Jacky Hazardous by Jacob Long (fiction book recommendations .TXT) 📖

“I did hear Arthur say John would get what’s coming to him.”
Detective Stern tried to get them to stop. “Stop. Wait. I asked if anyone saw anything. I don’t want to know what you saw yet!”
Joanie grabbed on to what Melissa said and ignored him. “Aha! You wanted me for yourself, but you knew I loved John, so you killed him!”
Arthur was bewildered. “What? No! I mean, yeah. I said he would get what’s coming to him, but all I meant was that I was going to beat his ass one of these days! I never meant I was going to kill him! What about you? You had as much access to the tea as I did! Maybe you killed him! You knew that he was never going to like you because he had the hots for Melissa, so you killed him. Is that the kind of person you are?”
“What?” Melissa asked. “Eww.”
Joanie couldn’t even speak after that revelation. All she could do was stand with her mouth hanging open. This halted the argument.
One of the officers at the scene stepped over to Stern and talked into his ear. "What do you think we should do?”
Stern made a quick decision. “We need isolation. We’ll take all three of these kids and anyone else who thinks they have something to say down to the station for further questioning.”
Jacky finally had his chance. He slipped to the front of the crowd and piped up. “I don’t think that will be necessary, officer.”
Stern raised an eyebrow? “Who are you, kid?”
Melissa chimed in once more. “His name is Jacky Hazardous. He’s the one who solved the case of the missing tax money a few weeks ago. If you’re lucky he’ll solve this case for you, too; if you listen.”
Jacky smiled sheepishly. “Thanks Melissa.”
“Did you do it?” Arthur asked. “I heard John tell you that you would have to go through him to get to Melissa. Did you get rid of him?”
Jacky went beet red with embarrassment and turned his head to look a Melissa. She was wearing a poker face that revealed none of her thoughts.
After a moment Jacky regained his composure and fired back. “Um, dude. You don’t need to lash out at everyone. You never know; I might just clear you. I didn’t kill John, but I know who did.”


With Arthur and everyone else quiet, Jacky began his explanation. “The person who killed Jonathon Demeo was not Joanie and it was not Arthur. Um, and it wasn’t me, either. I believe the person who killed John Demeo was…Mrs. Demeo!”
Everyone immediately turned to see the little Asian woman’s horrified face. Her mouth was gaping with shock.
“Me?” she asked.
Detective Stern interjected. “You shouldn’t be throwing accusations like that around without some evidence, kid.”
“I have my evidence right here.” Jacky responded, holding up the tea cup in his left hand. “It’s the cup John Demeo was drinking out of right before he died. I watched him drink out of it.”
“That’s evidence--”
Detective Stern was cut off by Melissa. “He knows it’s evidence in your investigation. It’s evidence in his, too. Let him talk! He’s handing you the case.”
Jacky continued without hesitation. “It was prepared by Arthur and Joanie and it doesn’t smell of Potassium Cyanide. The cup that John was drinking out of first, that his mother prepared, reeks of it.”
“But how would his mother know which one he would pick?” Melissa asked.
Joanie had a question as well. “Yeah, and we put all of those cups in the sink. How do you know which one was his?”
Both good questions; Jacky had an equally good answer. “I didn’t need to, just like Mrs. Demeo didn’t need to. All of the cups she served were poisoned. We were all poisoned, but Mrs. Demeo forced the odds by putting the antidote in the cakes. John doesn’t like sweets, and she knew he wouldn’t eat it no matter how delicious she made it, or perhaps because of how delicious she made it. We all know it wasn’t light on the sugar. John could have been peer pressured into eating it, but he was way too proud and set in his ways for that. Without the antidote John succumbed to the poison within a half-hour.”
To Arthur this was ridiculous. “How could you possibly know that?”
Jacky explained. “John’s little brother, his half-brother, is diabetic. That’s the only reason I could guess why Mrs. Demeo said he wasn’t allowed sweets; especially that sweet-ass cake. Despite this, when he drank some of John’s tea, she was shoving it down his throat as fast as she could. This is because she cares for her son.”
“But why?” Melissa was only trying to help with her questions.
Jacky looked at her. Being on a roll as he was he could do it and still speak with his legendary intensity. “The same old “why.” Money. Mr. Demeo left everything to John in his will, but after John, his next of kin is his widow, Mrs. Demeo. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d killed the old man too, only to find out that she wasn’t his favorite thing in the whole-wide world.”
Mrs. Demeo’s face had become ghostly. “I…I didn’t kill my s-son.”
Detective Stern put an end to Jacky’s theorizing. “Alright. That’s enough. Take everyone down to the station, including Mrs. Demeo. We’ll get the truth there.”


During interrogation, Mrs. Demeo finally confessed to poisoning John Demeo. Later her lawyer would say that the police coerced her into saying it under duress. With this defense, the circuit judge allowed her to post bail. She did not attend her son’s funeral. Because of this the police inquired into her whereabouts, but she was not to be found. She had already fled the country and gone into hiding.

John Demeo’s funeral was held shortly after bail for his step-mother was posted. Because of the heinous nature of the crime, the Army afforded him a full military burial. It was complete with the twenty-one gun salute and roll call, in which all of his classmates were called to attention. Upon the announcement of their respective names, all students responded with “Present, sir!” When John Demeo’s name was called, there was only silence. The General conducting the ceremony repeated his name three times before moving on to Cadet Rigel Durham. Jacky thought it was very sad. Melissa, usually cynical, was brought to tears. During the playing of “Taps,” the military funeral song, Jacky noticed poor Richard Demeo. He was flanked on either side by a nun from the orphanage in which he officially lived. Jacky felt sorry for him more than anything. His brother had been killed, his mother had been accused of murder and fled the country, but he was the real loser in all of this. He is all alone now. Sometimes even justice has a victim.

…Case Closed.

Imprint

Text: Jacob Long
Publication Date: 07-01-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To My Nephew