A private eye takes a retainer to track a cheating wife—only to realize the other man is staring back at him in the mirror.
Writer’s Prompt
PI Jeff Helter rolled his chair back, bent over to the left, and rubbed the head of his mutt, Sammy. “Sammy, I need some advice.”
Sammy raised his head off his front legs and looked at Jeff, unsure if he was being given a command or asked if he wanted a treat. To be safe, he flopped his tail back and forth across the scuffed linoleum.
“Sammy, there’s this broad, Jennifer. Her husband, George, is paying me top dollar to find out who she’s cheating with. Problem is, Sammy, it’s me. How do I get myself out of this dilemma without her husband finding out?”
Jeff tossed Sammy a doggie treat. “Maybe this will help you think.”
Sammy scoffed it, got up on all fours, and rested his heavy chin on Jeff’s knee.
“Brilliant, Sammy. That’s what I’ll do.”
Jeff grabbed an unbranded manila folder from the desk drawer and slipped inside a set of grainy surveillance photos of a local grifter—a two-bit bookie named Vance who shared his own rough build and dark trench coat. A clean frame job. George would buy it, cut the final check, and Vance would skip town before anyone checked alibis.
Before Jeff could lick the envelope, the frosted glass door rattled. Heavy knuckles rapped twice.
George didn’t wait. He barged in, eyes bloodshot, clutching a leather briefcase in one hand and keeping the other jammed deep inside his overcoat pocket. The distinct silhouette of a snub-nosed revolver poked through the fabric.
“Helter,” George growled, slamming the door shut. “I couldn’t wait till Friday. Jennifer was whispering on the phone an hour ago. Give me a name right now, or neither of us walks out of here.”
Which path does Jeff take? Finish the story:
- Path A (The Deception): Jeff smoothly slides the doctored Vance file across the desk, gambling that George rushes out to settle the score with the wrong man before looking too closely.
- Path B (The Confession): Seeing the hammer cocked through George’s coat pocket, Jeff realizes a lie won’t hold under fire, drops his hands onto the desk, and prepares to reveal the truth.
How does the standoff end? Step into the writer’s chair and write the final scene.v
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