Ozzie despised his twin brother, D.I. Boris Moss. He had always lived in his brother’s shadow, or so it seemed to Ozzie. Boris was older by half an hour, and was always the responsible one, even as a child. Boris used to take charge of situations, hence why he was nicknamed “Bossie Moss”.
As a teenager Ozzie was the reckless and rebellious one, the one with ideas, usually wild, which Boris had always scuppered. Ozzie wasn’t surprised when his brother announced he was joining the police force, but that was not for him. He resisted discipline. He was a wild child, a free spirit, wanting to do his own thing. He left school as soon as he could and got a job as a trainee mechanic in a local back street car sales and repair centre. He was mad on motorbikes and soon saved up for a Harley Davidson. He never married, preferring to play the field. Being good looking and fit like his brother he was never short of a girlfriend.
Years later Ozzie had progressed from being a trainee mechanic in a back street second hand car dealers. The business had by this time progressed to a big dealership and moved to a prestige site in Bedford. He had eventually taken over the running of the business while the unhealthy owner, who was already over retiring age, was able to take life easier. Ozzie had his own agenda. The owner, Jack Appleby, had no family to leave his business to and had indicated that he would leave it to Ozzie in his will. That was part of Ozzie’s plan.
The other part of his plan had been in operation for years. Ozzie was making plenty of money of his own by cooking Jack’s books. Many cars had passed through Ozzie’s hands that were never even recorded in Jack’s books. With Jack spending less and less time on site it was easy for Ozzie to buy motors from various dubious sources and sell them on without Jack even knowing they had been on site.
He would record the purchase of a second hand car from an auction at a the price than he actually paid, he couldn’t get away with doing anything else, but when it came to the sale he would record it as being sold for far less than he was actually paid, getting the punter to pay cash to enable a “manager’s discount” to be given. Usually his deals involved a part exchange of an old banger as well, which would not go through the books at all.
Ozzie was careful not to draw suspicion to his lifestyle. He did not live in a property that was more than his salary could afford. He had an offshore bank account that he was using for his ill-gotten gains. He had a second identity, as Mark Patterson, and was investing in properties under that name, renting them out through a letting agency. The income from that enterprise was building up nicely.
Ozzie intended retiring at fifty, but he had to make sure that by this time he had inherited Jack Appleby’s business. He didn’t think that he would have long to wait. Jack had always been well overweight, a smoker and a drinker. Getting around was a struggle for Jack, hence why he hardly ever called in to see how business was progressing.
By the time Ozzie was 48 Jack was dead. He’d had a massive heart attack, which came as no surprise to his doctor. As promised Jack had left the business to Ozzie. After Jack’s solicitors had sorted out his estate, Ozzie was the owner of Appleby’s Motors, which he very soon had the name changed to Moss Motors.
Months ago Ozzie had fallen out with his twin brother, Boris in Oxfordshire, who had by then progressed in the police force to Detective Inspector. Boris had accused him of selling on dodgy cars. Although Moss Motors was not actually on Boris’s patch, Ozzie knew that Boris would not let matters rest and that Boris would do his best to investigate Ozzie’s activities. He knew he had to be very careful and make sure that Boris was dealt with before he found anything to pin on him.
Creative Writing homework March 2016 – Develop an Antagonist for the Detective Story
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