Monday, February 18, 2019

Look Up, Look Down


When my husband was in the police academy, something they emphasized was, “Look up, look down, look all around.” That’s good advice for anyone investigating a crime, real or fictional.

Have you ever played one of those Search & Find games on the computer? Some of the objects you’re told to find will turn up in the most unlikely places. That’s true in life, too. I recently lost my car keys. Thankfully, I had an extra set of keys. I looked everywhere for those missing keys, including emptying out my purse (which would frighten a mere mortal) and all of my pockets. I’d had an appointment that day and finally decided I must have dropped them in the parking lot without realizing it.

I missed those keys because there were other things on the keychain besides my car and house key. The house key is another story. Whoever lived here before had different locks put on every door. Lots of keys for lots of doors. But I digress.

About two weeks later I put on a jacket to wear to the store, stuck my hand in the pocket and, surprise, surprise, there were the lost keys. I could have sworn I wore a different jacket the day of my appointment.

In Old Murders Never Die – A Sandi Webster Mystery, Sandi and Pete are stranded in a ghost town. To the best of their knowledge, no one had set foot in Wolf Creek for over a hundred years. Without much else to do, the two detectives started looking things over and they discovered unsolved murders from around 1880. Thus began their desire to solve the old murders. As the pair began searching houses in the town, they looked for clues, and Pete (an ex-police officer) offered Sandi the advice my husband offered me. She looked up, down and all around, and a few clues came to light after all those years. 

 This looks like a good hiding place.

Between my daughter and me, we have three dogs. Things disappear all the time. The little angels just love to walk off with whatever is within their reach. Very frustrating. The same advice works when looking for a lost slipper or sock. However in the case of the dogs, it’s also advisable to look under rocks or where it appears fresh digging has taken place.

Readers, including me, love secret rooms or passages. These things add to the suspense. So when our protagonists see something that doesn’t look quite right, they take a second look and generally, in a mystery, they’ll discover something unexpected. How about a secret room that houses a mummy? (Gin Mill Grill – A Sandi Webster Mystery)

When writing a mystery, have a little fun. Close your eyes and picture the last place someone might look for a clue, information, or a body. Of course, there are times these places need to fall short of offering help. Don’t forget red herrings. Also, don’t forget that not all mysteries include a death. The mystery might include a missing person, or as in my case, lost keys.

Speaking of keys, my grandfather had a key collection. Some of them were pretty old. I had a very old trunk that was locked and no one could figure out where the key might be. What’s the fun in calling a locksmith? I dug out Grandpa’s key collection and after trying several of them, I found one that opened the trunk. The case of the missing key? Solved, although I have a feeling that this might have been a skeleton key that would open many things.

So, whether we’re talking about fiction or real life, remember to look up, look down and look all around. If that doesn’t work, start checking pockets.

Have you ever lost something important and found it in a very unusual spot?

Until next time, take in your surroundings and look for the unusual or unexpected.

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12 comments:

  1. "Look up, look down" reminds me of shopping in an antique store. If you don't look everywhere, you're likely to miss some good finds.
    I had to laugh about your lost keys because it reminded me of my mother. Whenever company is coming, she does a rush job straightening up and she puts things in the most unlikely places. Later, when she goes to look for them, well, you can imagine. LOL

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    1. Antique stores and your mother -- both good comments. Your mother makes me chuckle, and I once owned an antique store. Yes, I had things everywhere. Thank you for stopping in, Pat!

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  2. I guess the old saying is right: Whatever you've misplaced is always in the last place you look. But I have to add, sometimes it's in the least likely place, LOL. My dog likes to hide food items in the furniture. One day I was looking for something that might have fallen behind the sofa cushion, and when I put my hand back there, I found an old piece of bread. Not what I was looking for, but if I would have been looking for it, that would have been the last place I would have looked.

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    1. LOL Dogs are the best at finding hiding places, Evelyn. That's not where I would have looked, either. They do keep us laughing, though. Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  3. Good advice, Marja. I've had the same thing happen to me, absent-mindedly dropping keys in my pocket and tearing the house apart looking for them. I even lost my Nikon SLR camera. Weeks later I found it in a drawer under my bed. I'm not sure whether it's brain fog or senior moments. : )

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    1. I know plenty of young people who've done the same thing, Jean. Not age, not brain fog, but it just happens. : ) Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  4. Patricia's comment reminded me of my mother who, late in life, got in the habit of hiding her purse (from potential thieves) before going upstairs to bed at night. How many times did I have to help search for that purse, and how many strange places did she find to conceal it? Now that I'm getting up in age, I'm glad I don't have a purse to hide. But that doesn't mean I don't lose things.

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    1. I'm enjoying these Mother Stories, John. I guess we all have some if we give it some thought. I would think that in your case you really did have to look in all directions. Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  5. This reminded me of a story in reverse. When my son was a little boy, he attended a day camp one summer. I remember when I enrolled him, I set my purse on the counter and picked it and the keys up and left him there. The summer went along smoothly and one day just before the camp ended, I found an extra pair of keys in my purse. They weren't mine and I couldn't understand why I had them. I mentioned it to my son and he said that at the beginning of summer camp one of the counselors had lost her keys and had looked everywhere for them. Suddenly I realized I had picked up someone else's keys, dropped them in my purse, forgot about them until then. I looked in my purse and there were the strange keys that I had absentmindedly thought were mine!!! Incredibly embarrassed I returned the keys to the counselor who had, in the meantime, new keys made!!

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    1. I'm enjoying ALL of the stories people are telling, Pat. Thank you for sharing that embarrassing moment. :) You could use that, twisted a little, in a book. Thank you so much for stopping in!

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  6. I follow your posts everyday Marja. Its a great read. I hope you continue with your blog!
    Three cheers!!

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    1. Thank you, Koikata. I'll be back on Monday with a new post.

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