The Tenth Frame

The cold open

Two in the morning at Starlight Lanes, where the smell of lane wax and stale draft beer hangs thick under amber neon. Morris Danvers lies face down across the hardwood approach of Lane 10, his skull shattered by a single brutal blow from a heavy blunt object. Behind him, the mechanical sweep bar is stuck mid-cycle, clicking rhythmically over a spreading pool of crimson.

The victim

Morris Danvers, 58, bowling alley owner and underground bookmaker

The lineup

• Russell Thorpe
• Travis Gantry
• Marlo Keene
• Patricia Holcomb