Writer’s Prompt: The Midnight Retainer: A Hardboiled Flash Fiction Noir

A femme fatale with a twenty-thousand-dollar check forces a private eye to decide between justice and the electric chair.

Writer’s Prompt

Here is a 300-word flash fiction noir story based on your prompt, complete with two paths for the ending and an SEO publishing package.

The rain beat against the frosted glass of my office door like a cheap drum. Sheila Johnson smelled like rain-soaked mink, expensive perfume, and trouble.

“I want him dead,” she said, leaning across the battered oak desk.

I tipped my fedora back, eyes lingering on the red slash of her mouth before my mind did some quick, practiced math—the kind that tracks a woman’s curves first and her motives second: 36, 23, 36.

“Tell me more,” I said, thinking more about her lips than her lethal demands.

“I want you to kill my husband. Make it look like he killed himself, and make sure I am entirely in the clear.”

“Is that all?” I asked, leaning back. “Perhaps we can talk more about the fine print over dinner.”

Her eyes flashed. “You are not taking me seriously, Max.”

“I take homicide and the gas chamber very seriously, sweetheart. Sounds to me like what you really need is a lover.”

“I need him dead, and I’ll pay you one hundred thousand dollars,” she snapped, opening her alligator clutch. She slid a certified check across the blotter. “There is twenty thousand right there. The address and his routine are in the envelope. Take it or leave it.”

I reached out and let my fingers brush hers as I took the check. Without another word, she turned on three-inch heels and vanished into the wet night, leaving behind a fog of gardenia and a very bad idea.

I stared at the heavy black rotary phone on my desk. My thumb hovered over the dial. Detective Sims over at the precinct would love this; tipping him off might keep my license. Or I could take the twenty grand, finish the job, and wait for Sheila.

I lifted the receiver. The dial tone buzzed, waiting.

Choose the Path to Finish the Story

• Path A (The Setup): Max dials Detective Sims, cutting a deal to sting Sheila at her husband’s estate—only to discover the husband has been dead for hours, and he’s just walked into a trap.
• Path B (The Double-Cross): Max pockets the check, packs his .38, and decides to play Sheila’s game, choosing the money and the woman—until he realizes someone is already waiting in the shadows at the estate.

Which ending seals Max Darling’s fate? How would you finish the story? Write the final scene!