taylor then turned his attention to the illuminated scope on his sniper rifle that was trained on his opponent’s window, waiting for the right opportunity to influence his chief rival to concede.
***
“Either I’m becoming a paranoid schizophrenic from the stress this presidential campaign is causing me, or someone really is following me; or both. I thought that I would shake the paparazzi by coming here, but I guess I didn’t. That light in the distance looks like I’m being watched, and I dismissed my security detail for the night. I thought that I’d be safe out here.
“I wonder who could be watching me this far into the country? I hope it’s just the media, and not someone who wants me off the campaign trail. I’ve already had my life threatened more than once if I didn’t quit, and I’m not armed or protected right now.
“Since I’m wide awake, I might as well watch the ten o’clock news. The way my schedule has been lately, I won’t be able to fall asleep anyway. Especially not since I’m worrying about that distant light. Hmm… it’s my least favorite person in the world, that political commentator, what was his name?”
Hi, I’m Ben McLemore, with an update on the presidential election campaign. It appears that the acting governor and former Attorney General of Texas is conceding the presidential election. Even though his opponent is only two percentage points ahead of him in the race according to most popular polls, Mark Joliet has disappeared. He claims to be going to the funeral of a close friend in the small Southeast Texas town of Orchard, but I suspect that he’s waving the white flag. Josh McCafferty is one of the most powerful politicians in the country already, and he now wants to be the most powerful person in the United States, if not the world. He’s a hard man to compete with, so this reporter believes that he may run unopposed in the next presidential election; if Mark Joliet has, indeed, given up. Common sense says that he has.
This has been political expert Ben McLemore, with one man’s (correct) opinion.
“Well, I’ll never sleep now. The funeral is tomorrow, and I’m supposed to give part of the eulogy. (ding) Why is my phone dinging? Oh, Jay just sent me an email with a long attachment. How would he be able to do that? Oh, I see, it’s from Alicia. She must have used Jay’s email address. My phone wouldn’t let an unrecognized email address through, so she sent it via one that would get through to me.
“Alicia says that she and I are the only two people on the face of the earth who can open this attachment. That’s what my old buddy from our FBI days would have wanted, I guess. Jay had a lot of secrets, but he trusted his oldest child, and me, apparently. Maybe this long attachment to this email will help me get some sleep if I read it. It is a little long, but what the hell. I won’t sleep anyway with that political commentator and the distant light on my mind. My sleep schedule is so messed up, I won’t sleep well, anyway; not in a strange bed.
“Why is Jay referring to himself in the third person? That isn’t his usual style of writing. This must be his ghostwriter. He must have trusted three people with this story. I don’t know all the details of it, but I hope this guy fills in the blanks for me.
My name is d.c. scot, and this is the confession of former police detective James David Magruder, stating how he helped kill someone in cold blood…