The Red Runway

The Red Runway is the first short story in the Victor King Saga.

## Summary

A murder in an airport. A successful businessman dead. A considerable amount of mud and blood and ink. The truth is for Victor to find.

## Plot

### Part One

A detective named Victor King is at home making his morning coffee when he gets a call from his colleague, Summer Holland, telling him there has been a murder at Oxford International Airport. Victor races over to the police station in a taxi, where he briefly encounters the distraught driver who claims his boyfriend is missing. Once at the station, Victor is told of the case: a successful businessman named Dawson Fisher has been shot in the chest. His body was found on the runway. Victor and Summer then ride to the airport to find it under lockdown.

Victor inspects the body which has been moved to the staff room and he finds some mud under the chin, as well as a pen in Dawson's pocket, and a receipt for two drinks at the airport bar the night before. After he makes to turn on the light but finds he can't, it appears that the power is cut. Victor travels to the Air Lounge, where Dawson dined, and finds that the power is cut there too. He learns from a staff member that the whole airport lost power last night. Victor also finds that Dawson Fisher dined with another man that night, though there did not seem to be any problem. After making to check the CCTV footage, Victor finds that the power cut stopped there from being any.

Next Victor interviews the manager of the airport and together they go down to the electrical room where they turn on the mains, but there is still no power. They then find that a cable is snapped and broken with some mud on. A table is in the corner smudged with ink. Victor realises Dawson Fisher must have been strangled with the cable, though he is unable to explain the ink at that point.

### Part Two

Victor interviews the man that Dawson Fisher dined with, a groovy character called Freddie Blacks. Blacks claims to be an old friend of Dawson saying they used to own businesses together, but they had not met in quite some time. Victor thanks the man before going out to the runway and finding a considerable amount of blood which would not be expected from a gunshot wound to the chest. He looks around and finds a bloody spade hidden near a luggage carriage.

He and Summer find out from the manager that the maintenance lad, Mark Quere didn't show up to work this morning and the manager says he was queer, which they eventually find is because of his homosexuality. Victor suddenly connects this with the taxi driver in the morning and tells Summer to speak with Pal's Taxis and also to send police men out with shovels to search for another body.

Meanwhile, Victor heads to a marquee positioned on the runway and he finds a third body buried under the floorboards. It has a brand new phone and an empty bag, nothing more. He alerts the other officers before returning to Summer and leaving the taxi driver a voicemail. Then he goes back inside to interview Freddie Blacks again but he knocks into him and accidentally drops his papers. Victor makes to pick them up, but suddenly seems to realise something.

### Part Three

Victor rushes to the staffroom and tells Summer what he saw: documents signed by Dawson Fisher that signed the business over to Freddie Blacks. Victor pieces the evidence together and reaches the conclusion of Black's guilt and that he forced Dawson to sign over the business at gunpoint before shooting him. He then invents a plan to arrest him after realising Blacks must still have the gun, and he tells Summer to do something, though we do not know what. Meanwhile, the taxi driver returns the call to Victor, who informs him that Mark Quere is likely dead.

Victor then goes to interview Freddie Blacks in the Air Lounge, where they both are given drinks. Victor confronts Blacks, telling him he knows what he did, and Blacks pulls a gun to his head. They have a brief argument before Blacks asks if he has any last words. Victor confidently tells him he wishes to make a toast to their great minds for creating and solving such a case. Blacks mockingly agrees, and they both take a sip of their drinks. But Freddie's is drugged, and he falls unconscious to later be arrested. Victor's plan was for Summer to tell the Air Lounge to drug Blacks.

### The Murder

Many years ago, Freddie Blacks designed a fashion brand to use in a 50-50 business with Dawson Fisher. However, Dawson stole the idea and became rich off of it. Blacks wishes for revenge.

Blacks learns that Dawson is returning from the airport, so he goes there to meet him for dinner. Beforehand, he tells an old friend called George Hazel to ring him in the middle of their dining as an excuse to leave. Sure enough in the middle of their dinner, George calls, giving Blacks a perfect excuse to temporarily leaves. When he does he rushes to the electrical room and pulls a gun on the maintenance lad, Mark Quere, ordering him to shut the power off. Quere is then hit over the head with a spade, presumably to make little noise.

Blacks carries the body out without a worry of CCTV and he buries it outside the airport before heading to the marquee where George Hazel was stationed. He then kills him too, to ensure his silence, and buries him under the marquee, all before returning to dinner with Dawson. At some point, he lures Dawson out and down to the electrical room where he strangles him with a power cord to threaten him, before pointing a gun to his head and ordering that the business be signed over to him. Dawson worriedly obliges but Blacks shoots him anyway, presumably outside. He goes to bury the body but is interrupted when the corpse is discovered, forcing him to flee and hide the weapons around the airport.

## Characters

* Victor King
* Summer Holland
* Travis Morde
* Officer Sean
* Officer Dean
* Officer Clarke
* Officer Ryan
* Officer Calvin
* Officer Bruno
* Officer James
* Dawson Fisher (deceased)
* Air Lounge Waitress
* Alfie Barnes
* Freddie Blacks
* Mark Quere