Tartar Dodgely, Private Eye – Scene 7

September 6, 2008

Tartar Dodgely, Private Eye is a Radio Drama – To read from the beginning, Start with Scene 1

pi2 Outside of the courtroom, I pushed through the throngs of pressmen and closed myself into a phone booth.

[SFX: Coin in slot, dialing, online ringing]

Operator: "Extension, Please?"

Dodgely: "Klondike-5 7982."

Operator: "Thank you, have a great day."

[Online Ringing.]

Beth: "Detective Savering’s office."

Dodgely: "Hey Beth, I want to leave a message for Freddie."

Beth: "What is it, Dodgely?"

[SFX: Muffled voices on phone, phone hanging up]

I tracked down Kevin Trent’s address in the phone book.  He lived in Mid District.  Mid District wasn’t the type of place where you expected a multi-millionaire’s brother to be living.

[SFX: Whistle, car stopping, car door opens]

Dodgely: "181 17th street."

Cab Driver: "That’s Mid District, Buddy."

Dodgely: "Are you going to take me there or do I need to hail another cab?"

Cab Driver: "I’ll take you buddy, but I’m not going to wait for you."

Dodgely: "No problem."

Cab Driver: "I hope you’re armed, pal."

[SFX: Cab driving, coming to a stop.]

Cab driver: "That’s twenty-five cents."

[SFX: Change, car door opening, closing]

181 17th street was a tiny apartment complex directly across the street from a homeless shelter.  Looking at both of them, one after the other, it was hard to tell the difference.  I climbed the steps up to apartment four and slipped the lock. I stepped into the cool, dark apartment, sat down on the only piece of furniture, a dirty broken sofa, and waited.  The wait stretched into two hours and the shadows in the already dim room grew long and began to fade before a key finally jiggled in the locked door.

The door opened and Kevin Trent stepped through the threshold.  Behind him was a brunette woman wearing a black hat and large frame sunglasses.  Despite her disguise I knew who she was.

Dodgely: "Kathina Trent."

Kevin: "Who’s that?!!"

I reached to the side of the couch and clicked on the lamp.

[SFX: Lamp click]

Kathina: "Oh my god."

Kevin: "Who are you?"

Kathina: "It’s him, you dolt.  The private eye."

Suddenly, a gun appeared in her hand.

Kathina: "Private dick, Dodgely."

Kevin: "What the hell is he doing here? What are you doing here?"

Kathina: "You finally figured it out did you?"

Dodgely: "You nearly had me fooled."

Kathina: "Nearly was good enough.  Everything happened the way it needed to happen.  You bought my story, hook line and sinker, and you played right into my hands from there.  You were such an eager puppet, Dodgely.

Dodgely: "It was the photos.  They were a nice touch."

Kathina: "Thanks, Dodgely. I planted those weeks ago.  Completely faked, of course.  And, now, everything will be wrapped up very neatly, because now you’ll disappear as well."

That predator’s smile was back and mostly I felt sorry for Kevin.  He’d played directly into this crazy broad’s hands.  He’d watched his own brother sentenced to prison for a crime he hadn’t committed.

Dodgely: "I still don’t understand how you’ll get the money."

Kathina: "Oh, that’s easy.  You see, Marcus will inherit the life insurance policy, that’s five million dollars.  And Kevin will inherit Marcus’ entire fortune.  The house, the business, his insurance policy, my insurance policy, everything.  And, we’ll split it up fifty-fifty."

Dodgely: "But Marcus is still alive."

Kathina: "Not for long." (Laughs) "We’ve got a man on the inside waiting to stick a knife in him for a tiny cut of the pie."

Dodgely: "Well, you’ve thought of everything."

Kathina: "Of course I have."

Dodgely: "What’s to stop Kevin from killing you off?"

Kathina: "What do you mean?"

Dodgely: "Well, they’d have trouble convicting him of a murder that had already been committed, and then he wouldn’t have to split the money."

Kathina: "Shut up, you moron.  You’re grasping at straws.  And, now I’m going to kill you."

She leveled the gun at my head and drew back the hammer.

[SFX: Knocking on door.]

Someone at the door.  Kathina lowered the gun and motioned for Kevin to answer it.  Kevin moved to the door and Kathina watched him across the room.  When he was standing directly in front of the door and his hand was reaching for the knob, I shouted out.

Dodgely: "Pull up your socks, Fred."

[SFX: Door slams open, thuds into Kevin, Kevin falls to floor]

The door slammed open into Kevin’s face and I rolled off the couch and drew my gun.

[SFX: Two Gunshots, body hitting floor]

Kathina let one loose that buzzed just over my head.  The second one slammed into my shoulder and spun me around, blood sprayed across my jacket and a fine mist covered the wall behind me.  She wasn’t a bad shot,

[SFX: Gunshot]

But I was better.

[SFX: Woman scream, gun falls to floor]

My bullet hit her in the center of her forehead.  Almost exactly where the fake bullet hole had been in the photos.  She collapsed on the floor a few feet from where Kevin had landed in a mashed up heap.

[SFX: Gun falls to floor.]

I was staring into her dead eyes as I felt the blood rush out of my head and everything went dark again.

[SFX: Coffee shop]

Glenda: "Dodgely, you want another cuppa coffee?"

Dodgely: "You bet, Glenda"

[SFX: Door chime]

Freddie: "Hey, Dodgely."

Dodgely: "Freddie."

Freddie: "How’s the arm, buddy."

Dodgely: "Shoulder, it’s healing. How are you?"

Freddie: "Kevin Trent pulled his sentence card today."

Dodgely: "What’d he get?"

Freddie: "Guilty on three counts: Insurance Fraud, False Testimony, and Conspiracy to Commit Murder.  They gave him fifteen years."

Dodgely: "Better than what his partner got."

Freddie: "You got that right."

Dodgely: "Have you heard anything else from Marcus?"

Freddie: "No, he dropped the lawsuit.  Have you?"

Dodgely: "I think he still hates me, but he’s probably not gunning for me anymore."

Glenda: "Usual, Freddie?."

Freddie: "Yeah, sweety."

Dodgely: "Bothers me that that dame picked me."

Freddie: "Well, she didn’t get what she expected did she?"

Dodgely: (Laughing) "No, she didn’t."

Freddie: "Speaking of which, I’ve got a spot open in my squad.  I could use a good detective right now.  Whatta you say?"

(Pause)

Dodgely: "Well, I’d love to Freddie, but I just opened a case."

[Music swell, Outtro]

Posted by flowersjustin | Filed Under radio 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus