Date: 10/20/33

Case#42312

Subject: Clint Ripley

Age: 43

Sex: MCause of Death: Suicide

Personal Report by Detective Jonathan Walker

The subject was found collapsed at his desk in his office with the following items on his desk: A bottle of sleeping pills with two pills left inside, a manuscript and an empty glass with traces of scotch contained therein. I have recorded statements from three of his neighbors who know little more about him than his name. All accounts paint him as a paranoid recluse, a man who caused no trouble for his entire twenty year stay at this residence. The subject was clearly a minimalist with only a kitchen, bathroom, an office and his bedroom in use. The other four rooms were boarded off and appear to have been for the last twenty years. In his office were thousands of novels and textbooks on a wide variety of subjects. I found it odd to find topics varying from Applied Quantum Mechanics to Gardening for Dummies. There was also a whole section of books on relationships and marital advice. Records indicate that the subject had never married and his neighbors claim to have never seeing anyone visit him.

This is the first suicide case that I have felt the urge to write about in my personal records. In most instances I have used this journal as a method of taking my work home with me and breaking down a hard case with little or no evidence. I have no suspicion that there is any chance of foul play being involved, but I can’t seem to shake these thoughts that have held my mind hostage for the past six hours. The cover sheet to his manuscript caught my eye and once I began reading, I found myself unable to stop.

A Sand Dollar A Dream

! ! !

By Clint Ripley

I dream of her who transcends reality.

May, 20 2013

Anna was relaxing under the shade of a tall palm tree while reading a thick

hulking book that was encased in a tan leather jacket. She was frowning at the

open book and lifted her head as I approached.

! “What are you reading there?” I asked her.! “Just another incomplete book, you know, the one of the many you never finish but I happen to like?” She lifted the book up so I could see the last page of text followed by several blank ones. Her eyes were hidden behind a freakishly

large pair of sunglasses that gave her a stern aura of authority. I sighed and

cocked my head to the side so I could make out the title on the spine. Gone With

the Wind. I hadn’t read that book since the tenth grade, it was so horrendous that I couldn’t make it past the first hundred pages. I opted for the Cliff notes and got by with a B minus on my paper. ! “You’re going to make me read it, aren’t you?”! “How does it end?”! “Oh, let’s see,” I turned and faced the lapping waves of the ocean and

watched a hermit crab scurry towards a discarded Twix wrapper and carry it back

into the sea. “Scarlet ‘O Hara is really a big nasty black widow spider hiding in a

Sunday dress and peacock feather hat.” I turned back to Anna who didn’t appear convinced. “She eventually reveals her true nature to a dashing gentleman by the

name of Clark Kent who marries her but keeps a can of bug spray in his vest in

case she decides to feed.”A smile formed on Anna’s face. I knew I was safe for the moment. Nothing calms the female condition like a little well timed humor, but, time it wrong and you’re

totally screwed.

! “So let me get this straight,” she stood and began to walk towards me.

“She’s a spider, who marries a Kryptonian, and the prenup consists of a miniature

can of bug spray?” I put my arms around her neck and smiled back. “The Cliff

notes are a viable option.” She whacked me over the head with ten pounds of tightly bound paper.

! “Promise to read it, or I’m leaving you out here for the hermit crabs to

collect.”! The prospect of being carried away by thousands of angry little

crustaceans gave me the bonafide willies. “I promise.” When she turned and

started walking towards the lighthouse at the other end of the island, I quickly

rubbed the top of my head before she could see that it actually hurt.