Inventor of the wheel, murdured!
August 10, 10,000BCE the inventor of the wheel was found dead. The local medicine man puts the time of death to within 24 hours but insists this is preliminary until he consults with the spirit of the deceased. The body’s been identified as Zuzu. It was discovered by a fellow tribesman in a terrible state, Zuzu’s stomach split open, insides hanging out as if a gutted deer. The murder weapon, a spear, lying nearby.
Everyone feels disturbed. Although the medicine man gives assurance that he can deflect any ill givings, some worry Zuzu’s tortured spirit will roam the village and cause food to spoil and mothers to miscarry. The entire tribe has motive for the murder. Everyone demanded Zuzu stop making tools that disrupt trade with their neighbors.
Lu Beau, the tribe’s strongest man, goes on record to say, “Zuzu wouldn’t listen to reason. Our people are bigger than others. We carry the kills of their hunters further and faster, and that puts deer above our cook fires. This ‘wheel’ would toss our superiority. That guy would gut our easy life.”
Zuzu is survived by worldly possessions such as a hut, a wife, and daughter, all of which will be shared within the tribe per custom. But many fear attracting bad spirits if any possessions, especially by chance the wife or daughter, are given to Zuzu’s killer. To lop the head from their problem, the eldest has enlisted aid of a nearby tribe and trading partner, to decide who killed Zuzu.
Even this wise plan has caused concerned! Many have misgivings at inviting an outsider into this. Maru, the eldest’s son, has said on record, “This Zarina is a willful and stubborn woman who hasn’t the common sense to just pick the lowliest member of the tribe whom everyone would be glad to wear the goat’s cape and be rid of.” Maru went on to say, “She insists on asking lots of questions and is not a likable woman. It’s too bad we can’t implicate HER so this entire matter is quickly settled.”
More on this developing story is available in Caveman Noir, in the October issue of Crimson Fog.
