The Murdered Mirror Mystery
Media provided by Grace maintenance.
A fictional whodunit inspired by the true case of the shattered mirror in the third-floor bathroom.
It was a cold, cloudy day. The smell of burnt toast, black coffee, and ominous malice hung heavily over the scene of the crime.
The victim — a standard-size rectangular mirror — lay broken and defiled in the middle of the bathroom floor. It happened sometime around 7 am on September 13th, 2021, during the first week of classes — or, at the very least, that was when they found the poor glass. Thing was completely shattered on the ground — a gruesome sight, to say the least. But, aside from the victim and general time frame during which the mirror was forced into the great glass furnace in the sky, nobody knew anything.
Of course, that’s why I was brought in; I am, after all, a private eye with a knack for these types of cases: the ones nobody else was willing to reflect on.
I started by examining the crime scene — the first thing I noticed was that there didn’t seem to be a central point for where the shattering occurred. This ruled out the possibility of the mirror being struck by someone; it had to have been dropped. I also noted that the way the mirror’s shards lay on the tile was far too erratic for this to have been natural. As such, I was able to determine that foul play was involved.
I continued looking around the bathroom, trying to find anything as I went. This was when I found perhaps my most interesting clue: the spot where the mirror used to hang. The clean, dirt-free, rectangular spot stuck out like a sore thumb from the weathered drywall beside it. I nearly dismissed this cleanliness as unimportant, but that was when I remembered that in any crime, whether it be murder or a robbery, there are often signs of a struggle. Scratch marks, a spot of blood, a forgotten or discarded item . . . anything that would indicate the whole event didn’t happen smoothly. That was the thing — I couldn’t see any signs of struggle whatsoever.
Of course, considering it was a mirror, the only signs of struggle would’ve been the shattered glass we already found. Even so, there was nothing to indicate that the perpetrator had any trouble committing this truly heinous crime. Prior to its untimely demise, the mirror seemed to have been hung on to the wall with spots made of an adhesive substance of some sort — an adhesive that seemed to have been carefully separated from the mirror during the act. This confirmed something important for my case: this person knew what they were doing. They likely planned this out beforehand and knew when the mirror would be left unattended so that they could remove it quickly and quietly. This wasn’t perpetrated by any amateur; we were dealing with an adept criminal.
I was snapped out of my investigative trance by the police chief. He asked me what I found and I recounted my musings. As I spoke, I realized that one thing didn’t add up; why did the perp drop the mirror? Based on the evident skill they must possess to even remove the mirror from the wall in the first place, it seemed unlikely that they would’ve dropped the mirror by accident. No, it had to have been intentional. But… why? Why drop the mirror? Why go through all of that trouble just to immediately shatter it?
Upon reflection, only one thing made sense; perhaps, this was yet another case of what I believe the kids are calling a “devious lick,” a TikTok trend where teenagers steal or damage school items. I sighed and began mentally closing the case; there was nothing more I could do here. All I could hope for now was that this person would strike again and that they wouldn’t be as careful with their next “devious lick.”