Matt started working at
The Globe back in 2005 during the investigation surrounding the assassination
of Carlos Mendes. Since then Matt has been working for the Globe and has played
a key role in solving three major crimes. Every week Matt writes a weekly
column on crime that is being committed in Jefferson City. Just recently Matt had been investigating
the misuse of funds in the Jefferson school district and he found, that one of
the principals Mr. Wilson used the money to buy himself a new car. Matt published his findings in the newspaper
unknowing that Mr. Wilson was Matt’s editor’s brother-in-law.
It
was two days before Christmas and Matt and some of his co-workers were attending
an office party. Matt had to leave the party early because he wanted to
straighten things up at his desk before heading home for the holidays. When he
got to his desk there was a heap of paper’s stacked upon his desk. He began to
clear off his desk when he noticed that there was a slip on his desk. He opened
it up and read it:
Due to budget constraints your position
has been eliminated. Your last day with The Globe is December 31.
Matt became frustrated
by this news and stormed out of the office building. Questions began
sprawling through Matt’s mind. How could
The Globe do this to me? Why me? Why not
somebody else? Did I do something wrong to deserve this?
Then a rather vengeful
idea slipped into Matt’s mind, he would figure out a way to destroy the
building to get revenge on The Globe. As he masterminded his plot on how we
would destroy the building something unexpected happened… Matt ran away from
the building in which he had spent the last five years of his life.
He began to breathe
heavily as he ran away from the building. Every breath he took became deeper
than the last. He could hear the sirens behind him piercing at the night air.
He gasped for air as he began to slow down as he drew father away from the crime
scene. He began to convince himself that
he was responsible. He wanted something to happen and it did. Panic filled
inside Matt’s conscience as he continued to run. What will I do? Where will I go?
Then Matt remembered his old friend Nick who he knew that he could trust
with anything so he decided he called Nick and told him he was coming over.
Matt and Nick have been
best friends ever since grade school and
they had gone through many challenges throughout the years they have known each
other. Throughout their lives they have had each other’s back. Most recently Matt assisted Nick in writing
his essay for his application for the Jefferson Police Academy. In high school
Matt was kicked off the track team and Nick quit the team in protest. Matt had
the highest respect for Nick and he knew that Nick would help him get out of
this situation.
When Matt reached his
friends Nick’s apartment he passed out from pure exhaustion. Nick dragged Matt
over to the couch and put a blanket over him. Later that night Nick thought he
heard something coming from the other room. When he entered the room he heard
Matt mumbling. I did it… the fire… I got to get away.
The next morning Matt
woke up from a dream. Matt looked to the
right and noticed the newspaper lying on the table. He read the headline story:
Suspicions Fire at the Globe suspected arsonist.
Matt then said to Nick
“We have got to get out of town.”
“Well why man?” Nick
asked.
“I’ll explain later,
come on let’s get out of here.” Matt
said.
As Matt and Nick began
to leave the town Nick started asking questions to Matt.
“Hey man so last night
when you passed out, you started mumbling something about a fire and that you
did it and you had to get away, did you start the fire at the Globe?” asked
Nick
“I don’t remember what really happened last
night, everything that happened to me is a blur.” said Matt.
“Would’ve there been any reason why you
would’ve started the fire at the Globe?” asked Nick.
“All I can remember is that me and my
coworkers where having a Christmas party.
I left early to tidy things up at my desk before heading home for the
holidays. When I got to my desk there was….” Matt face became pale as he
realized what he had done.
“What the matter man? Why are you so pale? Do you remember what happened after that man?”
“I did it man.” said Matt.
“You did what?” asked Nick with a concerned
voice.
“ I think I might have burnt down the Globe” said
Matt.
For a while Matt and
Nick sat in silence, not speaking a word until the radio broke the silence: Breaking news Jefferson’s City’s Fire chief
has determined that the location in which the fire started that burnt down the globe
was in the 4th floor in the corner office. The source of the fire is
still yet unknown.
“Hey man don’t you work
on the fourth floor in the corner office?”
“Yes I do, I’ve worked
their ever since my office moved up stairs.”
“So you really believe
that you burnt down the Globe?”
“Yes I think so. Let’s head over to the lake house and stay
there until things settle down.”
The lake house was a
tucked away cottage off of Lake Vermillion that Matt and Nick would always run
away to when they faced a problem. The
cottage had two bay windows and a red door. The siding of the house was once a
light blue but it started chipping off from old age. When you would enter you
would see that there was a gigantic room. In the center of the room there was a
stone fire place. There were also two red chairs and one large velvet grey
sofa. The sofa had once been soft to the touch however over the years moths had
gotten into the cottage and started eating away on the fabric.
Matt and Nick spent the
next few days at the cottage as they tried to figure out what to do.
Nick finally says to
Matt “I don’t believe that you burnt down The Globe. I think you’re just over
analyzing this situation.”
“A part of me wants to
be able to believe that I didn’t burn down The Globe, but there is just
something that is holding me back from remembering the truth.”
“That’s called fear man
when you pull yourself back from uncovering the truth. You’ve convinced yourself
that you burnt down The Globe, when in fact you don’t actually know if you did
it or not. There is only one way to find out.”
“I thought you had my
back man, why would I turn myself in just to be caught?”
“I truly believe that
you didn’t burn down The Globe. I think that your fear is what is making you deceive
the truth, you were laid off and that’s a lot to take in at once and yes you were
angry but that doesn’t necessarily mean you did it.”
“Are you sure this is
the right thing to do.”
“Yeah man I got your
back, as long as you explain what happened I am sure that police will
understand and all of this will be resolved.”
Matt and Nick headed
back into Jefferson City and went towards the police station. As Matt and Nick
drew closer and closer to the police station Matt’s heart began to race. He
began to question whether or not this was a good idea. Matt thought to himself:
Should I really turn myself in? I mean
are they really going to believe that I didn’t do it? Because if I go about and
tell them that I had thoughts of burning down The Globe that would give them a
reason to believe that I had a motive to burn down The Globe. Matt’s
thoughts were interrupted by Nick’s voice:” We are at the station man.”
Matt hesitantly sat
there unsure of what to do but then he decided he’d go in with Nick. When Matt entered the police station with Nick
everyone in the station stopped what they were doing and a dead silence filled
inside the station. Matt then spoke and explained what had happened but before
he could finish explaining Matt’s editor came bursting through the door’s and said
“I think I might have burnt down The Globe.”
Soon people began to
whisper and wonder who in fact burnt down The Globe. The police chief came into
the room and took both Matt and his editor into separate interrogation rooms.
Matt waited Matt’s editor explained why he believed he burnt down The Globe. “I
was smoking a cigar when I heard that the owner of The Globe lay off Matt. I
was very upset with this because Matt was the one of the best writers this newspaper
had ever had. I remember I left my cigar in the cigar tray when I left to go
speak to the owner.”
“It has been determined
that the cause of the fire was from a cigarette. What type of cigarette do you
smoke?” asked one of the detectives.
“I smoke Westbrook’s.”
“The type of cigarette
was Weston’s your off the hook for now we’ll be right back.”
When the detectives
entered the room Matt’s heart began to race. Matt explain to them what had
happened.
“Do you smoke?”
“No I don’t why?”
“The cause of the fire
was from a cigar.”
Relief filled inside
Matt as he knew he wasn’t responsible. The detectives left the room and went back
into the room where the editor was.
“What type of cigar did
you say that started the fire?”
“Weston’s”
The editor’s face
became pale white as he realized who burnt down The Globe. He then said to the
detectives “I know who burnt down the Globe, my brother-in-law.
I remember as I headed over to where the owner office was I ran into him and I
saw that he had that brand. He had lost his job shortly after Matt had
published that story, hence his motive. ”
