Couldn’t Catch The Clap

Richard Surelock was a private detective who was very clumsy and he appeared to be a cross between Inspector Clouseau and Mr. Bean.  He tried hard, but because of his bumbling and incompetent antics, he had never solved a case.  He obtained the undesirable reputation of not being able to catch the clap in a whorehouse, but who wants to get that anyways.  Richard or Dick as he liked being called just got a new case from the family of a deceased figure skater Shirley Styles who was apparently headed to the Olympics, before she met her demise.  The death certificate said it was an accident, but the girl’s family wanted Dick to prove it was a homicide, as they suspected foul play.  Dick needed the work, so he took the case with echoing desires of finally doing something productive, which would put a whole new perspective on his career.

The Styles family knew all too well about the stiff level of competition involved in the world of figure skating, as was evidenced in the Tonya Harding incident with Nancy Kerrigan and they felt that someone would have something to gain with their daughter being permanently out of the picture now.  They had also heard about the reputation of detective Richard Surelock and they hired him on a contingency basis that he would only be paid, if he found the evidence that they felt would prove this was a homicide, not an accidental death, so this was a win-win situation for them to work with Dick.  There was some bad blood between Shirley and another singles skater Chrystal Glides, as Shirley thought that Chrystal had deliberately tried to injure her with a skate blade, but the skating officials found no evidence that she was intentionally trying to harm her.

Shirley had her brush with death on the ice during warm-ups ahead of the women’s short program where she slipped and fell crashing her head into the wall which caused her instant death.  Dick reviewed the tape and he thought that he was able to descry Chrystal dropping something on the ice, just before Shirley tripped.  Competition doesn’t happen without controversy, and when millions of dollars, massive egos, years of blood, sweat and tears are thrown into the mix, it can be treacherous out on the ice rink.  Skating is beautiful to look at and the inevitable stories of triumphing over adversity are heartwarming, but figure skating is not immune to repercussions and sometimes it can surmount a person’s dinkum.  The applicable rule for all skaters is to show kindness toward each other, but rumors have their way of spreading, especially with social media adding that extra layer, and as the animosity between these two girls reached a peak, the so-called accident happened.  Dick felt the tape showed the evidence, but he was not able to prove anything, so he decided to go visit a Mexican whorehouse after his latest failure, thinking that he might be able to catch something there.

Written for Sheryl’s Daily Word Prompt – Applicable, for Roger Shipp’s Daily Addictions prompt – Rule, for the Daily Spur prompt – Brush, for FOWC with Fandango – Repercussions, for August Monthly Writing Prompts – Echoing desires, for Nova’s Daily Random Word prompt – Descry, for Ragtag Community – Dinkum, for Reena’s Exploration Challenge #98 – Perspective and for Word of the Day Challenge Prompt – Kindness.