2757. Is it always cold in here? © Bruce Goodman 17 June 2023

It was a cold winter’s morning when Hazel discovered her husband’s body lying on the carpet in front of the wood burner. Clearly he’d been stoking the fire when the Grim Reaper swept his scythe. The door to the wood burner wasn’t fastened so he must have had the door open in order to replenish the fire. Hazel called the police. There was no use phoning for a doctor. He was as rock solid as a log of firewood. And now the police had come and gone, the funeral had been held, and the coroner had stated that Hazel’s husband had died from a blow to the head. No, he hadn’t hit his head on the wood burner as he fell. He was hit by an unknown solid object; maybe a hammer. Detectives had searched everywhere for the murder weapon without any luck. The case was still wide open, but the officials had called around to report to Hazel that they were winding down their investigation. “We’ve had no leads as to any murder weapon. We’ve simply reached a dead end,” said the detective kindly. “Goodness! Is it always cold in here?” “I’m a bit loath to stoke the fire since my husband died while doing it,” said Hazel. “And unfortunately I burnt the last log the day he died.” Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story