Halloween in Downtown

Halloween was less than 8 hours away and the cool, whistling wind was sprinkling brown and orange leaves across the lower area of Houston’s heart, downtown. Halloween was a very big deal for the Smith family, especially for the young children desperate for a full sack of chocolate. With Halloween right around the corner, Mrs. Smith set out for the grocery store to buy some candy to hand out to all the young boys and girls dressed up in their favorite superheroes and princess costumes.

Mrs. Smith pulled out of her driveway and headed to the store in a state of jubilation. Just a few miles away from her house, she noticed a black truck tailgating her, so she brake-checked the truck out of resentment. The man driving the black truck pounded on his horn and continued to tailgate her. As Mrs. Smith pulled into the store parking lot a few miles down the road, she saw the black truck pull into the lot behind her and park a few spots down from her. Not thinking much about it, she got out of her car and walked towards the store entrance.

As Mrs. Smith turned back to double check she locked her car, she noticed a large guy dressed in all black with a ski mask on getting out of the black truck she brake checked a few miles back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large, silver pistol. Before Mrs. Smith could run for cover, she got riddled with bullets and there she lay, dead in the doorway of the store.

Instant chaos erupted in the store and the guy in the black truck drove off without being seen. Hundreds of calls flooded 911 as bystanders fled out of the store to their cars to avoid danger. As emergency services scuried into the parking lot, so did Mr. Smith. He had seen the news story pop up on his TV and immediately recognized his wife as the deceased lady. 

As Mr. Smith mourned the death of his loved one in his car, an old man wearing dress pants and a polo with the words “HOMICIDE” on his upper chest knocked on his window. The detective requested he come down to headquarters to answer some basic questions; he agreed of course. As Mr. Smith sat in the interview room, still abstracted, he thought to himself, “why would anyone want to kill my wife?” 

After what seemed like hours, the old detective shuffled his old self into the room and started asking questions. “Did your wife have problems with anybody?” Mr. Smith replied “no.” “Do you know why your wife was killed?” Mr. Smith replied ”no.” “Do you know who killed your wife?” Mr. Smith replied ”no.” 

The detective wrapped up the interview and gave Mr. Smith his business card just in case he needed to contact him. Mr. Smith cried on the way home, thinking of how he was gonna tell his little boy and girl their mommy was never coming back home. The detective was headed back to the grocery store to ask bystanders if they had any information on the murder. After an hour of walking around talking to strangers, the detective had no new leads on his case. By this time, the news crew had arrived and asked to get a statement from the detective. The detective stated, “if you have information on this murder, I ask that you please contact the Houston Police.”

As the detective walked to his office the next day, he was met with a tip from the news story. The information on the tip included: his name was Brady, resident of River Oaks, and he drives a black Ford F-150. The detective was confident this was his guy as he headed to the store to view video surveillance of the murder. The cameras caught a black F-150 drive into the store with a license plate reading “BWILL8.” Joyfully, the detective walked to his car more confident than ever he had just cracked his case wide open.

When the detective ran the plate on his computer, the line “Brady Will, actively wanted for burglary” popped up on his screen. All the information given in the tip matched up and the detective believed he had enough evidence to get a warrant for Brady. The next day, the warrant was approved and the SWAT team was en route to Brady’s latest address. When they arrived, Brady was sitting on his porch smoking. The team arrested him and transported him down to headquarters for questioning.

When it was time for the detective to question the suspect, he shuffled his old body into the interview room and sat down. The detective asked Brady, “why did you do it?” Brady tried to explain, but all that he spoke was prattle.