A British Mystery

Greetings dear reader!
Today is *gasp* the last and final day of Summer.
And on this final day of a very very busy summer, I bring you a little excerpt of a little Murder Mystery I came up with many moons ago...(in June, 2014)
I have put up a blurb of it on my Short Stories page, but shall give a few more details here in this post.
It is titled The Murder of Mr. E. J. Hampton. (Not sure if I'll keep the title, but that's the original one.)

Here is a snippet from the story itself:
(Bear in mind, this is an original scene with barely any editing done...so please excuse any errors!)

Six o’clock the next morning found Captain Windsor sitting on the front steps of the police station.
He sat impatiently; tapping his fingers on the porch. “Does every police officer in this city sleep in? Where is everyone?”
He yanked his pocket watch out of his vest and looked at it fiercely; attempting to read it in the pale light descending from the street lamps.
“Where is Cobbs?”
Right then, Constable O’Halahan appeared, keys in hand to open the doors.
He stopped short when he spotted the detective.
“Why, detective Windsor, a good mornin’ to ya! What brings you here so early?”
Windsor stood up and rubbed his gloved hands together. “It’s about time you got here.”
Ryan fumbled with the keys. “You must be freezing.”
“Very nearly.”
They both stepped into the cold entryway of the station.
Ryan hung his kelly green scarf on a hat hanger, and hurried over to a cast iron pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room. “I’ll have a fire roarin’ soon, Detective; sit tight.”
Captain Windsor pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders as he sank into the chair behind his desk, suddenly becoming aware of how cold he actually was.
Looking out the  dark window, he spied tiny speckles of jack frost at the corners of the windowpane, and shivered.
“Do you need any help with that fire, O’Halahan? Perhaps more wood?”
Ryan looked up from his squatted down position beside the stove. “Thank you kindly detective, but I’ll manage.”
Right then, Mr. Cobbs appeared in the doorway.
O’Halahan flashed a bright smile of greeting in his direction. “Top of the morning to you, Mr. Cobbs!”
Cobbs nodded at the young man. “A very good morning to you as well, Ryan. My, but it is cold out this morning!”
Captain Windsor stood and shuffled over to the fireplace. “Coldest I’ve seen all season.”
Henry looked up in surprise. “Captain! I didn’t see you there. You’re early...”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Ryan clicked the door of the stove shut, and clasped his hands together. “That’s done. It will be warmer than July in here in no time at all!”
Mr. Cobbs held his pudgy hands close to the stovetop. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Windsor coughed, and shrugged out of his thick wool coat. “Henry, did you happen to catch the name of the Hampton family doctor?”
“No sir, I’m afraid I didn’t.”
“Well we need to find out, blast it! I’ve been up since four this morning, pacing the floor until the sun rose!”
Ryan looked out the dark window. “But detective, the sun is still below the horizon...”
Windsor stopped short. “So it is...But that is merely a small technicality! Cobbs, we must go to the Hampton residence immediately and find out who the doctor is.”
Henry reached for the coat he had just taken off. “Do you suppose they’re even awake yet?”
The detective shook his head. “They had better be. But Miss Hampton is most likely leaving for her relatives this morning. I don’t want to miss her!”


I hope to write a few more stories with these characters, and put them together in a collection of sorts, and publish them all at once in one volume.

~ What do you think? ~
~ Do you like mysteries? ~
~ Who is your favorite character, of the three you've met in the snippet? ~

Happy last day of Summer!

God bless!

Megan