Santa Monica

John has been living in Santa Monica all his life. His mom and dad moved there years before he was born to start a small business on the famous Santa Monica Pier. John had not planned on still being in Santa Monica when he turned thirty-five. But, nonetheless, he was still there. After he finished high school, he still had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He knew he did not want to still be in Santa Monica, but sometimes life will feed you other challenges, or opportunities, that will keep you in a place you did not intend to be.

After John’s father died, he took over the store. Renting bicycles to visitors from all over the world turned out to be more fun than he had originally thought. It was easy work and good money. Besides, his mother now needed

him more than ever after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Being the only child was now starting to catch up with him. And having no spouse was also taking a toll on his well-being. But John was way too busy with the shop and his mother to even try to have a relationship. The last thing on his mind was finding a girlfriend. But, as I said earlier, life can feed you unexpected opportunities that can change your life. It is what you do with that opportunity that defines what your future will be like.

One day while at the store, John heard a voice that made him stop what he was doing. It was a woman’s voice: Soft, sweet, and smooth. John had heard thousands of voices, but this one was different. It felt calming and gave him goosebumps. He felt an overwhelming sense of serenity when he heard her voice.

John approached her. “Hi, welcome to my store,” he said, realizing his voice just cracked like a nervous teenager. “Can I help you find something?”

The young lady turned her head towards John. She gave him a smile that he would never forget. “Hi. Thank you, but not right now. We’re just looking.”

John had been so infatuated with the lady’s voice that he did not notice the man she had walked in with. “Okay. Well, my name is John. I’m the owner. If there is anything I can do, please let me know.”

“Thank you, John,” she replied. John turned away and returned to his workbench. The lady asked her companion to wait outside for a moment and then walked over to the workbench John was working at.

“John?” He looked up. He could not believe that she was more beautiful than the first time he saw her. “My brother and I are planning a bike tour of Santa Monica with a group of underprivileged children. We were just wondering if you had enough bicycles.”

John felt relieved the man was only her brother. “Yes. What I have here is only part of my inventory. Just tell me how many bicycles you will need, and I can make sure they are here and ready for you.”

She gave John a big smile. “Oh, thank you, John. My name is Laci. Here’s my contact information. I’ll be in touch with you soon.” Laci turned and walked away.

Your turn. Finish the story:

Malibu

Cliffside Drive in Malibu is full of wealthy people that live in luxury homes on the beach. They enjoy watching the sunsets, the whales swim by and the occasional all beach volleyball tournaments. One thing that most of the residents do not enjoy is a murder. Of course, you have a few people that do not mind a murder, as long as it did not happen to them. But the higher percentage would rather just not have it happen on their block.

A Malibu Police patrol sergeant was the first on the scene. His initial description of the scene was that it appeared to be very well planned and thought out homicide. The scene was clean and left extraordinarily little evidence. The Sergeant knew that he would probably have to leave it up to the homicide detectives to do their thing to solve this case.

There were several things to this case that left the Sergeant scratching his head. First, the victim was a well-known banker that lived on the other side of Malibu on Paseo Serra –a small cul-de-sac in the hills on the east side. Why he was on the kitchen floor of this home was, in itself, a mystery. The home had been on the market and had been listed for sale for over six months.

Second, there was no sign of any forced entry. All the doors were still locked. No windows broken or forced opened. So, how did he even get inside the home.

Also, the sergeant noticed that there was no smell of a dead body. If the body had been laying there for any amount of time, you would think there would be some odor lingering throughout. But there was not.

The realtor who was showing the house to a perspective couple was the one to find the body. When they walked into the kitchen, they saw the body lying on the floor. They thought it was just some man sleeping on the floor. But only later, after they tried to wake him up, they found out that he was dead. That is what made this so unusual. No smell of a dead body; No sign of trauma; No blood; No mess. And worse yet, little, if any, evidence.

Your turn. Finish the story: