Castle: Habeas Corpse

 

“I’d rather take the criminals down than send them up.” ~ Beckett

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Melanie Atkins

I haven’t laughed so hard during a Castle episode in ages. Thank goodness for my Tivo, because I had to back up the action at least three times to rewatch due to not being able to stop cackling. If you haven’t seen the show already, stop reading now so I won’t spoil it for you.

The episode began with a man murdered in an alley. Not one of the funny parts. Next we get a glimpse into the loft, with Kate grilling Alexis with a legal question to help her prepare for one of her finals. Rick overhears and asks Kate, once Alexis leaves, if she regrets never completing law school way back when. She says no and pretty much quashes that possibility, and I can’t say I’m sorry about that. These little hints about the future keep surfacing, however, making me believe she does intend to change the trajectory of her career somewhere along the line. Their conversation soon morphs into flirtation and innuendo and would have taken them to the bedroom if Kate’s phone hadn’t rung.

The call takes them to the alley where sanitation workers found the murder victim. Talk with Esposito and Ryan on the way in centers around the Police Benevolent Society talent show fundraiser coming up. Ryan and Espo are apparently the reigning winners two years in a row, and they plan to win again. I love their can-do attitude. Rick doesn’t work for the department, so he isn’t eligible to participate, but he still can’t help ribbing Espo and Ryan about the competition that would ensue should he and Kate be allowed to join in the fun.

They all must shift their focus to the victim, and we’re immediately dragged off into Lanie-land with more silly talk about lividity determining time of death. I’ve gotten so sick of such nonsense that I didn’t even roll my eyes. I just shuddered. Most of what she had to say was gibberish, as usual, so I ignored it and focused on Kate, who recognized the dead man as an ambulance-chasing lawyer known for his ridiculous late night TV commercials. A lawyer who called himself “Pitbull” and had the ad folks put his head on a pitbull’s body.

Rick, Lanie, Kate, Ryan, and Espo all recognize the man and proceed to quote his commercial word for word… including the ending caveat in Spanish, courtesy of Espo. Oh, my God! I laughed so hard at the line “I make the law your bitch” and Espo’s little spiel. Had to run the show back twice and laughed again this morning while rewatching to write the blog.

The case had lots of twists and turns, each more confusing than the last, but I focused more on the interaction between our dynamic duo and Ryan and Espo… once Gates asked Rick to fill in for Jimmy Kimmel at the benefit, and he says he and Kate will be happy to join the competition. Only Kate isn’t happy. She admonishes Rick for including her without asking her if it’s okay. He tells her to relax, that they’ll just do their “routine”. She gets all flustered and says, “We don’t have a routine,” and he replies, “Come on. That thing in the shower? That is delightful.” Kate, who’s shaking and red faced at this point, says, “No! That’s not a routine. That’s two naked people singing when there’s no one around to see or hear it.” And Rick replies, “So we’ll add dance steps, some clothes… it’s can’t miss.” Ha! The picture this painted cracked me up.

We’re soon swept back into the case and the team’s pursuit of a man called Derek “Lightning” Bolt, a name that encourages them to come up with a plethora of bad puns. Esposito apparently hurts his knee while taking the man down, so Rick accepts a wager with Espo and Ryan that says he believes he and Kate will win the talent competition. More funny lines. I couldn’t stop laughing.

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More case work ensues, with Kate, Rick, and the boys bouncing from one lead to another and one suspect to another. I didn’t really care who killed Pitbull, because I knew we’d find out in the end. I was more interested in the upcoming competition… especially when Kate and Rick catch Ryan and Espo practicing their routine in one of the interrogation rooms and discover that Espo really didn’t hurt his knee after all. Kate can’t believe it.

Our duo then apparently turns onto Stupid Lane and heads north out of the city by themselves to look for a dead body in acres and acres of woods, in a tract pinpointed by Tory, the precinct’s regular computer whiz using cell phone technology — yeah, that’s totally believable — with only two shovels for company. Really? Nobody I know in law enforcement would ever do such a dumb thing. Sigh. Anyway, they found the body, but ended up being kidnapped yet again.

None of this part of the script worked for me at all, except for Kate expressing her fears about performing at the competition, but I did have to cackle when Rick announced he’d learned that they could break the zip ties binding their hands behind their backs by slamming them against their butts. Yes, you read that correctly. Their butts. They jumped up and down and hit themselves until they finally broke the zip ties. Wide, flat zip ties that in no way resembled the ones actually used by police. Unbelievably silly, but still pretty funny.

Flash back to the loft and Rick and Kate dancing in preparation for their “routine”, with Martha’s dramatic encouragement thrown in for good measure. Rick leaves the room for a moment, and Kate confides in Martha that she’s not sure she can perform in front of a crowd because she has a bad case of stage fright. Martha attempts to help, but Kate is obviously shaken by the possibility of having to dance and sing in front of everyone. Rick is jazzed and wants to up their bet.

The next morning when they return to the precinct, Espo also wants to up the bet… until Gates tosses cold water on all four of them by announcing that Kimmel was back in, so Rick was no longer eligible to compete. This thrills Kate, but Rick is crushed. Later, however, Kate learns that he was responsible for Kimmel returning to perform, and he admits that yes, he called Kimmel because he overheard her telling his mother about Kate’s debilitating stage fright. So sweet.

Turns out the body they found in the woods was a test dummy with three chest wounds that apparently came from an airbag. Can you say ripped from the headlines? I had to laugh again when they sent the dummy to Lanie, who said, “You do know I’m a doctor, not a puppeteer.” Oh, really? The test dummy would’ve done a better job telling how he’d determined time of death at the beginning of the episode… but I digress. A medical examiner examining a test dummy in the morgue? I laughed out loud when I saw the “guy” on her table. Pu-leese.

They caught the murderer, a guy I’d pegged as shady and likely to be the one who’d killed Pitbull, a nut lawyer with a giant hammer (who had to be an Easter Egg of sorts to remind us that Nathan played Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) but at this point I was done with the case. I only cared about the competition. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see it, and neither did Kate and Rick. We did learn, however, that Ryan and Espo won first place for the third year in the row. Yay for them!

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We also never got to see Rick and Kate’s entire routine, but we did have the pleasure of watching them sing and dance in the shower via their shadows on the shower wall, after viewing the trail of clothing they left on the way to the bathroom. Hilarious.

One of the funniest episodes I’ve seen in a long, long time. Next week’s show will be serious, if the promo is like it seems, so I may watch this one a few more times between now and then.

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Lee Lofland

Wow, Melanie and I could not be further apart with our opinions of this episode. Sure, there were a few moments that made me smile, but that was about it. Even the case was a bit weak for me. And, of course, Lanie did not disappoint with her “based on lividity” comment. She even took her “stupid comments” a bit further this week when, while in the morgue, she identified a yellow substance on the victim’s pants legs as pollen from a specific plant from a specific region. But enough about Lanie. Enough. Enough. Enough.

The private investigator/body-digger-upper/kidnapper said the murder victim once asked him, “What’s the best way to get rid of a body?” Boy did that ever ring a familiar bell. If I only had a dollar for every time a writer has asked me the same question…

Then there’s Tory. What can I say about her other than she’s, well, supernatural at minimum.

So…Castle and Beckett head out to the woods to search for a buried body, which they find. Well, they thought that’s what they had found. But, as so totally predictable, they were once again abducted at gunpoint. I mean, for real, watching the show is like reading the same book over and over and over again. It’s the movie Groundhog Day on a weekly loop.

Let’s not forget to mention that the crime-solving duo went to the burial location alone and began to absolutely and totally destroy the crime scene by digging and trampling throughout the place. Holy cow was that ever a dumb scene. And what about the great zip-tie-escape that was so cheesy that, well, it would’ve made Houdini shake his head in embarrassment.

Okay, show of hands. How many of you knew, as I did, the victim of the salvage truck shrapnel would be the key to solving this case? And, how many of you knew, as I did, that the Savanna Hammer was the killer?

Is this show predictable or what?

I think I’ll sum up my part of this recap/review by using a portion of Lanie’s favorite line. Here goes…

Based on lividity, I believe Castle (the show) is approaching its time of death. Yes, someone has begun the slow insertion of the fork. I think it’s done.

See, I told you Melanie and I were on total opposite ends of the spectrum on this one.

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Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

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Officer Alex Yazzie, 42

Navajo Tribal Police, Division of Public Safety

March 19, 2015 – Officer Alex Yazzie was shot and killed while pursuing a suspect who’d shot at another police officer. Additionally, two other officers were wounded by the suspect’s gunfire. The original shooting incident occurred as officers responded to a domestic call where the offender used an AR-15 to fire at officers.

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Patrolman George S. Nissen, 51

Stone Park Illinois Police Department

March 12, 2015 – Patrolman George S. Nissen succumbed to injuries received 10 years earlier after being attacked when responding to a large bar fight. Head injuries and subsequent surgeries resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic and unable to speak. He died as a direct result of his injuries.

Patrolman Nissen is survived by his daughter and four brothers.

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Officer Michael Johnson, 38

San Jose California Police Department

March 25, 2015 – Officer Michael Johnson was shot and killed as he and other officers responded to a suicide call. When officers arrived the suspect stepped out onto a balcony and immediately opened fire, fatally wounding Officer Johnson.

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Trooper Trevor Casper, 21

Wisconsin State Patrol

March 24, 2015 – Trooper Trevor Casper was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a bank robbery and murder suspect.

Trooper Casper had graduated from the training academy only three months prior to his death, and was working his very first shift assignment after completing his field training. It was his first day working alone.

Trooper Casper is survived by his parents and two sisters.

Foot Pursuits: follow the knob

“I’ve got a vehicle stopped at 5th and Mockingbird Lane. Driver just tossed something from the window. Request back up… He’s running! I’ve got a runner!” Suddenly, the radio goes silent, but everyone knows exactly what’s going on. They’ve all been there and done that.

The patrol officer was in the midst of a traffic stop when the driver decided to abandon his car and head for the hills, or wherever it is they think they can go to avoid an arrest. So, Officer I. M. Fast (Well, that’s what’s on his name tag) shoved the shift into park and took off after the wiry, tennis shoe-clad thug. For the record, runners (rabbits, foot-bailers, the guys with happy feet, etc.) are always young, thin, in shape, and wearing tennis shoes. It’s never an easy-to-catch old fat guy in HushPuppies.

A foot pursuit typically begins in an instant. A flash. A blink of an eye. Faster than you can say “diddly-squat.” There’s no time to think things through. No time to plan. No time to run through the mental checklist. No time to remind yourself to do important things, like tell someone which direction you’re heading. Or even to think about routine things, like grabbing your portable radio from the charger. Yep, after twenty strides into total darkness the officer will also remember the flashlight he left lying on the passenger seat next to…dammit, he left his cellphone lying there, too! Therefore, besides the obvious, officers often find themselves alone in what can be a very dangerous situation. Why?

– Bad guys tend to bail out in familiar territory, meaning they know where they’re going, and they often have friends in the area—friends who’ll protect their buddies at all costs, even if that means hurting or killing a cop.

– Unless the officer is in great physical shape (how many older cops have you seen who could win a marathon?) he/she’ll quickly become winded, possibly after only a couple of blocks. Sure, adrenaline will take you a few steps beyond your normal capacity, but not too much further. What that translates into is a cop who’s sucking wind like an antique church organ when he does finally catch the suspect. Believe me, it’s extremely difficult to restrain and cuff someone when you can’t breathe.

– The officer is wearing a ton of gear and sometimes those goofy, shiny shoes. And let’s not forget those spiffy bus driver hats. Think about it…could you run wearing all that? Why would you even want to run while wearing those cool duds?

So what should officers consider before taking the first step in pursuit of a runner?

– Why did the guy run? Is he wanted? Is he dangerous?

– Where are we? Is the area dangerous? What’s around me? Who’s around me? WHY are THEY suddenly around me?

– How far away is backup? Is there backup?

– Did I call for backup?

– What did the guy do? Is it even worth the chase?

– Am I healthy enough to do this?

– What’s around the next corner? Who’s around the next corner?

– What am I going to do with the guy when I catch him? Will I be able to manhandle him all the way back to my patrol car?

– Why not call a canine unit and wait for them to arrive?

Even though any pursuit, foot or vehicle, can be unpredictable, there are are few things that are a bit predictable. Like…

A crook who bolts through a doorway will most likely turn to the doorknob side of the door—doorknob’s on the left side of the door, the suspect headed left. Doorknob on the right, suspect ran to the right. Therefore, an open door and no suspect… Turn toward the knob and set your feet in motion. After, of course, making sure the bad guy isn’t hiding beside the door waiting for you to poke your head through the opening.

Most fleeing suspects, when not running in a straight line, will make one left turn and then all right turns thereafter, if not all right turns. Therefore, when the officer finally reaches a dead end and needs to pick a direction, a right turn will probably be the correct choice.

The cool part of the right-turn habit is that IF the suspect is forced to make several left turns, his only option, then he’ll soon stop to hide. Running counterclockwise is not natural to them. And…those same suspects are more apt to hide on the right side of a roadway (in the bushes, a ditch, the woods, etc.).

Wait, it gets better. If two suspects bail on you and they run in the same direction, the chase won’t be a long one. Two guys almost always stop to hide before they get very far. So, if you catch one guy behind a stack of pallets, stay alert because his partner is probably laying low inside the nearby dumpster, under the rotten cabbage.

Oh, if the driver runs and the passenger remains in the car, forget the chase. Go for the guy in the car. He’ll snitch. Besides, you’ve got the idiot’s vehicle.

– Discarded evidence? They almost always toss it on the right-hand side of the road, path, sidewalk, alley, train tracks, etc.

Lastly, lay off the doughnuts and hit the treadmill. Or, send the rookie after the guy. You can always follow along in your patrol car…

l

I’d been out of police work for several months when the owner of a rowdy extremely rowdy nightclub/bar called to ask if I’d join him for lunch. I thought the request to be a bit odd since I really didn’t know the man, but I agreed to the meeting. Besides, it was free meal in a decent restaurant.

After the usual pleasantries, he got right to the point. He was experiencing a rash of trouble at his club—fights, drug sales, shootings and stabbings—and he needed help to “cool” things down. Not only was the damage to his place becoming expensive, the local authorities were threatening to revoke his business license.

The place definitely had a surly reputation and my initial reaction was to say, “Thanks but no thanks.” However, I was sort having a touch of withdrawal symptoms from missing the many years of sudden bursts of adrenaline pulsing through my tired veins. Hell, I hadn’t been shot at in nearly eight months. Not even so much as someone waving a knife in my direction. Yes, my life had become as dull as a

Castle: at close range

 

“A lot of guys, when they retire, they just…drift.” ~ Detective Kevin Ryan

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Melanie Atkins

I enjoyed this Ryan-centric episode and thought Seamus Dever did a fabulous job. Kudos to him. Parts of the show raced by more like an action movie than a TV show, and those kudos go to the director and the writers, even though I guessed right away that Ryan’s brother-in-law was up to no good. I’d pegged him as the murderer and was glad that didn’t turn out to be the case.

Kate and Rick only played minor parts in this one, so I really don’t have too much to blog about. I’ll leave the case notes Lee and zero in on the big revelation they gave us in the waning minutes of the episode: the disclosure that Kate is apparently studying for the captain’s exam. I doubt many people were too surprised, because her professional restiveness drove much of the action in last week’s episode and affected her connection with the visiting inspector from Hong Kong.

Kate’s decision certainly didn’t surprise me. Sure, becoming a captain would take her out of the field, something the Kate Beckett of three seasons ago would never have wanted, but now things have changed. Moving up the ladder would not only give her more freedom and better office hours, but would also provide more of a buffer between her and the bad guys, making it a better career choice should she and Rick decide have a baby. She doesn’t want to have a child and then get killed like her mother did. Methinks Kate definitely has the idea of a child in mind, but only time will tell if I’m right.

Only five more episodes of Castle this season… and possibly the series. Sigh. Still no word on contract negotiations. I’m keeping my ear to the ground and will let you know if I learn anything about the show’s possible renewal or the cast’s disinclination to re-sign.

The promos for next week’s show made me laugh, so hopefully it’s a funny one. I’m looking forward to some classic Castle.

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Lee Lofland

I agree with Melanie. I thought Seamus played his part extremely well. Not only did he properly represent a police detective, he displayed the sometimes extreme raw emotion that comes with the job. It’s a side of police work the public rarely sees, so for a non-cop actor to deliver a performance of this caliber is, well, nothing short excellent.

I wonder, though, if this episode is a preview of sorts for a spinoff? After all, Dever has been hitting social media pretty hard lately. Hmm…

Hey, did you know that Seamus Dever is cousin to a well-known mystery writer, a writer who’s attended the Writers’ Police Academy a few times?

Anyway, back to Ryan and his role. He was working a private security detail, which many cops do to earn extra money, when a shooting occurred. Unfortunately, the person he was protecting was wounded and the woman standing next to him was killed.

I once taught executive bodyguard training and, believe me, the stakes can be pretty high. It’s not a simple job for simple people. In other words, there’s more to the job than being 7-feet-tall and 350 lbs. So, speaking from years of experience, I also thought Dever handled himself well in this part-time role.

A failed assignment can be extremely devastating for anyone whose duty is to protect someone from harm. Somehow Dever managed to get that across to his audience without speaking a word. His eyes told the entire story in a single scene.

Okay, enough goo-goo ga-ga fawning over Seamus Dever. Let’s delve into the rest of the show.

Everyone knows I’m not a fan of Castle when the writers go for “serious.” They just don’t do it well at all. However, this week had it’s good moments. And, of course, it had the typical Castle-esque mistakes. For example, when Ryan was in the alley preparing to arrest his brother-in-law. He pulled out his pistol and…what did he do? Yep, he racked the slide. NO!!!!!! Cops carry a round already loaded into the chamber. To rack the slide at this point would eject a round out onto the ground. He’d be a “bullet shy of a full magazine,” which is a great description of the writer who pens this sort of thing.

We all knew that Chambers was not the killer because he was the first red herring to plop his butt into the interrogation hot seat. So it was a waste of time for him to utter even a single word. Besides, it was during the limo ride when it became apparent that the politician’s wife would pop a cap into the female assistant. You caught that “clue”, yes? But, as usual, she, too, was merely a typical Castle red herring via the standard boilerplate script.

Using laser trajectory or stringing to determine where the shooter stood when firing the shot would have been a routine act in a case such as this one. Not something unusual or out of the box as they made it appear in the show.

Gates ordered someone to “put out an APB” again this week. These folks switch between APB and BOLO about as often as Kayne West sticks his foot in his mouth. It’s BOLO (Be On The Lookout), unless you’re watching Dragnet reruns, because that’s the era when APB (All Points Bulletin) was popular.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this episode. And to Seamus Dever, Good job!

Oh, would somebody please get Tory a stool. It wears me out seeing her stand throughout an entire episode.

 

A historic train ride through California countryside

 

Denene and I recently turned a lazy Sunday afternoon into a fun excursion into California history. And we did it by riding the rails through the countryside.

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Along the way we were treated to glimpses inside antique rail cars that were once used as main sources of transportation between Bay Area cities, towns, and other points of interest.

So hop on board, but it’s best to have exact change ready.  And please stick around until the end to view a brief video of our ride slow ride through the hills. You may even see…well, you’ll see.

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We enjoyed the scenery while riding an antique electric rail car that used to run its Bay Area route in the early to mid 1900’s. When it reached the end of the line conductors would stop the car to manually turn the power connectors in the opposite direction for the backward return trip. They’d also switch all the seats so that they, too, faced the opposite direction. It took only a matter of minutes to make the switch, as we saw on our journey.

By the way, the windmills you see have the capability of generating enough power to run the city of Fresno. Also, the landowner earns approximately $5,000 annually, per windmill. There are 350 of them in this one area. Fun fact: It takes winds of 6 mph to turn the blades.

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

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Captain Neville Stanley Kealii Colburn, 43

Honolulu Hawaii Police Department

February 23, 2015 – Captain Neville Stanley Kealii Colburn, Commander of the Police Training Academy, suffered a fatal heart attack while participating in his department’s fitness training.

He is survived by his wife, three daughters, a brother, and his mother.

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Trooper Donald R. Fredenburg, Jr., 23

New York State Police

March 13, 2015 – Trooper Donald Fredenburg suffered a fatal heart attack while participating in a training run.

He is survived by his wife, parents, and his brother.

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Officer Darryl Wallace, 26

Clayton County Georgia Police Department

March 15, 2015 – Officer Darryl Wallace was killed in a vehicle crash while responding to a prowler call.

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Lieutenant Richard Woods, 48

Pell City Alabama Police Department

March 17, 2015 – Lieutenant Richard Woods suffered a fatal heart attack while attempting to rescue several teens trapped inside a vehicle subsequent to a serious crash.

He is survived by his wife.

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Patrolman Adrian Arellano

El Paso Texas Police Department

March 18, 2015 – Patrolman Adrian Arellano was killed when his police motorcycle collided into another vehicle while he was leading a funeral procession. The driver of the other vehicle ignored the signals of an officer who was directing traffic at an intersection and drove out in front of the procession, causing the crash.

Winner of 2015 Golden Donut

 

The Writers’ Police Academy is pleased to continue the Golden Donut short story contest in 2015. The rules are simple—write a story about the photograph above using exactly 200 words, including the title (each story must include an original title). The image in the photograph MUST be the main subject of the story. We will not provide clues as to the subject matter of the image, or where the shot was taken. That is for you and your imagination to decide. Remember, though, what you see in the image absolutely MUST be the MAIN subject of your tale.

*Again, the photo above absolutely MUST be the main focus of the story, not just a mere mention within the text.

All stories are to be polished and complete, meaning they must have a beginning, middle, and a twisted surprise ending. Again, all stories must be exactly 200 words. Not 201 or 199! So read the word count rules carefully. Over the years, we’ve seen some excellent tales disqualified due to an incorrect word count.

The Golden Donut contest is judged blindly, meaning each entry is assigned a number prior to sending it to the judges. Therefore, judges do not see the writers’ names.

All entries will be screened by a panel of readers who will select their twelve favorite stories and then forward their picks to the contest judge (To Be Announced). All decisions are final and may not be contested or appealed. After reviewing each of the entries, the judge will notify the Writers’ Police Academy of the winner’s name and story. While the winner will be announced at the WPA banquet, the winner need not be present to win. The contest is open to everyone, not just WPA attendees.

The contest winner receives the prestigious Golden Donut Award.

Submission Guidelines:

Please read carefully!

All submissions MUST be submitted electronically via email to 2015goldendonut@gmail.com. Write Golden Donut 2015 in the subject line.

Click the link below to complete the entry registration form and follow the posted instructions. Entry fee details are there as well.

Golden Donut Short Story Contest

Please include your story within the body of the email. Attachments will not be opened.

 Additionally, a twenty-five dollar ($25) entry fee must be submitted via Paypal BEFORE the entry is emailed.

Contest opens on Wednesday March 18, 2015 (Please do not send any entries before this date).

Submission Deadline: Midnight June 30, 2015 (the precise point in time between 11:59 pm 6-30 and 12:01 am 7-1).

– Any entry not meeting the exact 200 word requirement will be disqualified. You will not receive notice of disqualification. Please be sure your word count is accurate and that all words are counted.

– Hyphenated words, for the purpose of this contest, will be counted as two words, or three, etc., depending upon how many words make up the hyphenated phrase/word. Contractions will be counted as two words (it’s, don’t, etc.).

– Every single word will be counted as a word. This includes: “a,” “and,” and “the.” To be very clear…if it’s a word, count it. If it’s part of dialog and you think it may be a word, count it. If it’s a stand-alone letter or group of letters, count it as a word. If it’s a number, count it as a word. If the number would include a hyphen if written out as a word, then count it as a hyphenated word.

– Entries submitted after the June 30 deadline will NOT be judged.

– Any entry not meeting the exact 200 word requirement will be disqualified.

No refunds for any reason!

Again, all entry fees and stories must be received on or prior to June 30, 2015. No exceptions. There is normally a mountain of entries, therefore, it is a time-consuming process for the judges. We need time to process the entries and to have the award properly engraved and shipped to the WPA.

– Be sure to include your name, address, email address, telephone number(s), and title of your story in an opening paragraph above your story. Then, please include your story, headed by the title.

– There is a $25 entry fee, payable via Paypal. Entries received without the appropriate entry fee will be excluded from the contest. No refunds.

– Each author may submit up to three entries. Each entry must be accompanied by the corresponding entry fee ($25 per story).

– Each author can enter up to three stories. But each individual entry must be accompanied by its own $25 entry fee. (One entry = $25. Three entries = $75, etc.) You must indicate how many stories you plan to submit when you register.

– By submitting an entry to this contest authors agree to allow The Graveyard Shift/Lee Lofland, the Writers’ Police Academy, Sisters in Crime, and affiliates to publish/reprint the story as a part of The Graveyard Shift blog and/or as advertisement for the Writers’ Police Academy or Sisters in Crime, or in other publications and media, including, but not limited to, Writers’ Police Academy books, magazines, newspaper, blogs, ebooks, online outlets, etc. *Sisters in Crime is not a part of the Writers’ Police Academy.

*All rights to all work/short story shall remain the property of the author. The Writers’ Police Academy reserves the right to exclude or delete any entry without cause, reason, or explanation.

– ABSOLUTELY NO profanity or erotica.

Please send questions to Lee Lofland at lofland32@msn(dot)com

So there you have it. Now get busy and take us on a journey that’d scare the pants off Poe himself.

Good luck!

Castle: Hong Kong Hustle

 

“This is going to be fun, this little threesome here…investigatively speaking.” ~ Castle

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Melanie Atkins

I enjoyed this week’s show. I wasn’t sure I would in the beginning, when it started off with Kate’s surprise and frustration over one of her police academy buddies having been promoted to captain at the 92nd precinct. At first I thought she was jealous, but finally I came to understand that she’s merely at loose ends and is ready to dive into the next chapter of her life. IMHO, that chapter started with her marriage to Rick, but apparently she also craves a change professionally as well. Or does she want a baby… or both? Who knows?

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Rick believes Kate has “Patterson Syndrome”, or in other words, that by comparing herself to her peer who got the promotion, she’s comparing apples to oranges and isn’t being fair to herself. She makes the comment that maybe she shouldn’t have left the job in D.C. Except… the DOJ fired her, so she didn’t really have a choice in the matter. I had to roll my eyes at that one. Kate also says she thought she’d be in a leadership position by now. Only, she hasn’t pursued that avenue that I know of. She’s been happy being a detective who brings closure to grieving families. Excuse me. Did the writers already forget all of this? How about a little continuity, huh? This made me want to bang my head on the wall.

Well, enough about my frustration and on to this week’s case, involving a “superwoman” cop from Hong Kong named Zhang, who came to NYC to help a friend in need… and the friend turns up dead in a park. To make matters worse, a jogger identifies Zhang as the person rifling through the victim’s pockets right after the man was murdered. Ryan and Esposito find Zhang in the victim’s apartment. Instead of bringing her in without incident, however, she gets the drop on both of them. I imagined Lee rolling his eyes at that one, since they both lost their guns.

Turns out that Zhang not only heads up a major U.S.-Chinese task force, but also works with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague. In addition, she’s the wife of a handsome Hong Kong TV star, has two perfect kids, and is a martial arts whiz who can apparently take on ten foes at once and lay them all out on the floor without breaking a sweat. In other words, she’s everything Kate wants to be. At this point, I became much more interested in Kate’s restlessness than I was in the case, so I’ll leave that discussion to Lee and keep my focus on Kate.

She and Rick work with Zhang to find out who killed her friend, and Kate asks Zhang how she manages to be all things to all people. Zhang proclaims that the key to success is finding balance in one’s life. Sounds simple enough, but Kate seems to believe she’ll never find that balance.

Later, however, as they dig into the case, Kate learns that Zhang isn’t quite as perfect as she seems. She’s separated from her husband and hardly ever sees her kids. Is that the life Kate wants? Heck, no. Kate wants professional satisfaction, but without jeopardizing what’s most important in her life: her family.

I believe Kate’s reassessment of her priorities is leading up to yet another conversation with Rick about the possibility of them having a baby. This, in turn, may` signal that the series is winding down to its natural conclusion, because Nathan and Stana’s contracts are up and they have yet to sign on for season eight. ABC wants to renew the show for at least one more abbreviated season, but only time will tell if that will happen. Meanwhile, we still have six episodes to go in season seven. I adore the show and don’t want it to end. Yet when it does, I hope they’ll at least give us a satisfying conclusion.

Next week’s episode features Ryan (Seamus Deaver), who gets in a pickle while moonlighting off the job. Can’t wait to see how that turns out.

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Lee Lofland

Well, my job was easy this week because there was so little police work to pick apart. Well, other than the personal side of the job, that is.

Beckett felt inadequate due to the career advancements made by her peers while she continues on as a detective. This sort of feeling among cops is/can be very real. However, some officers prefer to remain in their positions/assignments, bypassing promotions, etc., and their reasons are simple—they love what they do—patrol, traffic, homicide investigations, etc. Moving into a leadership role is not for everyone.

I did question how Ryan knew the killer took the victim’s keys and cell phone. I mean, how could he possibly have known the dead guy had those items prior to being killed? Was there a note/inventory list in the corpse’s pocket that read, “If I’m dead when you find me please know that I had these items in my pocket at the time I was murdered—key ring, cell phone, three Fig Newtons, and an antique shoe horn.”

As far as the rest of the show went…same old, same old. The killer was predictable. Someone lost their gun (actually, Ryan and Esposito lost theirs at the same time).

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Then, as always, someone was kidnapped. Of course, we saw the same tired parade of red herrings have their turn in the hot seat. And, well, blah, blah, blah…

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Spring Unfolds

 

Soon will the lovely spring unfold

Her blossoms to the breeze;

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And give with fruits of green and gold

Temptation to the trees.

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Young April with her silver showers,

And tender tears of dew;

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And beauteous May tho’ blooming bowers,

Their charms again shall shew.

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Delightful Spring are long shall spread

The vale with varying green,

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The strawberry and the cherry red,

In every grove be seen.

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The garden gay and fertile field

Shall gild the earth again;

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This brings its flowers, and that shall yield

The golden glittering grain.

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I love to see the blooming bud

A rich red rose undo;

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The apple blushing as with blood,

The plum with veins of blue.

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To see the long prolific vine

It’s precious product mould;

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And in the Summer’s sunbeam shine

Large grapes of glossy gold.

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The poetry above is an excerpt from The Seasons by Dr. John Lofland, published in The Poetical and Prose Writings of Dr. John Lofland, The Milford Bard (1855).

Lofland, by the way, was a great friend of Edgar Allan Poe.

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*The flower photos were taken yesterday in our backyard.