The Missing Captain

Mayor Writon buried his head in his hands, “Why,” he moaned, “why Bardstown, and more specifically, WHY did they let Novelius Dreadman OUT of the Shady Characters Institute for the Criminally Insane,” he roared as his face flushed crimson.

“With all due respect sir, the Shady Characters Institue didn’t exactly let him out- he escaped; not to mention, the Institution is lacking in-“

“No, lack of funds is not an excuse Fife,” Mayor Writon snapped, “last year my wife went missing; now, you’re telling me that Captain O’Leary’s gone as well,” he paced his office, “this is NOT good- if the townspeople find out, they’ll lose their faith in me as a mayor and I’ll be out of office!”

Detective Hall sighed, “Well, your people have already told Fife everything they know about O’Leary, so why don’t you have a good think and tell me- was O’Leary acting strange lately?”

Writon sighed, “I’ve also told Fife everything, Hall- nothing out of the ordinary, though have you checked his financials? That seems like something most cops do on those TV shows.”

It was Hall’s turn to flush crimson as he muttered an excuse and hurried out of the mayor’s office to place a phone call.

***

“Mayor Writon’s office, how may I- oh, hi, Detective Hall, yes, I will- wait, don’t you have the mayor’s extension,” Miss Penn, the Mayor’s secretary inquired as she transferred the detective to her boss.
She held her breath and listened in as the two men quarreled over O’Leary’s disappearance: “what do you mean, he has overseas accounts nobody’s found until now; YOUR DEPARTMENT IS FULL OF DIMWITS!” Writon raged into the phone.

“So for all we know, he might be involved in some sketchy, smuggling, trafficking ring and nobody thought the wiser of him,” a thud resounded through the Town Hall, and the mayor’s office turned silent.

Miss Penn knocked, “Mr. Mayor- is everything okay in there?”

“Hunky-dory,” the door flung open, “no, everything is most certainly not alright,” the mayor fumed, “my beloved wife disappeared at this same time last year, and now Captain O’Leary’s gone AWOL- how could anything be 'alright;' it’s like the Founders’ Birthday celebration is cursed or something,” he muttered.

“My-my, apologies, sir, I didn’t mean to-“

“FIFE,” Writon thundered, interrupting his secretary, “What do you want, now?”

Detective Fife stepped into the mayor’s office and gingerly closed the door before producing a note, grimacing as Writon skimmed the paper.

Writon's heart skipped as he read the note- the paper soon fluttered to the ground as his unconscious body followed suit.

"I had a bad feeling about this," Fife murmured, shaking his head.


18 sentences, 451 words
Written for "The Bard's Hall Contest"  September 2018