Bill W

Many drunkards are often mean and ready for a good argument or fight.

I'll admit that when I first saw that 'bayberry' was the word of the day, I thought of Mayberry, the fictional town in the old Andy Griffith Show.

The leaves on the bayberry shrub are leathery, but some people will substitute them in recipes the call for bay leaves.

Hmmm, what were you prowling in search of?

Burglars tend to prowl neighborhoods in search of their next score.

I was merely looking for conformation.

Thank you. That makes me feel better.

I appreciate your feedback and honesty. I know my choice of telling this as if I was the detective might prove problematic, but I felt he was the best one to tell this tale.

I'm sorry the writing style I chose disappointed you, but I decided to write it as I felt the detective might have told the story. However, I am glad you enjoyed the twist at the end and that the perp was a gay man with mental illness.

Thank you for the feedback, Mikiesboy, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story and the twist at the end.

I understand your dilemma, Val, and I appreciate the feedback, no matter if it's long or short. I'm glad you were interested in my little mystery and were surprised by the twist I added at the end. You're brain couldn't have been to fried, however, since you were one of those that guessed that I wrote this story. I don't know if it means I have a tell or if there are other factors involved.

I'm glad you enjoyed my short story and there will be no further chapters. And Elliot will not be invited in as a consultant. 😜

Hmmm, I see you have a stuttering problem. lol 🙃

Thank you for the feedback, drsawzall and I'm glad you enjoyed this story and the little twist I added at the end. Yes, I think you are the third person to comment about Bobert, and he was left-handed and met all of the factors that they were looking for in the suspect. Unfortunately, it wasn't him.

Thank you for the feedback, Lt. Mac, and for correcting me. I've made the adjustment. I actually knew better, and I don't know how I made that slip or missed it when I reread it. It must be that I could hear Robert Preston singing the original version in my mind as I was adjusting the lyrics. By the way, I also enjoyed the trivia lesson as well. Thank you.

Thank you for the feedback, Dan, and I'm glad you enjoyed my little mystery story. As I mentioned to someone else. the choice of that surname was intentional and I could even imagine the guy as one on her relatives.

Thank you for the feedback, Mrsgnomie, and I agree that Simon does deserve sympathy. It was the abuse from his childhood that cause him to unknowingly create Max as a protector and to help him survive. It is often said that those who are abused have a greater chance of also becoming an abuser. Yes, I used a very clinal writing style, because I put myself in the detective's role and wrote the story as I thought he would have explained the situation. It was a choice, and I'm sorry that you didn't agree and couldn't totally invest yourself in the story.

I'm not generally a mystery writer, but I do enjoy a good mystery and I'm glad you enjoyed this. I will only make one correction to your comment, and that's the last sentence. "This fits the bill, Bill." 😉

Thank you for the feedback, and I agree with both you and Chris that Simon deserves sympathy as well, because he was also a victim. As for the hunting scenario with his grandfather, I'm fairly certain that was Max. Seeing that the grandfather had a weapon, Max might have been leery of his motives and took control of the situation so he'd be able to protect Simon if the need arose. In the end, however, he seemed to enjoy the hunting and it became an element for his later crimes. I'm glad you found humor in this story as well, because it was intended, starting with the name of the location. River City was also the locale for The Music Man musical, and that's why I altered the lyrics of a song from that musical. They were stories that showed a completely different side of the same place. The choice of a surname for the first suspect was also intentional. He could have even been a relative of the person I named him after, but that's all I'm going to say on the matter. Thanks again for your comment.

Thank you for your feedback to my story. It's always difficult for me to decide what a story will be about, but I like to try different things or do different takes on a topic. I chose the murder mystery format for the Secret Author Anthology due to all of the crimes we hear about or that are reported on a daily basis. I'm glad this mystery was right up your alley. Of course it could have been a much longer story with more detail, but at some point you have to decide how much detail is necessary to tell the story. Too much detail can bog the story down and turn readers off, so its a fine balancing act, and I thought I provided sufficient details to tell this tale. Yes, if you look back at many crimes you will find they were a product of childhood trauma, either at home, at school, or now online. It's a shame we can eliminate abuse, including physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, because then the world would be a much better place. By the way, I was honored that someone thought you had written this story.

Thank you for the wonderful comment, Terry. To respond to your comment, I do not have any experience in law enforcement, but as I do with my other stories, I complete a great amount of research so the story will sound somewhat realistic. It is due to all of this research that it takes me so long to complete a story, but telling from the responses I receive, the time spent was well worth it. The victims of Simon/Max's crimes should receive our utmost sympathy, and that extends to their families and friends as well. I wish I could say that crimes like this against gays are only in stories, but we know that is not the case. Maybe some day everyone will learn to live in harmony with everyone else. Yes, Simon was a victim as well, first a victim of his father's abuse which caused him to create another personality to help him cope and deal with the situation. Unfortunately, there's probably no way to go back and punish the real perpetrator of these crimes, his father, and that is either due to statutory limits on the original crime or because of his father has died. Maybe he'll be dealt with in the afterlife.

Thank you for the feedback and I'll try to answer your questions. First of all, since one of Simon's personalities committed murder, even though Simon has a psychiatric diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder, he was committed to secure psychiatric facility. That means he'll never be released, so the most we can hope for in his recovery is that he'll learn to control Max and be able to interact with the other patients and staff. As for an in depth look at his diagnosis, that would take another story that is much longer than this one. In fact, I believe there are books dedicated to the topic.

Thanks for the fantastic review, and we should all feel sympathy for the victims and for Simon. He's dealing with mental illness and may not even know what one of his alternate personalities was guilty of doing, other than being told about it later. Chris, you surprised me. With all of my stories that you've read and commented on, I suspected you might recognize my style and figure out that I wrote this story.

This story deals with the all to familiar and frequent topic of domestic abuse, but it did it in a caring and positive manner. It comes to an unusual, loving, and happy ending, which I know will appeal to those that read this touching tale.

An intriguing and interesting tale about a human that is captured by another race of beings. It discusses the revulsion, contempt, and distrust his captors display toward him as he tries to assimilate into their society. I, for one, am left to wonder what it might be like if I found myself in a similar situation.