Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3, Volume 8 | Page 12

L IFE S TORIES BY K EITH B ETTINGER
M ERRY C HRISTMAS D EAR ,
Y OU ’ RE D EAD
It was Christmas morning, 1987. Our three sons had opened their presents
and were busy trying out all their new toys leaving their new clothes scat-
tered around the living room. My wife, Lynn and I had our
traditional Christmas morning breakfast, a New York bagel and a cup of coffee.
A
fter breakfast, I settled in to read
the morning paper and get ready to
go to work at 5:00 o’clock that
evening. I lived within the confines of the
precinct, so I volunteered to man the Crime
Control Unit’s office for the 5:00 pm to 1:00
am tour. The boss had told me, come to
work and make sure nothing is going on.
Switch the office phones over to the pre-
cinct desk and leave the desk officers a
phone number where I could be reached
and don’t forget to take a hand-held radio.
As I opened the newspaper, I read that a
newlywed, Lisa Solomon, disappeared from
her apartment late Christmas Eve night. It
seems she and her husband, Matthew, had
settled in for their first married Christmas
Eve dinner of lobster tails and champagne.
Somewhere in the course of dinner the
husband reported that they she went for a
walk and never returned. He said he had
checked the neighborhood and called fami-
ly members, but to no avail. He finally
called 911 to report his wife missing.
I looked at Lynn and told her I was go-
ing to be busy on my shift. With skeleton
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
crews working, I would be teamed with the
investigators handling the case.
While I was looking at the paper, Lynn
asked what I thought happened. I told her I
thought the young lady was dead.
When I got to work, all the investigators
assigned to the precinct that evening met in
the detective squad’s office. Officers and
detectives were teamed up and plans were
made to canvas the neighborhood, asking
everyone if they had seen or heard any-
thing unusual that Christmas Eve. The can-
vas produced nothing but a feeling that foul
play had been committed and it happened
very close to home.
The search for Lisa Solomon continued
day and night to no avail. Finally, on New
Year’s Eve, her husband, Matthew suggest-
ed searchers concentrate on a large vacant
field, filled with briars and thorns, along an
unlit dark road.
The searchers worked their way a short
distance into the field and came across
large black garbage bags. When detectives
opened the bags they found the body of Li-
sa, the Christmas Eve newlywed, dead. The
P AGE 7
F ALL 2018