Proof of absence

‘He couldn’t have done it,’ Miller said, staring at the blood-stained floor.  ‘There’s no evidence he was here.  No fingerprints, footprints, fibres, DNA, nada.  And we found nothing on him or at his place.’

‘The absence of evidence is evidence of absence, not proof of absence,’ Carter replied, opening a kitchen cabinet.

‘What, you’re Sherlock Holmes now?  Without evidence we have no proof; no conviction.’

‘You’re missing the point.’

‘Which is?’

‘He wasn’t here.’

‘That’s what I’ve been telling you.’

‘But that doesn’t mean he’s not responsible.’

‘You’re clutching at straws, Carter.’

‘But are they metaphorical straws or absent straws?’




A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words.