A Snitch in Time by Don Nigroni

The first time I realized I was gifted was in high school. A mean and nasty bully stole the school mascot’s costume. Nobody, but me, knew who did it. So, I told the coach that I saw Jon do it. They searched his locker but never found that suit.

Nonetheless, he was put on detention for two weeks but only stayed after school once. On the second day after the incident and after his first and only detention, he punched me in the face and was expelled.

He claimed he never stole the costume and called me a liar. But I knew he did it even if I didn’t actually see him doing it. But I could just tell and, after he attacked me, everyone else knew he did it too.

Regardless, it wasn’t until I went to college that I cracked my biggest case yet. The victim’s body was found lying on the ground by her car in the student parking lot. She had been strangled shortly after midnight by a scarf she was wearing. Her body was discovered by campus security during their regular rounds.

The victim was popular enough but she didn’t have a boyfriend. It seemed a random act to everyone, including the police. But I knew Joey did it. I could just tell. He was always high and played loud music in our dorm.

Two days after the murder I told the police I couldn’t sleep the night of the homicide and was downstairs in the common room studying. I reported that a little after midnight I went upstairs and that’s when I then saw Joey hurry pass me saying nothing and looking agitated.

Of course, he claimed he was in his room asleep that fateful night when he killed that co-ed. But shortly after being interrogated by the police, he died from a drug overdose. Everyone then knew he was the murderer.

However, weeks later the victim’s uncle was arrested based on DNA evidence. When I was charged with making a false statement to the police, I pointed out that finding a person’s DNA on a relative’s body wasn’t really all that unusual.

Anyway, on the advice of my lawyer, I pled nolo contendere and was sentenced to two years in prison. But I think I’m going to like it here. There’s a lot of shenanigans going on and I can just tell who’s doing what nefarious deed. I plan on gathering lots of interesting material during my stay. And these notes will be invaluable when I get out of here and write a book about my life. My working title is “A Snitch in Time” but I wouldn’t be surprised if Hollywood comes up with something different.

Don Nigroni is a retired labor economist with a master’s degree in philosophy from Notre Dame. His flash fiction has appeared in Ambit, Asymmetry Fiction, Mystery Tribune, Theme of Absence and 365 tomorrows.