Storytelling Week 5: Sinbad the Suspect

Detective Casey looked over the file presented to him. Some officers had picked up a disheveled man with several large, high-quality diamonds in his possession. According to the report the man had approached the officers offering some diamonds in exchange for passage home. Further investigation of the diamonds had led back to a jewelry store robbery a few blocks from where they arrested the man. They also had reports from a local airstrip showing a stowaway in a small plane matching their suspects description. Immediately when the officers arrived back at the precinct with him, several detectives had passed him off to the next one. Unfortunately when he arrived at Detective Casey, there was no one left to pass him on to. Detective Casey let out the breath he was holding and entered the interrogation room. He sat at the table across from the suspect.

“So, Mr. Bad is it?”

“Sinbad, it's all one name.”

“Ah, yes, Mr. Sinbad. Can you tell me how you came into possession of these diamonds?” Detective Casey gestured to the diamonds in evidence bags on the table.

“Same way I told everyone else, I found them.”

“Where exactly did you find these millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds?”

“In a diamond field of course. Where else would I find them?”

"How did you arrive at this diamond field?"

"Oh, that's where the giant bird I was attached to landed."

The detective took a deep breath. "Perhaps it would be best if you told your version of events in their entirety from the beginning."

"Alright, if you insist. I am a merchant, responsible for the import and export of certain goods. I was traveling around looking for new goods to bring back with me. We stopped off at a small island for a short break. While there I fell asleep on the beach, and when I woke up the ship had left me there! I ran all around the island looking for some way to get their attention. That's when I found the giant white boulder that was very soft to the touch."

"A soft boulder, you say?"

"Yes! Only it wasn't a boulder at all! It was an egg! I had found the nest of the great Roc bird! Soon enough the bird itself returned to the nest. Here is where I saw my opportunity. I tied myself to the bird's foot so that when it next took flight it would take me with it. Sure enough, the next morning the bird left its nest and flew far away. When the bird landed, I untied myself and ran off to the side. I discovered soon enough that I stood in the middle of a field of snakes! The bird killed some and took them back to its nest. I took refuge in a cave for the rest of the night. The next morning I took a look around where I was. As I walked along I noticed several beautiful stones. I realized that I had to be in the field of diamonds! I knew other merchants came here all the time and I might be able to find some to help me get home! I gathered up as many stones as I could find and put them in my pockets, hoping that I could use some of them to secure my passage home. Luckily, it didn't take long for me to  find some other merchants. However, once they discovered that I had some diamonds, better quality than their own I'm sure, they became extremely jealous and attacked me! They rudely shoved me to the ground, restrained my hands, and tried to take my diamonds from me. Then they brought me here over what I am sure is a ridiculous misunderstanding that I now have to relate to you."

"I see. Thank you for that explanation, Mr. Sinbad. We'll get someone to take you back to your room now and hopefully by the morning we can get this all straightened out."

Sinbad smiled like that was the best thing he had heard all day. "It's nice to finally speak to someone who has some common sense!"

Detective Casey stood and exited the room letting out a huge sigh. His partner, Detective Hughes, came to stand beside him.

"So, what do you think he took?" she asked.

"I have no idea. Whatever it was that he took I hope it's worn off by morning."

"Regardless, we have enough to book him for stowing away on the plane. It was a small plane from Roc Airways. Then we've got the surveillance cameras showing him breaking into and stealing diamonds from the jewelry shop. We also have the statements from the officers he ran into whom he offered to trade the diamonds to for a ride home."

"Finish up the processing paperwork, and then we'll come back and deal with the rest of this in the morning. I'm going home. I've had enough of this for one day."

"See you tomorrow then."

(The Valley of Diamonds, by M. Parrish)

Author Note: This story was inspired by The Second Voyage (Part 1, Part 2). To be honest I had no idea what I was going to do with this story. When I was just about to fall asleep, the idea of Sinbad trying to explain his voyage in a police interrogation came to me, I rolled over, texted a note about it to myself, went back to sleep and when I woke up I decided to run with it. The story that Sinbad tells to the police is the original story from Sinbad's second voyage. In the original story he did in fact get stranded on an island, find a giant egg, tie himself to the leg of the giant bird the egg belonged to, go to the valley of diamonds, encounter some other merchants and using diamonds he gathered he was able to negotiate passage home. I chose to make it seem like the whole thing was a delusion he had. I tried to incorporate the details of what really happened in my story fit along with the delusion such as the valley of diamonds actually being a jewelry store and the Roc bird actually being a small plane from Roc Airways. The image I chose depicts Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds and is an illustration of the original story.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).