Detective Jeremy Jenkins had spent forty years solving some
of the police department's most difficult cases, but the company forced him to
retire. He probably would have had ten more good years if it wasn't for the car
accident that left him paralyzed. The sixty-seven-year-old man now lived in a
three-room apartment with his companion, Chumpy, his pet monkey.
Some say that old J. Jenks, a name his coworkers gave him,
had gone a little crazy. He stayed cooped up in that small apartment with a monkey. But J. Jenks continued to work cases from his apartment window.
"That wraps up
the case of Lady in Yellow. She is not cheating on the gentlemen in 425. I've
discovered the other gentleman caller is her brother." Jeremy closed his
tattered old briefcase, rubbing his thumb across the gold engraving of his
initials J.J. just like he had done when closing a case years ago.
"Chumpy, it's time to find a new case." Jeremy wheeled over to the
window and watched the apartment building across the street.
"Chumpy, my
binoculars!" He snapped his fingers.
Chumpy leaped over to
Jeremy with what he demanded and perched on Jeremy's shoulder. "You see
that boy? That man just threw a mysterious package in the dumpster. I think I
found our next case: The Dumpster Delinquent. It may have been drugs."
Startled by the
microwave beeping, Jeremy dropped his binoculars. "Chumpy, my pasta
dinner," He ordered, snapping his fingers. Chumpy rushed to the microwave,
retrieved the bowl of pasta, and took it to Jeremy.
As Jeremy ate, he
watched the alley to see if anyone came to pick up the package, but no one
showed. The trash truck came and emptied the dumpster. "Another case
closed, Chumpy. The package was ordinary trash."
Jeremy jotted a few notes and closed his briefcase. He
stared out the window. Tears filled his old, tired eyes. "I was one of the
best back in the day," he muttered.
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