Calliope, February 2010 -- 17th Annual Calliope Fiction Contest

"Grave Consequences"

Pages 28-32

Mark Sauer finds himself holding an ugly secret when it comes to being asked to find out why someone would steal a John Doe's body out of the Manhattan South morgue.

Another story in the ongoing Fifth Precinct series of stories, this one looks how the love-hate relationship between Private Eye Mark Sauer and bounty hunter/assassin Joi Li has grown.

The story placed in the top three of the 17th Annual Calliope Fiction Contest, in which the theme was "North, South, East and West" -- all entries had to use one of the cardinal points. This story was unique among the entries in that I chose to mention not just one, but all four cardinal points in the story: "Manhattan South", "the north end of Roosevelt Park", "In the West" and "the Far East".

But the four cardinal points is only the most obvious cookie in the story. There are actually three more: a tip of the hat to a famous mystery author, a reference to a one of the coolest inner-city scams ever pulled off, and an homage to a long-forgotten detective series.

The story can be read on-line at Calliope Magazine.