You stare in disbelief at the rosary beads caked in blood. You had, of course, encountered the rumours of the murdered priest. But the Police Chief had assured you that no evidence of such a murder had been found. How could there be no evidence? And if there was no evidence, how did the rumour get out?

And if that murder was real... and Cal was responsible... How many more murders had he committed, aside from the ones you already know about? 

You still don't believe his crackpot excuse, but you're going nowhere if you don't play along.

"The priest in Metairie...?" you venture. Cal nods in affirmation. He places the beads back into his coat pocket and looks up at you, slowly and silently.

You feel the need to say something, but you're too frustrated to really think about what. You come up with this:

"I must admit, Cal; I thought you had some tact. The murders that I know about have all been scattered around the country... even on consecutive nights. I found it hard to convince myself that it really could be just one murderer. And you've been quite good at setting up enough evidence to convict innocent suspects. But Metairie, Cal? That's risky. People are talking about that."

"That was an accident. Metairie was as far away as I could get."

"What, you just didn't realize that the moon was full? Seems like something you should pay close attention to." You chuckle at your suspension of disbelief. The full moon...

"Oh I knew, alright. But I couldn't get away. It was Gabrielle..."

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CHARACTERS:
-- You (Edward) - a police officer in your mid-30's
-- Cal Beauchamp - a wealthy, respected 28-year-old businessman who you know to be a murderer.
-- Gabrielle - your 19-year-old sister who is engaged to Cal and recently pregnant.
-- Joseph - normal-looking 30-something-year-old guy who does Tarot readings on the street.
-- Old man - an old man who dresses like a gypsy and works on the street, saying creepy rude things to people for money.
-- Nicolas Dias - depends on who you ask.

SETTING:
New Orleans, present day. Well, let's say pre-Katrina to keep it simple.

STYLE:
The title is Outsmart because the characters are constantly lying and hiding things from each other. OR ARE THEY??? Everyone has his own agenda and probably doesn't want to reveal what that is. But somewhere, deep inside this story, there really is a coherent plot.

NOTE:
If you want to add to the story and wish to know a little more of what Jillian and I are planning, email me and I'll be glad to fill you in!

updated Jul 7 by Rac7hel