NaPo 07 #20: Crime of Passion

You can tell I'm churning them out. This one leaves me 3 days behind:

Crime of Passion

It was a strange case
all round. This guy walked
through my door one afternoon,
rope trailing from his neck. 'You
need the work,' he said, 'and I
need the work doing.' So we sat
and talked for an hour, suspects
and letters and failings
and stuff. He seemed upset,
a sad smile painted over
unshaved cheeks. 'He told me
to do it,' he kept repeating,
as if the jingle of his assertion
could set history straight.
But the shekels shackled him
to the time and place. 'You
need to see the bigger story,'
he told me, standing to move
as the cock struck sundown.
'Anyone can get their hands
nailed to a plank of wood!'
And there it was: the jackass
trade-off. Folks will do
the most deviant things
for a dance with
old Dame Fame.