Hafsa Khan Detective Fiction

BURDEN OF THE PAST

I. Intro: HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis: When leading to the history behind an investigation there are always at least two sides to the story
leading to the murder or investigation of a victim, the victim’s side of the story and the one who is an accomplice
in putting the victim into hardship. This instigator always wants to protect their family leading to the downfall of
another and to protect their reputation. For In the Bleak Midwinter, Vaughn Fowler murdered Katie to try to
prevent his son from ruining his life so he killed the very person that put his son in that position, Katie and anyone
who knew too much about the investigation, Darrell McWhorter. By contrast, in The Last Policeman, Mr. Littlejohn
killed Peter Zell because he was stealing vast quantities of medications from pharmacies and as a director of
Spiritual Services, not only would this effect his reputation in society but he knew the marriage with Sophia
Littlejohn would also end before the world did. So to protect both his marriage and his image, he killed Peter Zell
who found out about his secret business.

II. In the Bleak Midwinter

A. Mr. Fowler—“I’m trying to save my son from himself. He’s already fumbled badly by getting that girl pregnant
in the first place and then not insisting she have an abortion. He was going to walk away from everything.” (pg.
299)

Analysis:

This quote reveals Vaughn Fowler’s motive to kill Katie was to protect his son from ruining his life by raising a child
at such a young age. His previous sons all attended West Point Academy and he intended for Wesley to do the
same. With Katie pregnant, Mr. Fowler knew that his son would quit and transfer to a university closer to Katie,
SUNY Albany and work to support the baby. To save his son from ruining his future and the destruction of the
family reputation, Vaughn eliminated the very center of this whole problem, Katie.

B. Mr. Fowler—“The only way to deal with an enemy is to take him out. Period. Otherwise, you’ll never know
when he’ll jump back up and bite you in the ass.” (pg. 298)

Analysis:

This quote gives you a glimpse into the mind of Vaughn Fowler. He doesn’t think of killing Katie as a murder but a
protective mechanism to protect his family from societal embarrassment. In his mind, if there’s a problem you
eliminate the root of the problem. In his murderous mind, he didn’t believe in letting Katie live because to him, he
knew Wesley wouldn’t let go of her and the baby and neither would Katie, so he decided to eliminate the enemy
once and for all to avoid the chance of Katie ruining Wesley’s life.

C. Mr. Fowler—“No one understand sacrifice these days. No one appreciates what it is to put your duty to your
family or your service first.” (pg. 300)

Analysis:

This quote reveals the personality of Vaughn Fowler. To him, protecting his family and reputation with members of
the Church, he’s willing to killing anyone who is willing to jeopardize that. To Mr. Fowler, as a parent, he knew
what taking the decision of Wesley raising a child would do to his future, and risking his future for a girl to Vaughn
Fowler was not worth the cost of putting your career and image at risk.
III. The Last Policeman

A. Detective Hank Palace—“The director of Spiritual Services, in this time of desperation and wildness, has
remained at his post, a trusted and constant figure, a rock. And he was, as of November, stealing vast quantities of
medicine.” (pg. 288)

Analysis:

This quote reveals that for Mr. Littlejohn, being an esteemed figure that people can look up to at a time where the
world is about to end is a lot of pressure. When he falls under desperation and steals medication and supplying it
to Toussaint, anyone who found out about this would but his image at risk and when Peter found out, he had to
eliminate him before the world found out about Mr. Littlejohn’s true nature.

B. Detective Hank Palace—“You knew you had to kill him”

Analysis:

This quote reveals when Hank Palace to the conclusion of the motive behind Mr. Littlejohn killing Peter Zell, he
found out about Mr. Littlejohn stealing and supplying medication and this would ruin his image specifically for his
wife, who held him at a pedestal and looked to him in this time of need.

C. Detective Hank Palace—“Peter would have told Sophia. In fact he had called her for that purpose the next day,
Sunday March 18.” (pg. 292)

Analysis:

This quote reveals the protection of a loved one, in this case of Sophia Littlejohn who looked to her husband when
dealing with the grief of not being able to depend on her parents for support and losing contact with her brother.
To Mr. Littlejohn, Peter would tell Sophia all about this secret business Toussaint had with him and this would ruin
both his image as a director of Spiritual Services and as a husband, and this would lead to the destruction of their
marriage at a time when both husband and wife needed to stick together for their child where the world is about
to end. He’s the caretaker of his family, and before Peter could break away this image and destroy his marriage, he
killed him.

D. Critical commentaries—See the “Clues to Research Sources” file on Blackboard

1. J.C. Gatlin—Motives behind a Murder

“To protect a loved one. You would do anything for your kids, including murder if someone was hurting one of
them. Well, so would your Antagonist. And sometimes loved ones moves beyond family, or even people.”

Source: http://jcgatlin.com/writing-a-murder-mystery-motives-for-murder/

2. Larry Greenemeier— Personality of the Murderer

“Mind you, these individuals are not out-of-control, enraged people. They just use their cognitive control
mechanisms in the service of a disturbed goal. The cognitive control capacities of the subject get somewhat
redirected—we don't quite understand how—toward goals and activities that are violent in a very specific way.”

Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/anger-management-self-control/
IV. Actual cases showing different relevant motives for murder

A. October 9th, 2017:

The murder and attempted murder case against an Eastern Cape woman, arrested after she killed one man and
wounded two others who she allegedly found raping her daughter, has been struck off the roll.

Source: https://www.enca.com/south-africa/woman-who-killed-alleged-rapist-of-her-daughter-wont-be-charged

B. September 6th, 2017:

The body of Emely Peguero, a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was found in a suitcase on the side of the
road on Friday. Fetal remains were found in the body of Peguero—who was confirmed to be five months
pregnant—and tests also showed that her uterus was punctured and she suffered a blunt blow to the head,
according to the Attorney General of the Dominican Republic. The horrific tragedy has caused countrywide outrage
and international attention.

Source: http://people.com/chica/pregnant-dominican-teen-killed-stuffed-suitcase-allegedly-by-boyfriend-and-his-
mom/

CONCLUSION: Why is your essay worth reading? What is its overall significance? Add an example from an actual
case or current real news story relevant to your discussion to illustrate the close connection that detective fiction
holds to life as we live it.

The significance of these two stories, In the Bleak Midwinter and The Last Policeman reveal an important aspect of
the ideas that occur in the mind of a murderer. When it comes to family, many could kill to protect their loved
ones whether it come at any cost. This is truly scene in the cases discusses above where a mother kills the rapist of
her daughter and where the mother and son of another case killed a young pregnant girl to protect themselves
from societal embarrassment. It’s important to realize that killing another to protect a family member will not
dissolve problems but will rather make things worse. The rush of emotions one has when being a parent and the
affection towards one’s own children should not blur judgment leading to the conclusion of killing another’s child
in the process of saving your own. Detective fiction brings this moral to reality, that in both novels, the killers
suffered their fate by either dying or being sent to prison. No matter what, the victim will receive justice in
different forms. Katie received justice when Mr. Fowler was killed at the hands of the police and Peter Zell received
justice when Mr. Littlejohn was arrested months before the world is about to end to suffer his last days within
prison bars. It’s hard to distinguish reality when reading about detective fiction but these novels still leave us at an
important conclusion, We get the seed we breed, if our seed is bad in itself, the flowering of plant will be just as
bad. The killing of anyone will backfire in some way to the murderer physically, emotionally, and through the
justice system of the law.