Detective Story

[good4somethingbum]

Detective Story ©2015 Robert George BMI

Beth has battle hardened nipples from her hungry brood
So she likes to leave the light on when she’s in the mood
We were spent and smiling and her sheets were warm and damp
Smoke rose up from my Winston like a genie from a lamp
She asked me to stay for broccoli and left over fish
Then the precinct called like someone granting me a wish

At my age a man can get reflective
Wond’ring if this town still needs a good detective

I walked in The Happy Hookah down on Main and Third
Owner lyin’ dead beside a cut-out of Big Bird
Hell, the place was wall to wall with crap that crossed to kitch
Bongs and psychedelic posters of the Wicked Witch
Though the joint was ransacked and he’d busted through the door
Who knows if the killer got what he’d been lookin’ for

It’s a rare thief who can be selective
So I checked for wall safes like a good detective

There were Mystic Pizza posters signed by Annabeth Gish
Lifelike plastic replicas of Bronson’s gun in Death Wish
And a slug pulled from Dutch Schultz’s Model T Ford
I was lookin’ at some bloodstained marble sea horses
When I got word not to waste department resources
On the spaced out hippie owner of a novelty store

I’d suspected justice was defective
But that confirmed it for this good detective

I thought long and hard about my future and career
I had savings and had put in over twenty years
Although Beth had one more bratty girl who lived at home
It was time to get a place we all could call our own
We were wed and found a house for next to nothing down
Then took over payments for a business there in town

And though my decisions were subjective
Instinct always drives a good detective

We fixed up The Happy Hookah and we got it clean
Working toward a grand-reopening on Halloween
Beth’s young daughter mostly texted, popped her gum and yawned
I thought there was nothing there she’d care about or want
Then she grabbed a paperback of Twilight off a shelf
And inside she found Detective Comics #12

Innocence is often most effective
Now that young girl wants to be a good detective

Well, our fam’ly made a bundle off that comic book
Sometimes life is hidden where you wouldn’t think to look
One night Beth slipped into bed while wearing Bobbin lace
She moved closer and she kissed me softly on the face
I asked if she’d leave the light on and I took her hand
I can see her beauty clearly even if she can’t

At my age a man can get reflective
And a tender lover is a good detective