Detective Evans’ mother is persistent in trying to get her youngest daughter into a romantic relationship. But she isn’t making any progress…

Family get togethers are torture. I was at the barbecue under duress. My mother is an expert at applying guilt. My older brother, Sean, has a mean streak; he always enjoyed making my life miserable, which explained how I ended up seated in the middle between him and his recently divorced best friend. Then my parents showed up dragging the grandson of some neighbor to meet me. I realized the whole thing was a pretense to get me a date. When the rest of the clan arrived with no less than six additional potential suitors, I knew I was in dire straits. I was forced to take evasive maneuvers. The atmosphere was surreal, Lenny Kravitz’s “I Belong to You” was playing on the stereo and I was dodging and feigning like one of the Jets in West Side Story. After taking a lap around the kitchen island and dodging the flotsam of eligible bachelors with their testosterone drenched psyches, I made it to the bathroom. There is nothing I believe like some quality quiet time to formulate a strategy.

Never again will I allow a family member to provide the transportation. I decided to call Dumbo. It was time to put this partnership to the test. I never asked Dumbo if he had a significant other. Perhaps an oversight on my part but Shots had trained me well so I didn’t want to pry. The plan was simplicity itself. Sitting in the powder room at my brother’s house, I called for backup. He answered on the first ring. With polite concern he assured me he would leave immediately. As I waited perched on the commode, I checked my email. The Lenny Kravitz album was still playing, Fly Away, and someone had turned up the volume. My family had assembled all the desperate men they could find.

Dumbo called as he turned up the street. My partner wasn’t what I’d call classically good looking. He was however physically imposing, athletic and had all his teeth and a good head of hair. That was more than could be said of most of the men cluttering the backyard, kitchen and dining room. I wasn’t able to exit the house before Dumbo exited the car and made the fatal mistake of ringing the doorbell. My mother intercepted and herded him to the kitchen. There aren’t too many men that can resist my mother’s potato salad. Dumbo was holding a large plate mounded with food when the grand inquisition began. Amid the vapors of burgers on the grill and the tang of pickle relish, my siblings started asking how we met and how long we had been dating. Luckily Dumbo was polite and couldn’t answer with his mouth full. We left in a rush. I’ll return the silverware tomorrow.

This episode has the 5-word-challenge woven into the story. The 5 words are: flotsam, simplicity, believe, middle, and large. These words slotted into the story seamlessly!!

Detective Evans loves music but can’t seem to master any instrument. She hasn’t yet exhausted all the possibilities but she’s working her way through the options. She’s ready to turn her attention to a different kind of hobby. That is besides solving murders!

I suppose I should just give up on developing any kind of proficiency on a musical instrument. Every time I pick up my banjo I see the face of that dead man. Kind of spoils it for me. I’ve tried several others; the harmonica was a failure but not as bad as the didgeridoo. My cat is not a music lover. I was able to return the keyboard even after he peed on it. My mother thinks I should try something more practical, like dance lessons. She keeps saying that I’ll need them if I ever get remarried – for that first dance. I’m thinking origami would be fun. I’m going to sign up for a class tomorrow.

It was turning into a long day. We had been called to a murder at a warehouse. Dumbo took names while I checked the body. The dead man was found crushed under a pallet. The forklift was still running. As we extracted the body, it made a horrific noise. For an instant I thought he might still be alive. No such luck. The bagpipes were dead too. I thought about exploring a reed instrument once but most people hate bagpipe music. Cops always equate it with funerals. Anyway, Dumbo noticed a reflection, a small puddle of water to one side. The crime scene folks confirmed that it was spit. I found the sousaphone propped in the corner. The guys were all joking that if the other musician was the murderer, he had done everyone a favor, performing a public service of sorts. I can scratch bagpipes off the list. Turns out we could scratch the sousaphone player off the list too. Funny thing about warehouses, the people who work there forget about the loss prevention measures. We were able to pull up the video camera footage of that sector and got the murderer from 2 different angles. Now we just have to track him down. We’re in the pink with the Lieutenant and my efforts seeking a promotion seem a little less dead.

This episode includes the Procrastinators’ Writing Prompt #4 the 5 word challenge: reflect/reflection, pink, water, seek, tomorrow. An easy addition to this episode. Can you figure out what 2 words were already in the story?