“How are you going to find her ― when she left the island in fifteen pieces?”

15 Pieces

True Detective published my fourth true crime story in its January 1992 issue.

The editor titled it “She Left the Island in 15 Pieces.”

The Virgin Islands’ first prosecution without a body – She left the Caribbean island of St. Thomas in 15 pieces.

At the time I was teaching algebra, geometry, and trig at Country Day School – an expensive private school – on the island of St. Croix. Rather than risk getting fired for writing a murder story, I used the pen name Steven Barry by flip-flopping my first name and middle name.

15 Pieces is available in eBook form and also in audio form on the America’s Best Crime Magazine podcasts.

It’s the fourth story, of six, in my Caribbean Collection of stories – all true murder cases that took place on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Puerto Rico.