Writing Mastery Academy<\/a>, and one of the things she mentioned was that every scene should be a mini-version of the beat sheet. I tried to picture this scene between the super and Leon that way, and I think it gave the scene a little more punch. But I’ll let you decide what you think. Here is the first excerpt for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n____________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I waited several minutes before I finally saw the super appear at the top of the stairs leading to the basement. He appeared to have been disturbed right before heading to bed. He was sporting a pair of pajama pants that, as he approached, I saw sported small images of scantily-clad women. He was wearing a white tank top that was working double-time to hold in his excess belly fat, and a pair of brown fuzzy slippers completed the ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna need to see a badge,\u201d he said in a voice that sounded rough, as if he was not used to speaking to other people. I pulled out my badge and held it against the glass, so he could get a good look at it. He pulled out a pen and wrote my badge number on his palm. \u201cSo, how can I help you, Officer Smith?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking for a person involved in a murder case I\u2019m investigating, and I have reason to believe he may be staying in one of your apartments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIzzat so?\u201d He scratched his balding head. \u201cWait a sec. You\u2019re the guy from the paper. Leon. The murdered girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once again, I cursed that article and the officer who conspired with the press to divulge all that information. \u201cYes,\u201d I admitted. \u201cThat is the case I\u2019m working on, and I have reason to believe the person responsible may have been here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be happy to help,\u201d the super said, but his expression gave me the impression he was actually feeling the opposite. \u201cI\u2019ll just need to see your search warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour search warrant. I seen the cop shows. I know how it works. You don\u2019t got a search warrant, I don\u2019t have to let you in. But I\u2019m sure you got one, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still being processed,\u201d I lied, \u201cbut I would really appreciate the opportunity to do some exploratory work to find out exactly which apartment we\u2019ll be needing a search warrant for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMmhmm,\u201d he said, scratching his head again. \u201cI guess you\u2019ll just have to come back when you get that warrant. I don\u2019t like the idea of causing trouble for my tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSir, I\u2019ll be no trouble at all. I just need to find out which apartment this individual is using.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight. So, you\u2019re gonna knock on all the doors, disturb my tenants, in the hopes of finding someone? That sounds like trouble to me. You can come back with a warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seeing as I had not started the process nor planned to, that would be difficult for me to do. I needed to see this apartment before anyone else figured it out. I needed to surprise Jack. An entire police force banging on the door would give him advance warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI appreciate your caution, Mr\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t gotta give you my name neither.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTrue enough.\u201d I decided to try another tack. \u201cBut this is a time-sensitive matter, sir. There is a killer out there killing young girls, girls young enough to be your daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t got a daughter. And I ain\u2019t married.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course he wasn\u2019t. \u201cYou know\u2026\u201d I started, stroking my chin, \u201cI\u2019m sure if you helped me crack this case, you would be in the paper. You\u2019d be just like the hero in one of those cop shows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The corner of his mouth tilted upward and he cocked his head to the side, apparently pondering the idea. Hopefully imagining all the attention he\u2019d get. This appeared to be a man who had been forgotten by the world, and, if my instincts were correct, he would seize any opportunity to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I\u2019d just be the guy who let you in the building. That\u2019s not hero-worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re just not seeing it right. Hero Superintendent Leads Police to Killer\u2019s Den,\u201d I said, spelling out the headline in the air with my hands. I would make sure to let the press know who saved the day. It was none other than\u2026\u201d I waited, holding my breath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGeorge. George Dunleavey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had completed my run of the five second-floor apartments. Only three of the occupants allowed me to take a look through their window, but that was enough to narrow down my search to the three middle apartments on the third floor. The first apartment had housed a lovely, elderly couple who had invited us both in for tea and were more than helpful in allowing me to look out their window. George, while he had been gruff the entire time we had spoken, appeared to be a completely different person when talking to the tenants. He knew each of them by name, and they all appeared to love him. I had to admit I was somewhat surprised by this apparent contradiction. But not overly surprised. That was another thing I have learned in my long life. People will never cease to surprise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I knocked on the second door, but there was no response. \u201cWho lives here?\u201d I asked George. I had already seen he seemed to know each and every person in this building personally, and so I was surprised when he frowned in puzzlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a strange guy. Been here for years. Never calls me for assistance. I seen him maybe once or twice in all this time. Pays cash up front for the whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried to contain my excitement. That did indeed sound like a strange guy. Maybe my guy. \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHmph. It\u2019s on the tip of my brain. Kinda hard to remember having only talked to him a couple times. Never even see him for rent time. Just a fat envelope with cash beginning of every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan you let me into the apartment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI dunno, man. Letting you in the building is one thing, but on someone\u2019s private property? That\u2019s a whole other thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat if you open the door, and I just look? I won\u2019t step inside the apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He chewed on his lower lip and looked off to the right, probably reviewing his knowledge of cop shows for some idea how to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGeorge,\u201d I continued, \u201cyou said yourself, this is a strange guy. If he is the murdering type, do you really want him in this building? Especially right next to that lovely couple next door?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That apparently pushed the right buttons with him. He looked down at his ring of keys, fumbled with a few, and finally found the right one. \u201cYou\u2019re staying in the hallway, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He opened the door and stepped back, giving me a full view into the apartment. I immediately knew this was the right place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve now written for seven days straight! That’s the longest streak I’ve had for a while. Hoping I can keep it up even after this month is over. I’ve written another 1,106 words, pushing me over 12k and still ahead of the curve, but not by much. I’m hoping to have another two sessions at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":962,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions\/962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jacksontejada.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}