Bit to Do

After indulging in a three-course meal at Rosie’s Juice Joint - a colorful salad, a thick piece of pecan-crusted chicken over a bed of rice, and the classic ol’ derby pie – Notorious Nick Nemetz, the North Side mob boss, stood up and made an announcement: he was marrying the local sleaze, Molly Mol. Such an announcement caused quite a roar, particularly by Nick’s sister, Natalie, who thought Molly Mol was, in her very own words, a “hussy.” To further stir the pot, Natalie Nemetz revealed her own shocking secret: she was dating Southside Sal, South Side mob boss and Nick’s archrival. Chaos ensued, and before anyone could gather their thoughts, the lights suddenly dimmed. What is going on, I thought. Before I could connect the dots, several rounds of bullets rang out, accompanied by screams of terror. When the lights returned, there lied Notorious Nick on the floor, dead from several gunshot wounds. No one knew who fired the fatal shots, but it was everyone’s job Saturday night to find out.

The night began with a grieving Rosie Marie, owner of the Juice Joint, welcoming all of us to her establishment. She had recently lost her husband, Louie Marie, whose body was found floating in the local river. Little did we know that someone else would get the axe that night. As a savvy flapper, I had the privilege of sitting next to some of the city’s heavy hitters, including the city's most beloved politician, a revenge-minded Anna Marie (Rosie’s daughter), Natalie Nemetz, and good ol’ Southside Sal - to name a few. It was an interesting sitting arrangement with sly Sal being quite the hoot. 

After the murder, everyone had their own suspicions, but it was up to us to dig up the dirt on our own (and cough up the right amount of money). There was a lot of bribery, blackmail, and extortion that night, but nothing out of the ordinary for the Juice Joint. There were even some threats made, and no, I’m not very proud of it. Thankfully, we didn’t have to do all of the work, as a private investigator on the scene collected and compiled the evidence for our review. As I took a look at Exhibits A-D, my self-proclaimed detective skills were put to work. And surprisingly, I knew exactly who murdered Notorious Nick.