Co-Winners Selected for Magna Cum Murder Sisters in Crime Flash Fiction Contest

Ted Hertel and Marian Allen were co-winners of the Annual Speed City Sisters in Crime Flash Fiction contest at Magna Cum Murder in Indianapolis. The theme for the contest was “Merry Christmas Music.”

Marian’s co-winning entry was “Sing a Song of Murder.”  Ted’s co-winning entry was “Slay Bells Ring.”  Both winning entries are set out below. Ted and Marian both won memberships in the Speed City Chapter of Sisters in Crime.

Sing a Song of Murder

By Marion Allen

“We don’t get many murders around here” the sheriff complained.  “None that are mysteries, anyway.”

His sister, barista at the coffee shop, handed him a jumbo cup of black-two-sugars.

“How is this a mystery?”

He used the cup to point to the scene.  “One set of footprints in the snow. Paul’s corpse at the end. Bloody tire iron beside it.”

“Saul never got over Paul’s being five minutes older.”

“And he’d be my first choice. But how?”

She reached up and patted his shoulder. “You’d have got it, eventually.”

He squinted at her over the rim of his cup, steam fogging his glasses. “Okay, what?”

She put a hand to her ear and pointed to the library clock as it chimed a carol.

“Last verse, first line,” she said.  “Twins.”

The clock began another verse of Good King Wenceslas and the siblings sang, “In his master’s step he trod.”

Slay Bells Ring

By Ted Hertel

Blinky, Santa’s favorite elf, lay on a carpet of red at the base of the tall Christmas tree.  Standing over him the fat man in  red held a gun. “Here comes Santa Claus” played over the loudspeakers.

“Shut that off,” Santa growled. “Play something somber.”

“Silent Night” immediately filled the glass dome covering the workshop. On this holiest of nights, the moon shone through, hitting Santa in the eye like a big pizza pie, as the song goes.

The other elves stood around, sobbing. Mikey, Winky, Janey, Morey and Bob, all heads of different departments, professed their love for Binky, sorrowful at his loss.

Santa looked around. “Who did this?” he asked. No one responded, but Santa knew each had a grudge against Blinky, no matter how they protested.

Finally, Santa pointed at the elf he knew was the killer. The others stood back in shock. “How did you know it was him?”

“It was easy,” Santa said.

“Where the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s a Morey.”