The Case Of The Candlestick

It was 2:05am, and Jack Ellison was on his way to work. As the soft, monotonous hum of his black sheen ’67 Chevrolet Impala threatened to send him back to sleep, a thought drifted through his mind. Why the hell did he take this damn job if he could barely keep his eyes open anymore? His hand moved to the dial on the radio with the hope that there would be something on to wake him up, but he stopped himself. It wasn’t worth listening to the crap they played at 2am when they thought no one was listening. He had taken his fair share of early morning cases learning that fact the hard way. Besides, he would arrive soon. Thank God this one’s close he thought with a sigh, and pulled off of the interstate highway a few exits later.

He watched the large manor house loom ever closer as he coaxed his car down a bumpy dirt track, and pulled the Impala into an empty space beside the coroner’s van, cut the engine and took a mental note that there were less police vehicles here than usual. Stepping out of the car and swinging the door closed, he adjusted his tie and buttoned up his suit jacket, before searching the pocket inside for his badge. As Jack approached what looked like very heavy oak doors that provided entrance to the house, spying his partner’s car in the process, the cop standing guard held out his hand for his badge but Jack was already two steps ahead. Badge in hand he showed it to the policeman, officially declaring him as a federal agent, and stepped through the doorway into the elaborately decorated grand entrance hall full of objects of value and crystal chandeliers suspended from high ceilings. The first thing he noticed about this place was that it smelled different. He had been in his fair share of stately homes and grand hotels in his life but they all smelled musty, of years of fragranced customers stepping over the threshold, of leather books and tea-stained pages. This place smelled almost medicinal, like someone had just sprinkled herbs around or sprayed an exotic perfume. It wasn’t that bad, really, just hard to place.