Adventure at the Cemetery
1. Stanley sat waiting in the dark, gloomy room, tapping his feet impatiently for the arrival of his friend. Two more days and he would free from all his debt and retirement in an exotic place with a huge mansion. Suddenly, the screeching of brakes, the squealing of tyres and the usual crash against the wall broke his train of thoughts. The door slammed and a disheveled man lumbered into the room. He nearly tripped over the rug and knocked over a bottle of water. Stanley gave him a disapproving look and retorted, “Tom, if you carry on like that in a drunken state, both you and I will be in hot soup.” Tom apologized and immediately pulled into a chair and was given a cup of water. After taking a big gulp, Stanley peered at him and asked, “News?”
2. “Not very good news I afraid,” Tom replied after catching his breath. “The surroundings were clear the whole day but after sunset I could see three boys hanging about the cemetery just beside us.” Stanley’s forehead immediately creased with worry. He did not like meddling children to be around, especially the next day. After a few minutes of silence, furrowed eyebrows gave way to a smile as he instructed Tom, “Get two pieces of white tablecloth and some phosphorus paint, and we’ve got a job to do”.
3. It was dark and kind of chilly as the duo sneaked behind a massive headstone. They sprayed generously on the tablecloths with the phosphorus paint until they gave off eerie glows. They started to dance wildly in the centre of the cemetery with the tablecloth draped over their bodies, at the same time making eerie noises; confident that the three boys would be scared.
4. In the thick hedge, the trio of boys, Jack, Alex and Peter’s eyes were transfixed on the very spot where the apparitions were waltzing away. Fear showed on Alex’s face, only to be transferred to Jack’s. They shouted in unison, “Ghost!” and ran off in a flash towards the main road. Peter had his doubts but walked briskly after them. Along the way, he could feel shadows lurking around some tombstones. “No! There are no such things as ghosts!” he muttered to himself as he quickened his pace. Near exit of the cemetery, Peter saw his two friends heaving and panting away with wild look in their eyes. Back at the cemetery, the strange thing was that the ghosts seemed to be cackling.
5. “What do you think, Peter?” both Alex and Jack chorused. “Look here, we are here at the cemetery during this Hungry Ghost month so that we can have the thrill of meeting ghosts, so why are two of you so afraid?, Peter reasoned. “I suggest we go back to investigate!” The look on the faces of Jack and Alex told it all. “Fine with me,” Peter said, “I’ll go there myself!” and with a contemptuous look stalked back to the cemetery.
6. Peter was all alone at the cemetery where they last saw the ‘ghosts’ and nothing seemed to be stirring after an hour. He decided to call it a day when he caught a glint of light coming from a supposedly haunted house beside the cemetery. The curiosity got the better of him and without a second thought he got onto his fours and started crawling towards the house. His sixth senses were still picking up movements and shadows nearby the houses but he ignored them as he was more interested in what was in the house. He nestled himself next to a windows and heard people talking.
7. “We really did scare them didn’t we? You are a real genius!” Tom laughed as he heaped praises on Stanley. “Don’t get complacent over a little success. We still have the deal tomorrow to think about, “ Stanley retorted. “Go to sleep now and get rid of the light. We don’t want to attract attention, do we?”. The light went out and silence descended.
8. Peter met Alex and Jack at the school canteen the next day. Despite what happened the night before, they both looked quite spirited as they pestered Peter to share his exploit. Peter stared at them with a mocking grin and recounted what had happened. “Let’s see what they are up to!” Alex blurted out and Jack immediately agreed. “Suddenly you are so brave,” Peter teased them.
9. After school, the trio spied on the house and nothing happened until sunset. Alex had just bought some burgers for dinner and they were settling down next to a huge tombstone to eat when the sound of a car broke the silence of the night. They spotted a sleek black car drive up to the front of the house and two burly men emerging from it. They then entered the house quickly. Quick as a flash, trio sneaked to the window.
10. “Well Stanley, let’s have the stuff!”, the older of the burly man in long jacket grunted. Stanley plonked down two large travel bags on the table and unzipped them to exposed bags of white powdery stuff. “Money?”, Stanley countered, “ these are top grade stuff from Thailand.”
11. It quickly dawned on the boys that there was an on-going drug deal. The event was turning out to be more serious than they could imagine. “Does anyone know how to stop those guys from getting away?” Peter whispered in an urgent tone. “Allow me!” Alex suddenly said. With great stealth, Alex sneaked behind the car and punctured two of its tyres, letting it lean slightly backwards. “There! Now, we call the police!” instructed Peter as he whipped out his hand phone. “Not so fast!” hollered the man in long jacket brandishing a revolver at the doorway. The boys froze in terror and knew that they had it this time. “Tie them up and bury them in one of the graves”, the man ordered his partner. Jack fainted on hearing this while Alex started to wet his pants.
12. “Bang” a cackle of the rifle went off and the man in jacket suddenly froze. He dropped his revolver as blood oozed down his forehead. “Freeze! Police! You have been surrounded!”, the loudhailer blared while floodlight zeroed on the house. Knowing the consequence of arrest, the men tried to make a run for it but none of them managed to escape as police officers piled on them.
13. When the smoke cleared, the officer-in-charge in his SWAT outfit walked over to us. Jack had just recovered his consciousness and kept on asking if he was in heaven. Peter had to wacked him a times just to really wake him up. Meanwhile, Alex looked utterly ashamed in his wet pants. “Next time do not take matter into your own hands OK? You could have been killed!” the officer chastised us. “We have been observing them since yesterday and did not keep you away as we thought you were their accomplice,” the police officer added. Peter realized that the shadows in the cemetery and funny feelings that he had been watched the night before were all due to the presence of Police. It looks like the Police were ahead of them after all.(1197 words)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
MSS24-Solomon Chann
The case of the murdered wife
1. She was showering in the middle of the night, in a hotel waiting for a guest.
2. “Ding Dong!” The doorbell rang.
3. “Hold on! I’m coming!” She said as she put on her bathrobe.
4. He entered the room and smiled ominously: “Could you come out to the balcony with me? I have to tell you something important,” she followed him out into the dim moonlight, curious what was going to happen.
5. He pushed her off the balcony, the fingertips barley holding on to her weight. He punched her fingers with brute force, causing her to plummet down 20 floors to her doom…
6. During the period of the murder, a famous private consultant for the police, Herman Cress, went out to see a play at the community center featuring his assistant’s daughter in a play. They sat down in their seats, getting ready for the play to start. While waiting for the play to start, the detective’s assistant saw someone in the V.I.P. area: “Hey! That’s Areola Comuston, that famous critic! Oh my god I hope he gives Julie a good review!” Herman decided to go to use the bathroom to kill some time before to show started. He went into the bathroom and a man in a suit was standing there greeting him. “Who are you?” “Me? I am the men’s bathroom assistant.” The detective stared in amazement and was very pleased with his work.
7. He returned to his seat and by then, the show had already started and his assistant’s daughter was singing on stage. In dim light, he glanced at Areola and he was staring at his watch. “He doesn’t seem too interested…” “I hope he doesn’t go too hard on Julie.”
8. The next day, the police came to investigate on the case and Herman came too. It was room that was a usual one, there was a chocolate strawberry on the table half-bitten, and two potted plants with leaves dropping, and a suicide note with newspaper words. The captain briefed them on what happened,: “Suicide, Female Caucasian 5’7’” “Hold on, I don’t think she killed herself, you can see those plants, one of them has an over excessive drop of leaves and you can see traces of soil in the carpet if you strain your eyes closely, there was a struggle.” “So she was murdered, but how?” Herman’s assistant asked. “I don’t know…”
9. When they left they building, Herman’s assistant, Natalie bought a copy of the newspaper and she was shocked beyond words. The newspaper read: ‘A completely forgettable voice that kept me bored and a song that seemed like forever sung by Julie Teeger.’ “What? How could he say that? Hold on, I’m going somewhere. Meet me at home!”
10. She stormed into his office, made an immediate complaint to Areola, and had a word with him.
11. When she went home, she said: “He’s the guy, I know it, the hotel was only two blocks away, he could have run out back and murdered him. He also had a paper bag for his lunch; it was from the same place as the bag at the hotel.”
12. “Natalie, I know he wrote a horrible article about your daughter, but really? Do you have any proof that he did it?”
13. “And you know that bathroom assistant, he also works for Areola, an inside job, there has to be a connection. That is why you’re here.”
14. “Fine, if you feel so strongly about it, we’ll go talk to him.”
15. They brought him into the interrogation room and started questioning him: “ Where were you during the period of the concert?” “Well, as you know, I was in the V.I.P. area, I’m sure that there were many witnesses that saw that I never left.” The detective silenced for a period of time and thought deeply. Areola sighed and said while staring at his pocket watch: “Well, if that is all, I really have to go now. I’m late for a meeting. “I guess there is no evidence or even a lead to whether a murder even happened.” His assistant said: “Well, then we’re going to the theater to find out how he escaped.”
16. They went to the theater and looked around with the theater manager, Herman looked around and said: “Excuse me, your light switch in the V.I.P. section is broken.” “Sorry, we’ll fix that as soon as possible.” The detective thought for a while and said: “I think I know how he did it, it’s a theory, but I can get evidence.”
17. On the very same night, the bathroom assistant was helping Areola carry some boxes down to the office when all of a sudden, ‘Bang!’ a piece of lead piping hit him at the back of the cranium.
18. The next morning, they went to investigate on this case. “What? Two murders in two days? This is definitely not coincidence and I think I can arrest Areola not just for one, but two murder cases.” said the detective.
19. They all went to the office of Areola and Herman explained what happened: “For some reason, you were having affairs with your wife and we probably will never know what and why, you wanted to murder her, but you needed an alibi. So you bought a room in a nearby hotel so you and your wife could ‘have sex’. But somewhere in the middle of the process, you realized that there would be too many eyewitnesses, wouldn’t they notice if you left? So during the performance, you asked if the bathroom assistant could take your place for a few minutes. No one would know you left or even swapped places with another guy because the light was broken, no one could see who it was. But when the police started interrogating you, you got nervous; they would eventually figure it out and ask the bathroom assistant? So you murdered him.” “Hold on. How can you prove any of this?” “One, during the performance at some point, you were wearing a watch. But during interrogation, you took out a pocket watch and there was nothing on your wrists.” “True, but so? This doesn’t prove anything, I am a very rich man, I have many watches.” When Herman heard this, he stepped aside and showed him a girl; she was dress elegantly, as if in moonlight. “This girl is the evidence to you murdering that woman. I want you to take a good look at her and tell me what you think.” “What do you mean? I am a 100% sure that I have never seen her in my life!” “Are you sure?” “Yes. Yes I am.” “Well, we have a lot of witnesses here, because this is the girl that was on stage that you wrote your review on that had a solo on stage, you weren’t there, were you?” He was sent to jail for life and 400 hours of hard labour. (1149)
1. She was showering in the middle of the night, in a hotel waiting for a guest.
2. “Ding Dong!” The doorbell rang.
3. “Hold on! I’m coming!” She said as she put on her bathrobe.
4. He entered the room and smiled ominously: “Could you come out to the balcony with me? I have to tell you something important,” she followed him out into the dim moonlight, curious what was going to happen.
5. He pushed her off the balcony, the fingertips barley holding on to her weight. He punched her fingers with brute force, causing her to plummet down 20 floors to her doom…
6. During the period of the murder, a famous private consultant for the police, Herman Cress, went out to see a play at the community center featuring his assistant’s daughter in a play. They sat down in their seats, getting ready for the play to start. While waiting for the play to start, the detective’s assistant saw someone in the V.I.P. area: “Hey! That’s Areola Comuston, that famous critic! Oh my god I hope he gives Julie a good review!” Herman decided to go to use the bathroom to kill some time before to show started. He went into the bathroom and a man in a suit was standing there greeting him. “Who are you?” “Me? I am the men’s bathroom assistant.” The detective stared in amazement and was very pleased with his work.
7. He returned to his seat and by then, the show had already started and his assistant’s daughter was singing on stage. In dim light, he glanced at Areola and he was staring at his watch. “He doesn’t seem too interested…” “I hope he doesn’t go too hard on Julie.”
8. The next day, the police came to investigate on the case and Herman came too. It was room that was a usual one, there was a chocolate strawberry on the table half-bitten, and two potted plants with leaves dropping, and a suicide note with newspaper words. The captain briefed them on what happened,: “Suicide, Female Caucasian 5’7’” “Hold on, I don’t think she killed herself, you can see those plants, one of them has an over excessive drop of leaves and you can see traces of soil in the carpet if you strain your eyes closely, there was a struggle.” “So she was murdered, but how?” Herman’s assistant asked. “I don’t know…”
9. When they left they building, Herman’s assistant, Natalie bought a copy of the newspaper and she was shocked beyond words. The newspaper read: ‘A completely forgettable voice that kept me bored and a song that seemed like forever sung by Julie Teeger.’ “What? How could he say that? Hold on, I’m going somewhere. Meet me at home!”
10. She stormed into his office, made an immediate complaint to Areola, and had a word with him.
11. When she went home, she said: “He’s the guy, I know it, the hotel was only two blocks away, he could have run out back and murdered him. He also had a paper bag for his lunch; it was from the same place as the bag at the hotel.”
12. “Natalie, I know he wrote a horrible article about your daughter, but really? Do you have any proof that he did it?”
13. “And you know that bathroom assistant, he also works for Areola, an inside job, there has to be a connection. That is why you’re here.”
14. “Fine, if you feel so strongly about it, we’ll go talk to him.”
15. They brought him into the interrogation room and started questioning him: “ Where were you during the period of the concert?” “Well, as you know, I was in the V.I.P. area, I’m sure that there were many witnesses that saw that I never left.” The detective silenced for a period of time and thought deeply. Areola sighed and said while staring at his pocket watch: “Well, if that is all, I really have to go now. I’m late for a meeting. “I guess there is no evidence or even a lead to whether a murder even happened.” His assistant said: “Well, then we’re going to the theater to find out how he escaped.”
16. They went to the theater and looked around with the theater manager, Herman looked around and said: “Excuse me, your light switch in the V.I.P. section is broken.” “Sorry, we’ll fix that as soon as possible.” The detective thought for a while and said: “I think I know how he did it, it’s a theory, but I can get evidence.”
17. On the very same night, the bathroom assistant was helping Areola carry some boxes down to the office when all of a sudden, ‘Bang!’ a piece of lead piping hit him at the back of the cranium.
18. The next morning, they went to investigate on this case. “What? Two murders in two days? This is definitely not coincidence and I think I can arrest Areola not just for one, but two murder cases.” said the detective.
19. They all went to the office of Areola and Herman explained what happened: “For some reason, you were having affairs with your wife and we probably will never know what and why, you wanted to murder her, but you needed an alibi. So you bought a room in a nearby hotel so you and your wife could ‘have sex’. But somewhere in the middle of the process, you realized that there would be too many eyewitnesses, wouldn’t they notice if you left? So during the performance, you asked if the bathroom assistant could take your place for a few minutes. No one would know you left or even swapped places with another guy because the light was broken, no one could see who it was. But when the police started interrogating you, you got nervous; they would eventually figure it out and ask the bathroom assistant? So you murdered him.” “Hold on. How can you prove any of this?” “One, during the performance at some point, you were wearing a watch. But during interrogation, you took out a pocket watch and there was nothing on your wrists.” “True, but so? This doesn’t prove anything, I am a very rich man, I have many watches.” When Herman heard this, he stepped aside and showed him a girl; she was dress elegantly, as if in moonlight. “This girl is the evidence to you murdering that woman. I want you to take a good look at her and tell me what you think.” “What do you mean? I am a 100% sure that I have never seen her in my life!” “Are you sure?” “Yes. Yes I am.” “Well, we have a lot of witnesses here, because this is the girl that was on stage that you wrote your review on that had a solo on stage, you weren’t there, were you?” He was sent to jail for life and 400 hours of hard labour. (1149)
Monday, April 11, 2011
MSS23-Timothy Soepadmo
1. It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning. Neither Mrs. Granger nor her husband had to go to work. Mrs. Granger was getting very excited as this was the day that she could retaliate for what her husband had done. Lately, her husband had been completely ignoring her and forgetting about her. He had spent very little time with her, although it was not because his workload was heavy. Instead, he had been hanging around with friends until 3am in the morning lately. Mrs. Granger had been so upset and heartbroken by him. And today, she decided to get rid of this unloving and uncaring husband of hers. While going through the process in which she had planned to kill her husband and pretend that nothing had happened and to cover up for the crime, that usually calm and sweet face and harmless eyes had shown an evil expression with the intention to use violence or kill.
2. Mrs. Granger woke up an hour earlier than usual to make breakfast without her husband seeing. That day, she had planned to make bread with marmalade jam and a nice hot cup of coffee. After brewing the coffee, she poured the coffee into two cups and poured some cyanide into one of the cups – the one meant for her husband. After that, she proceeded to make the bread.
3. Just as Mrs. Granger had finished spreading the marmalade jam on all pieces of bread, her husband woke up. “Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?” Mrs. Granger asked.
4. “Well, I slept soundly. What is for breakfast this morning?”
5. “I have made you a fresh cup of coffee and some nice marmalade bread. I knew you would like this.”
6. “Mmm, this smells great! Thank you, darling!”
7. After that, Mrs. Granger and Mr. Granger started to dig into their breakfast. They had kept quiet for most of the time. Unfortunately, after Mr. Granger had finished his bread and his cup of coffee, he suddenly went unconscious and fell to the floor with a loud thud. She hurriedly cleared up all the plates, washed them, and went back to bed, making the house look like nothing had happened and that an unknown person came into the house and killed Mr. Granger.
8. After about one and a half hours, Mrs. Granger woke up again. She repeatedly told herself to stay calm while reporting to the police and not to reveal to the detectives directly that she had killed Mr. Granger. She also told herself to cover up and not make it seem that she had killed her husband. Those eyes that were filled with hatred and evil intentions would now have to seem worried and scared. She calmly approached the telephone and telephoned the police department. She told the operator her home address, and asked him to send the investigators quickly.
9. Soon after, the policemen came together with a detective and a doctor. He was wearing a brown coat and hat, and had a moustache. He also wore a pair of black sunglasses. “My name is Detective Gil Grissom. Nice to meet you.” The detective took off his sunglasses and shook hands with Mrs. Granger. He then proceeded to take a seat on the couch together with Mrs. Granger.
10. “Now tell me exactly what happened,” Detective Grissom asked.
11. “I... I was in bed when my husband woke up,” Mrs. Granger replied, “I could feel him getting out of bed but I continued to sleep. When I woke up, I tried calling him but there was no reply. I felt that something was strange. So I went to the dining room and found him lying on the floor near the table. I tried to whisper into his ears but there was still reply. That was when I decided to call the police.”
12. “Hey, Grissom, there does not seem to be any wound or stuff like that,” one of the policemen announced.
13. “Is he dead?” Mrs. Granger asked in an uncertain voice.”
14. “He seems to be dead to me,” the doctor said. “I think that he had most likely died of poisoning or natural causes like heart failure or stuff like that.”
15. “Did your husband have any underlying health problems?” Detective Grissom asked Mrs. Granger.
16. “I guess so,” Mrs. Granger replied. “He was a heavy smoker and smoked a cigarette thrice a day. He would also hang out with friends and drink alcohol.”
17. “I think I am going to send this body to the lab to find out the cause of death,” the doctor said.
18. “Great. Thanks, Doctor Robbins,” Detective Grissom replied. Soon after that, the doctor left together with the policemen, leaving Gil Grissom and Mrs. Granger alone in the house.
19. “Do you mind if I take a look around the house while you stay here?” Detective Grissom asked Mrs. Granger.
20. “Nope, you can have a look around my apartment as you wish,” Mrs. Granger replied. Hence, Detective Grissom started scavenging the house for anything he thought could have been the murder weapon.
21. When Detective Grissom opened one of the kitchen cabinets, he discovered a can of cyanide, or rat poison. He took the can of cyanide and brought it to Mrs. Granger. He asked her, “What do you use this can of cyanide for?”
22. “Oh, 3 months ago my house was infested with rats, but now although there are no more rats, I still keep the can.” Mrs. Granger said.
23. Just then, Detective Grissom had received a call from the doctor. “Grissom, autopsy results have shown that Mr. Granger was killed by … cyanide.”
24. “Thanks, Robbins. I will follow up.”
25. Detective Grissom then turned back to Mrs. Granger. “Looks like your husband was killed by the same substance. Was this bottle of cyanide used to kill your husband?”
26. “No, I mean, I do not know. I was not the one who killed him.”
27. “I think that I will send this can of cyanide to the lab to check for fingerprints. I will come back tomorrow afternoon to tell you the results. Goodbye for now.”
28. The next day at noon, Detective Grissom arrived at Mrs. Granger’s house. After Mrs. Granger had opened the door and invited him in, Grissom said pointing to the can of cyanide, “Only your fingerprints were found on this can of cyanide. It all comes down to one statement: you had killed your husband.”
29. “Yes, I did,” Mrs. Granger admitted. “He had lately been not caring for me and I decided to kill him to get revenge.”
30. “Mrs. Granger, you are coming with me to the police station. Further action will be taken against you there.” Grissom proceeded to handcuff her and bring her to the police station. (1133)
2. Mrs. Granger woke up an hour earlier than usual to make breakfast without her husband seeing. That day, she had planned to make bread with marmalade jam and a nice hot cup of coffee. After brewing the coffee, she poured the coffee into two cups and poured some cyanide into one of the cups – the one meant for her husband. After that, she proceeded to make the bread.
3. Just as Mrs. Granger had finished spreading the marmalade jam on all pieces of bread, her husband woke up. “Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?” Mrs. Granger asked.
4. “Well, I slept soundly. What is for breakfast this morning?”
5. “I have made you a fresh cup of coffee and some nice marmalade bread. I knew you would like this.”
6. “Mmm, this smells great! Thank you, darling!”
7. After that, Mrs. Granger and Mr. Granger started to dig into their breakfast. They had kept quiet for most of the time. Unfortunately, after Mr. Granger had finished his bread and his cup of coffee, he suddenly went unconscious and fell to the floor with a loud thud. She hurriedly cleared up all the plates, washed them, and went back to bed, making the house look like nothing had happened and that an unknown person came into the house and killed Mr. Granger.
8. After about one and a half hours, Mrs. Granger woke up again. She repeatedly told herself to stay calm while reporting to the police and not to reveal to the detectives directly that she had killed Mr. Granger. She also told herself to cover up and not make it seem that she had killed her husband. Those eyes that were filled with hatred and evil intentions would now have to seem worried and scared. She calmly approached the telephone and telephoned the police department. She told the operator her home address, and asked him to send the investigators quickly.
9. Soon after, the policemen came together with a detective and a doctor. He was wearing a brown coat and hat, and had a moustache. He also wore a pair of black sunglasses. “My name is Detective Gil Grissom. Nice to meet you.” The detective took off his sunglasses and shook hands with Mrs. Granger. He then proceeded to take a seat on the couch together with Mrs. Granger.
10. “Now tell me exactly what happened,” Detective Grissom asked.
11. “I... I was in bed when my husband woke up,” Mrs. Granger replied, “I could feel him getting out of bed but I continued to sleep. When I woke up, I tried calling him but there was no reply. I felt that something was strange. So I went to the dining room and found him lying on the floor near the table. I tried to whisper into his ears but there was still reply. That was when I decided to call the police.”
12. “Hey, Grissom, there does not seem to be any wound or stuff like that,” one of the policemen announced.
13. “Is he dead?” Mrs. Granger asked in an uncertain voice.”
14. “He seems to be dead to me,” the doctor said. “I think that he had most likely died of poisoning or natural causes like heart failure or stuff like that.”
15. “Did your husband have any underlying health problems?” Detective Grissom asked Mrs. Granger.
16. “I guess so,” Mrs. Granger replied. “He was a heavy smoker and smoked a cigarette thrice a day. He would also hang out with friends and drink alcohol.”
17. “I think I am going to send this body to the lab to find out the cause of death,” the doctor said.
18. “Great. Thanks, Doctor Robbins,” Detective Grissom replied. Soon after that, the doctor left together with the policemen, leaving Gil Grissom and Mrs. Granger alone in the house.
19. “Do you mind if I take a look around the house while you stay here?” Detective Grissom asked Mrs. Granger.
20. “Nope, you can have a look around my apartment as you wish,” Mrs. Granger replied. Hence, Detective Grissom started scavenging the house for anything he thought could have been the murder weapon.
21. When Detective Grissom opened one of the kitchen cabinets, he discovered a can of cyanide, or rat poison. He took the can of cyanide and brought it to Mrs. Granger. He asked her, “What do you use this can of cyanide for?”
22. “Oh, 3 months ago my house was infested with rats, but now although there are no more rats, I still keep the can.” Mrs. Granger said.
23. Just then, Detective Grissom had received a call from the doctor. “Grissom, autopsy results have shown that Mr. Granger was killed by … cyanide.”
24. “Thanks, Robbins. I will follow up.”
25. Detective Grissom then turned back to Mrs. Granger. “Looks like your husband was killed by the same substance. Was this bottle of cyanide used to kill your husband?”
26. “No, I mean, I do not know. I was not the one who killed him.”
27. “I think that I will send this can of cyanide to the lab to check for fingerprints. I will come back tomorrow afternoon to tell you the results. Goodbye for now.”
28. The next day at noon, Detective Grissom arrived at Mrs. Granger’s house. After Mrs. Granger had opened the door and invited him in, Grissom said pointing to the can of cyanide, “Only your fingerprints were found on this can of cyanide. It all comes down to one statement: you had killed your husband.”
29. “Yes, I did,” Mrs. Granger admitted. “He had lately been not caring for me and I decided to kill him to get revenge.”
30. “Mrs. Granger, you are coming with me to the police station. Further action will be taken against you there.” Grissom proceeded to handcuff her and bring her to the police station. (1133)
MSS8-Yi Lin
1. Sirens wailed, as the car sped along the busy road. I was deep in my thoughts when the car halted abruptly. “Sir, we have reached,” Jimmy, my personal assistant said. I nodded, and stepped out of the police car, heading steadily towards the crime scene. People were gathering outside the house, trying desperately to get a peek of the scene inside the house. “Make way for the police officer!” Jimmy shouted, as the people stepped aside reluctantly. I walked hastily into the house, past the mob of people, and saw Sherlock Holmes, the great detective, kneeling down examining the sofa beside the kitchen. It was nothing to get amazed at, for he was always kneeling down at crime scenes. That was his belief-: the deeper you look, the more you find out. Personally, I did not agree with him, for it takes a person’s intelligence to crack a case too. I glanced around the room. However, I felt that it was the least I could do to support him. Everybody was busy with their own work, and I was completely ignored.
2. I cleared my throat, unhappy about the ignorance of my arrival, and said, “So, Holmes, my friend. Share with me your discoveries.” The other workers turned their heads around, but after seeing that it was me, they continued with their work. Sherlock Holmes gestured for me to go over, not even taking a glance at me. I walked over, and knelt down beside the sofa that he was examining. Holmes handed me a glove, and as I was putting it on, he pointed to the leg of the sofa, and there was a hole pierced right through it, and the borders of the hole had dark grey marks around it. The leg of the sofa acted as a support, and it was going to crumble into pieces at anytime, giving the sofa a look as if it was going to collapse anytime.
3. “That was the work of a bullet, wasn’t it, Holmes?” I asked. Years of professionalism had taught me the strong inferential skills needed for investigations, especially murder cases, like this one.
4. “Indeed, Watson, my friend. That was the work of a gun. Now, the presence of the bullet marks the presence of a gun. The presence of a gun, from my experience, marks the presence of the murder weapon. Now, all we have to do is to find the murder weapon, which we cannot do so, for we had been searching for it the whole afternoon, and nothing was found. The victim’s in the kitchen. There’s a bullet mark on his forehead. Be careful not to touch the victim. “Holmes remarked, without even looking at me. He continued examining the sofa, as if it was the most interesting object in the world. I ignored him, and left him there, as I headed off towards the kitchen.
5. Jimmy was already at the kitchen, receiving an envelope from another officer. Upon seeing me, Jimmy nodded at the officer, and the officer walked out of the kitchen. I gave a mere glance at the officer, and asked Jimmy,” What’s inside the envelope, Jimmy?”
6. “The death report of the deceased, sir.” Jimmy answered me, as he handed me the envelope. I took the envelope from his hands, and opened it.
Deceased: Sam Jones
Death cause: Loss of blood due to wound on the deceased’s head(believed caused by bullet).
Murder weapon: Gun
Date of death: 20-03-1999
7. I glanced up at Jimmy. Jimmy was looking at me, waiting for my orders. “So is that it? That’s the whole death report?” I questioned Jimmy.
8. “Yes, Sir Watson. That’s the whole death report.” Jimmy answered me.
9. “And Mr. Jimmy, my professional assistant,” I said sarcastically, “How do you expect me to investigate the case by providing me with such a lousy death report?” I asked, folding my arms, gritting my teeth, trying not to get angry.
10. “Sir, they did not provide a better death report. Boss says that we are to investigate from the death report.” Jimmy answered, and he walked out of the kitchen. I sighed and flung the envelope at the wall in despair. The question marks were forming at the rate that I was breathing, very rapidly, increasing by the minute. The many answers, however, were unknown. This was indeed the hardest case to crack since the day I joined the police force.
11. Without given a choice, I headed over to examine the victim- Sam Jones. The victim’s forehead was stained with blood, and there was a bullet in his head. I examined the wound, and found nothing suspicious. I leaned forward, and suddenly tripped. I almost hit the body, and I pushed myself up, heaving a sigh of relief. I looked at the place where I had tripped myself. There, peering out of the pocket of the deceased’s pants was a small piece of paper. “Could it be a note?” I thought. Suddenly, I got very excited. “Holmes! I think there’s something!” I yelled at my friend that was busy examining the most interesting sofa ever.
12. Holmes sauntered in, humming a tune. “Mr. Sherlock Holmes, do you even have the ability to hurry up?” I snapped, clearly impatient, and at the same time, waiting to present my discovery to him and see his amazed face. Now he will know how well at solving crimes detective Watson is!
13. “Whoa. Chill it, Watson. An unsolved case is no big deal! Perhaps someone might solve it, isn’t it? That is something positive!” Holmes commented, as he strolled in, hands behind his back.
14. “I do not see anything positive in your previous comment, Holmes. Are you trying to implement that the most senior officer standing right in front of you here, namely me, is dumb and has no ability to solve a case?” I cleared my throat and said. Holmes flicked his fringe, as he shrugged his shoulders, and shot Jimmy a look, as if to say, “Look! Your officer’s gone crazy!” Jimmy, at the side of the kitchen, was trying his best to stifle his laughter. I glared at him, and he immediately crept out of the kitchen, not especially desiring for a scolding.
15. Holmes squatted down beside the victim, and immediately spotted the piece of paper. “Oh! There’s a piece of paper here, Watson! Please do not tell me that you have not discovered it the whole time you were here.” Sherlock Holmes remarked, looking astounded, as he picked up the piece of paper that was in the pocket of the deceased.
16. “As a matter of fact, yours truly here discovered this. Thank you.” I snapped, as I crossed my arms and smiled smugly, snatching the piece of paper from him. “Come on! Let’s open it and read it. It looks like a note to me.” I told Holmes.
17. “I agree. I think so too,” Holmes said, as he unfolded the piece of paper he was holding. I crouched down to take a look at it.
"Please meet me at your house at 7 pm. I have something to tell you.
S.J."
18. “S. J.? Isn’t that the initials of the deceased, Sam Jones?” I questioned Holmes.
19. “Yeah, Watson, it is indeed.” Holmes was dumbfounded. He gaped at the piece of paper, trying to figure out the clues.
20. Equally stuck, I decided to take a break, and join everybody for lunch. I clapped my hands, and called, “Everybody listen up! Let’s go out for lunch! My treat!” I shouted across the house. Officers cheered, as they gathered at the sitting room of the house, and we walked out of the house.
21. As we were walking towards the restaurant, everybody was talking to each other. I lagged behind, however, thinking about the weird case. Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder.
22. “Sir, I have to go fetch my son, John.” Jimmy told me, “Can I go fetch him before returning here?”
23. “Oh sure, Jimmy. Now go ahead. We do not want your son to be waiting. See you later!” I called, as Jimmy rushed towards his car.
24. Suddenly, a thought struck me. Jimmy Decruz, John Decruz. Jimmy and his son had the same initials! Sam Jones’ initials were S.J., just like the person’s on the piece of paper! Yes, it had to be it. I had solved the case.
25. “Guys, lunch shall be postponed to dinner. Sorry. We have to head back to the house now.” I said. Groans were heard, as they reluctantly turned around and went back. On the way back, I discussed my discoveries with Holmes, and he said that it was highly possible. Thus, we decided to confirm whether or not the murderer was the deceased’s son or not before nabbing the murderer.
26. Back at the house, I asked Jimmy to check the records for the initials, S.J. Indeed, only Sam Jones, the deceased’s name and another person by the name of Stanley Jones was in the records. Stanley Jones was the deceased’s son. Seeing the news, Jimmy’s mouth hung open in shock.
27. “Yes, Jimmy. The murderer is the deceased’s son. We have to arrest him now. Contact the airport to stop anyone by this name from leaving the country. Holmes and I shall head over to his house to nab him.” I instructed Jimmy, as Holmes and I sped off towards Stanley Jones’ house immediately.
28. “Ding Dong!” I rang the doorbell of Stanley Jones’ house.
29. A neighbour walked past the house, and asked us what we were doing there. We told her that we were here to arrest Mr. Jones for murdering his father, however, to our great surprise, the neighbour actually said, “Stanley? Impossible! He loves his father dearly. Even when his father scolds him, he keeps quiet! You must have got it wrong!”
30. Holmes and I looked at each other. We decided to go back, thinking that we had made a mistake. However, just at that moment, the door creaked open. We froze, and turned around slowly. A handsome young lad peered out of the door at Holmes and me curiously. “We are looking for Stanley Jones. Is he in?” I asked.
31. “Oh yes. I am Stanley Jones. Who are you?” The young man answered, “Come on in and talk!” Stanley invited us to go inside his house.
32. Holmes and I walked into the house, as we looked at the decorations, as well as the photos hanging on the wall. Unfortunately, there were only photos with only one person, thus there was no clue.
33. “Yes?” Stanley asked us, “Who exactly are you?
34. “We are detectives. Stanley Jones, you are suspected of murdering your father. Is that true?” Holmes questioned Stanley, as he whipped out his detective card.
35. Stanley’s face turned ghostly white. “N-n-n-o….. I did nothing of that sort! No! No! No! I did not shoot anybody! I did not use a gun! I have never used a gun in my whole life!” Stanley panicked, and stammered.
36. I wanted to tell him to stop arguing, when Holmes interrupted, “Mr. Jones, as far as I am aware of, nobody ever told you that your father was shot to death. The fact that you already know means that you were the murderer!”
37. Stanley stood still, legs rooted to the ground. Suddenly, his legs gave way, and he sat on the floor, face buried in his hands. “Yes, it was me. I killed my father. No, I killed Sam Jones. He is not my father. It was he! It was he who ruined my future! He destroyed my architectural plans! My dreams of being an architect are shattered now! It was his entire fault! I knew he never liked me. I was not his real son anyway. Mother passed away when I was young, and I was left under the care of him. He favored my brother, and never loved me. He did not want me to be an architect and he disapproved of my ambition. He destroyed my work on purpose! He deserved to die! I have been under his control for so many years. I owe him nothing! He owed me his life! He deserved to die! I met up with him today, asking him to draw me another plan; however, he scolded me again! I hate him! I have to go to jail because of him! And he gets let off easily!” Stanley shouted, agitated, tears streaming down his guilt-stricken face.
38. I stepped back in alarm, as Holmes leaned in to comfort him. “I understand, Mr. Jones, however, you do understand that it’s my job to nab you. I am sorry. I will have to handcuff you.”
39. Holmes handcuffed the crying Stanley Jones. “I hate Sam Jones! I hate Sam Jones!” Stanley was mumbling under his breath.
40. As Stanley was led away, I sighed, pitying Stanley Jones… Another solved case, yes. However, it led to another unhealed wound that I would never forget in my heart. It had touched me, and it was then and there, when I heard Stanley’s speech, that I understood the true meaning and importance of family bonding. (2163)
2. I cleared my throat, unhappy about the ignorance of my arrival, and said, “So, Holmes, my friend. Share with me your discoveries.” The other workers turned their heads around, but after seeing that it was me, they continued with their work. Sherlock Holmes gestured for me to go over, not even taking a glance at me. I walked over, and knelt down beside the sofa that he was examining. Holmes handed me a glove, and as I was putting it on, he pointed to the leg of the sofa, and there was a hole pierced right through it, and the borders of the hole had dark grey marks around it. The leg of the sofa acted as a support, and it was going to crumble into pieces at anytime, giving the sofa a look as if it was going to collapse anytime.
3. “That was the work of a bullet, wasn’t it, Holmes?” I asked. Years of professionalism had taught me the strong inferential skills needed for investigations, especially murder cases, like this one.
4. “Indeed, Watson, my friend. That was the work of a gun. Now, the presence of the bullet marks the presence of a gun. The presence of a gun, from my experience, marks the presence of the murder weapon. Now, all we have to do is to find the murder weapon, which we cannot do so, for we had been searching for it the whole afternoon, and nothing was found. The victim’s in the kitchen. There’s a bullet mark on his forehead. Be careful not to touch the victim. “Holmes remarked, without even looking at me. He continued examining the sofa, as if it was the most interesting object in the world. I ignored him, and left him there, as I headed off towards the kitchen.
5. Jimmy was already at the kitchen, receiving an envelope from another officer. Upon seeing me, Jimmy nodded at the officer, and the officer walked out of the kitchen. I gave a mere glance at the officer, and asked Jimmy,” What’s inside the envelope, Jimmy?”
6. “The death report of the deceased, sir.” Jimmy answered me, as he handed me the envelope. I took the envelope from his hands, and opened it.
Deceased: Sam Jones
Death cause: Loss of blood due to wound on the deceased’s head(believed caused by bullet).
Murder weapon: Gun
Date of death: 20-03-1999
7. I glanced up at Jimmy. Jimmy was looking at me, waiting for my orders. “So is that it? That’s the whole death report?” I questioned Jimmy.
8. “Yes, Sir Watson. That’s the whole death report.” Jimmy answered me.
9. “And Mr. Jimmy, my professional assistant,” I said sarcastically, “How do you expect me to investigate the case by providing me with such a lousy death report?” I asked, folding my arms, gritting my teeth, trying not to get angry.
10. “Sir, they did not provide a better death report. Boss says that we are to investigate from the death report.” Jimmy answered, and he walked out of the kitchen. I sighed and flung the envelope at the wall in despair. The question marks were forming at the rate that I was breathing, very rapidly, increasing by the minute. The many answers, however, were unknown. This was indeed the hardest case to crack since the day I joined the police force.
11. Without given a choice, I headed over to examine the victim- Sam Jones. The victim’s forehead was stained with blood, and there was a bullet in his head. I examined the wound, and found nothing suspicious. I leaned forward, and suddenly tripped. I almost hit the body, and I pushed myself up, heaving a sigh of relief. I looked at the place where I had tripped myself. There, peering out of the pocket of the deceased’s pants was a small piece of paper. “Could it be a note?” I thought. Suddenly, I got very excited. “Holmes! I think there’s something!” I yelled at my friend that was busy examining the most interesting sofa ever.
12. Holmes sauntered in, humming a tune. “Mr. Sherlock Holmes, do you even have the ability to hurry up?” I snapped, clearly impatient, and at the same time, waiting to present my discovery to him and see his amazed face. Now he will know how well at solving crimes detective Watson is!
13. “Whoa. Chill it, Watson. An unsolved case is no big deal! Perhaps someone might solve it, isn’t it? That is something positive!” Holmes commented, as he strolled in, hands behind his back.
14. “I do not see anything positive in your previous comment, Holmes. Are you trying to implement that the most senior officer standing right in front of you here, namely me, is dumb and has no ability to solve a case?” I cleared my throat and said. Holmes flicked his fringe, as he shrugged his shoulders, and shot Jimmy a look, as if to say, “Look! Your officer’s gone crazy!” Jimmy, at the side of the kitchen, was trying his best to stifle his laughter. I glared at him, and he immediately crept out of the kitchen, not especially desiring for a scolding.
15. Holmes squatted down beside the victim, and immediately spotted the piece of paper. “Oh! There’s a piece of paper here, Watson! Please do not tell me that you have not discovered it the whole time you were here.” Sherlock Holmes remarked, looking astounded, as he picked up the piece of paper that was in the pocket of the deceased.
16. “As a matter of fact, yours truly here discovered this. Thank you.” I snapped, as I crossed my arms and smiled smugly, snatching the piece of paper from him. “Come on! Let’s open it and read it. It looks like a note to me.” I told Holmes.
17. “I agree. I think so too,” Holmes said, as he unfolded the piece of paper he was holding. I crouched down to take a look at it.
"Please meet me at your house at 7 pm. I have something to tell you.
S.J."
18. “S. J.? Isn’t that the initials of the deceased, Sam Jones?” I questioned Holmes.
19. “Yeah, Watson, it is indeed.” Holmes was dumbfounded. He gaped at the piece of paper, trying to figure out the clues.
20. Equally stuck, I decided to take a break, and join everybody for lunch. I clapped my hands, and called, “Everybody listen up! Let’s go out for lunch! My treat!” I shouted across the house. Officers cheered, as they gathered at the sitting room of the house, and we walked out of the house.
21. As we were walking towards the restaurant, everybody was talking to each other. I lagged behind, however, thinking about the weird case. Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder.
22. “Sir, I have to go fetch my son, John.” Jimmy told me, “Can I go fetch him before returning here?”
23. “Oh sure, Jimmy. Now go ahead. We do not want your son to be waiting. See you later!” I called, as Jimmy rushed towards his car.
24. Suddenly, a thought struck me. Jimmy Decruz, John Decruz. Jimmy and his son had the same initials! Sam Jones’ initials were S.J., just like the person’s on the piece of paper! Yes, it had to be it. I had solved the case.
25. “Guys, lunch shall be postponed to dinner. Sorry. We have to head back to the house now.” I said. Groans were heard, as they reluctantly turned around and went back. On the way back, I discussed my discoveries with Holmes, and he said that it was highly possible. Thus, we decided to confirm whether or not the murderer was the deceased’s son or not before nabbing the murderer.
26. Back at the house, I asked Jimmy to check the records for the initials, S.J. Indeed, only Sam Jones, the deceased’s name and another person by the name of Stanley Jones was in the records. Stanley Jones was the deceased’s son. Seeing the news, Jimmy’s mouth hung open in shock.
27. “Yes, Jimmy. The murderer is the deceased’s son. We have to arrest him now. Contact the airport to stop anyone by this name from leaving the country. Holmes and I shall head over to his house to nab him.” I instructed Jimmy, as Holmes and I sped off towards Stanley Jones’ house immediately.
28. “Ding Dong!” I rang the doorbell of Stanley Jones’ house.
29. A neighbour walked past the house, and asked us what we were doing there. We told her that we were here to arrest Mr. Jones for murdering his father, however, to our great surprise, the neighbour actually said, “Stanley? Impossible! He loves his father dearly. Even when his father scolds him, he keeps quiet! You must have got it wrong!”
30. Holmes and I looked at each other. We decided to go back, thinking that we had made a mistake. However, just at that moment, the door creaked open. We froze, and turned around slowly. A handsome young lad peered out of the door at Holmes and me curiously. “We are looking for Stanley Jones. Is he in?” I asked.
31. “Oh yes. I am Stanley Jones. Who are you?” The young man answered, “Come on in and talk!” Stanley invited us to go inside his house.
32. Holmes and I walked into the house, as we looked at the decorations, as well as the photos hanging on the wall. Unfortunately, there were only photos with only one person, thus there was no clue.
33. “Yes?” Stanley asked us, “Who exactly are you?
34. “We are detectives. Stanley Jones, you are suspected of murdering your father. Is that true?” Holmes questioned Stanley, as he whipped out his detective card.
35. Stanley’s face turned ghostly white. “N-n-n-o….. I did nothing of that sort! No! No! No! I did not shoot anybody! I did not use a gun! I have never used a gun in my whole life!” Stanley panicked, and stammered.
36. I wanted to tell him to stop arguing, when Holmes interrupted, “Mr. Jones, as far as I am aware of, nobody ever told you that your father was shot to death. The fact that you already know means that you were the murderer!”
37. Stanley stood still, legs rooted to the ground. Suddenly, his legs gave way, and he sat on the floor, face buried in his hands. “Yes, it was me. I killed my father. No, I killed Sam Jones. He is not my father. It was he! It was he who ruined my future! He destroyed my architectural plans! My dreams of being an architect are shattered now! It was his entire fault! I knew he never liked me. I was not his real son anyway. Mother passed away when I was young, and I was left under the care of him. He favored my brother, and never loved me. He did not want me to be an architect and he disapproved of my ambition. He destroyed my work on purpose! He deserved to die! I have been under his control for so many years. I owe him nothing! He owed me his life! He deserved to die! I met up with him today, asking him to draw me another plan; however, he scolded me again! I hate him! I have to go to jail because of him! And he gets let off easily!” Stanley shouted, agitated, tears streaming down his guilt-stricken face.
38. I stepped back in alarm, as Holmes leaned in to comfort him. “I understand, Mr. Jones, however, you do understand that it’s my job to nab you. I am sorry. I will have to handcuff you.”
39. Holmes handcuffed the crying Stanley Jones. “I hate Sam Jones! I hate Sam Jones!” Stanley was mumbling under his breath.
40. As Stanley was led away, I sighed, pitying Stanley Jones… Another solved case, yes. However, it led to another unhealed wound that I would never forget in my heart. It had touched me, and it was then and there, when I heard Stanley’s speech, that I understood the true meaning and importance of family bonding. (2163)
Sunday, April 10, 2011
MSS22-Li Kang Chen
1. “Hi sir, how much are these meat?” Mrs. Johnson inquired as she pushed aside her thoughts about the fantastic surprise she was giving her husband.
2. “Forty-six dollars, forty five cents” The butcher replied. “How’s your husband? You have not talked about him recently?”
3. Mrs. Johnson sighed. “I don’t feel like talking about his mental condition. It just got worse. He came home depressed every day, talking of suicides. I’m planning a lunch surprise for my depressed husband.”
4. “Oh I see. Hope you get better with your cold and have a nice day!” The butcher bade Mrs. Johnson farewell.
5. Mrs. Johnson was greeted by the blazing sun and the beautiful day as she got out of the butchery. Birds perched on branches of trees of blossoms, singing the song of joy. Everything seemed fine on that day but things were not what they seemed. Suddenly, Mrs. Johnson saw the butcher driving towards her house. Weird, she thought.
6. “Darling, I’m home! Mind you help me put the cattle on?” Mrs. Johnson announced cheerfully when she got home after walking for an hour home.
7. What her eyes rested upon next shocked her completely. It was fear, terror, grief, sadness and even anger all at once. She collapsed onto the ground, and crawled towards her husband, motionlessly, only with tears streaming out of her eyes.
8. After recovering from the shock, she stood up, shaking with grieve.
9. “Darling, could you hear me? Darling? Oh darling, don’t leave me, don’t! Wake up, oh… No!” Mrs. Johnson screamed and shouted in frenzy.
10. She looked long at her husband who was hanged on the rope, and wept bitterly, as Detective Jacques arrived upon being informed about the suicide through her neighbors
11. “Did you touch anything upon arriving home?” Detective Jacques took out a notebook, as he questioned Mrs. Johnson.
12. “I swear on my life, no.” Mrs. Johnson responded. “I want you to clear away this mess, and I’ll try to forget about his suicide.”
13. Detective Jacques took a look at Mrs. Johnson, and wrote down “murder” in his notebook while announcing that it was a murder, since the chair is still under Mr. Johnson’s foot, and not kicked away.
14. “No… my darling is not murdered… oh no… no… no!” Mrs. Johnson sobbed. “I can’t take it! My darling is such a nice man, how can someone even try to murder him?”
15. Meanwhile, detective Jacques ignored Mrs. Johnson, and step forth and removed Mr. Johnson’s clothes.
16. “Watch what you’re doing!” Bellow Mrs. Johnson rudely at Detective Jacques.
17. “We have to examine the body for clues, and with clues, we then can solve the mystery.” explained Detective Jacques patiently to Mrs. Johnson.
18. At this time, another policeman arrived, said to be Detective Jacques’s assistant. Detective Jacques took of the clothes of Mr. Johnson, and found an injection hole, together with a stab wound. He noted down “Stab wound and injection mark on victim” in his notebook.
19. “May I find out where have you been before you found your husband in this state?”
20. “I…I went to the butcher to buy lunch. He also drove toward my house after that.” Mrs. Johnson stammered in tears.
21. “Do you know any way that the butcher can obtain a syringe?” Detective Jacques continued to fire questions at Mrs. Johnson.
22. “His son is a doctor.” Mrs. Johnson answered truthfully.
23. Detective Jacques wrote Butcher under the column of suspects, and signaled to the policeman to go to interview the butcher.
24. The first thing he saw when he entered the butchery, was the to-do list. On it was written: Borrow syringe from son. Detective Jacques noted down the to-do list, just as the butcher returned with his clothes stained by blood completely. Detective Jacques jotted down “Butcher’s cloth is blood stained”, and asked the butcher whether why he has tried to borrow his son’s syringe.
25. “Hey who are you! Before I answer your ridiculous question which is not your business, tell me who you are and why are you here first!” hollered the butcher rudely towards Detective Jacques.
26. “I am Detective Jacques, and I’m here to investigate on the death of Mr. Johnson.” Detective Jacques self-introduced himself calmly.
27. “Mr. Johnson’s dead? Oh no! I cannot believe it! And anyway, I borrowed the syringe to inject some growth speed up chemical into my chickens.” The butcher responded back.
28. “And… the blood on your shirt?” Detective Jacques started abruptly.
29. “Oh, chicken blood!” The butcher answered mechanically with a laugh.
30. Detective Jacques took a look at the butcher’s only knife, and jotted down: “Blood on shirt is chicken blood”, “Syringe for growth chemicals on chickens” and “Knife to large to create the small stab wound”. He then asked for the direction to his chicken farm, and drove off for an interview with the gate keeper. Meanwhile, he told his assistant, the police officer to go back and inform Mrs. Johnson of the findings.
31. Upon arriving at the chicken farm, the watchmen, Mr. Higgins, stumbled over towards Detective Jacques.
32. “Howdy! Heard from the Mr. Brewster, the butcher’s son that you are the detective for the murder on Mr. Johnson right? Mr. Higgins greeted Detective Jacques pleasantly.
33. “Yes. May I ask you something?” Detective Jacques answered with a smile.
34. “Ask away!” Mr. Higgins approved.
35. “Did the butcher come here this morning to kill some chickens and inject growth chemicals into them?”
36. “Yes, yes. I still remember his bloody shirt. It was hilarious.” Mr. Higgins giggled.
37. Detective Jacques put “alibi” next to the butchers name from the column of suspects, bade goodbye to Mr. Higgins and left, confused. There’s something fishy about this crime, and now we are stuck in a deadlock. Thought Detective Jacques.
38. Back at Mrs. Johnson’s house, Detective Jacques was alarmed to see that the house was empty. But Detective Jacques surprisingly remained calm, and noted down the details of the kidnap.
39. His spirits sank, as no one was able to unravel this mind-boggling mystery. For a while it seemed as if Detective Jacques was ready to give up, but he took out his notebook again silently, and wrote “Mr. Brewster” under the column of suspects.
40. First of all, the butcher’s son had access to operation knifes and the syringe. Secondly, the butcher’s son was not supposed to know about the incidence at all before his father, the butcher. Detective Jacques thought, as he knocked on the door of the Mr. Brewster’s house.
41. “Come in!” a voice from inside the house reacted to Detective Jacques’s knocking.
42. Detective Jacques stepped in and self introduced.
43. “Do you know about Mr. Johnson’s murders?” Detective Jacques inquired.
44. “What murder? And what does it have to do with me?” bellowed the Mr. Brewster.
45. “May I take a look at your syringe and your operation knife?” requested Detective Jacques, ignoring Mr. Brewster’s lies.
46. Detective Jacques wrote down beside Mr. Brewster in his notebook “Decline to admit that about his knowledge of the murder”. Then he walked over to stare at the operation knife and the syringe. He again, wrote “Murder weapon belong to butcher’s son, correct size.”’
47. “Did you go anywhere today?” Detective Jacques asked again.
48. “Yes, in the morning to Mr. Higgins. We had a long chat there.” answered Mr. Brewster. “Anyway, there’s no chance I’m the murderer, and think of it, my father and Mr. Higgins also have access to my poisons, operation knifes and syringe does…”
49. “Before you continue, I would like to say, you are arrested for murder and kidnap.” Detective Jacques announced.
50. “What… how…did you know…?” The butcher’s son stammered in shock.
51. Mr. Brewster drew out his gun, and pointed his gun towards the cupboard. At this time, the butcher arrived at the scene and saw this. He crept up to his son and hit his gun off, where he stamped it.
52. “Son, do you know the consequences of murder? The worst thing you can do is to commit a crime. If you had done a crime, you must accept the consequences. Now free the people you’ve kidnapped.” commanded the butcher, with tears of sorrow and disappointment in his eyes.
53. The butcher’s son opened the cupboard and allowed Mrs. Johnson and the cowardly and irresponsible assistant to come out. The assistant came out in tears, so did Mrs. Johnson. After that, the butcher’s son was arrested by the Detective Jacques assistant, after the shock recovery, where Mr. Brewster was brought to the police station, and received his death sentence. The butcher stood there, shocked, tearful and motionless for a moment, as he fell unconscious to the ground. Mr. Brewster took a last look at his father, as he bit back his tears and went to jail, waiting fearfully for the day of the execution.
54. Detective Jacques smiled as he stamped “case solved” onto the page of his notebook for Mr. Johnson’s murder. (1460)
2. “Forty-six dollars, forty five cents” The butcher replied. “How’s your husband? You have not talked about him recently?”
3. Mrs. Johnson sighed. “I don’t feel like talking about his mental condition. It just got worse. He came home depressed every day, talking of suicides. I’m planning a lunch surprise for my depressed husband.”
4. “Oh I see. Hope you get better with your cold and have a nice day!” The butcher bade Mrs. Johnson farewell.
5. Mrs. Johnson was greeted by the blazing sun and the beautiful day as she got out of the butchery. Birds perched on branches of trees of blossoms, singing the song of joy. Everything seemed fine on that day but things were not what they seemed. Suddenly, Mrs. Johnson saw the butcher driving towards her house. Weird, she thought.
6. “Darling, I’m home! Mind you help me put the cattle on?” Mrs. Johnson announced cheerfully when she got home after walking for an hour home.
7. What her eyes rested upon next shocked her completely. It was fear, terror, grief, sadness and even anger all at once. She collapsed onto the ground, and crawled towards her husband, motionlessly, only with tears streaming out of her eyes.
8. After recovering from the shock, she stood up, shaking with grieve.
9. “Darling, could you hear me? Darling? Oh darling, don’t leave me, don’t! Wake up, oh… No!” Mrs. Johnson screamed and shouted in frenzy.
10. She looked long at her husband who was hanged on the rope, and wept bitterly, as Detective Jacques arrived upon being informed about the suicide through her neighbors
11. “Did you touch anything upon arriving home?” Detective Jacques took out a notebook, as he questioned Mrs. Johnson.
12. “I swear on my life, no.” Mrs. Johnson responded. “I want you to clear away this mess, and I’ll try to forget about his suicide.”
13. Detective Jacques took a look at Mrs. Johnson, and wrote down “murder” in his notebook while announcing that it was a murder, since the chair is still under Mr. Johnson’s foot, and not kicked away.
14. “No… my darling is not murdered… oh no… no… no!” Mrs. Johnson sobbed. “I can’t take it! My darling is such a nice man, how can someone even try to murder him?”
15. Meanwhile, detective Jacques ignored Mrs. Johnson, and step forth and removed Mr. Johnson’s clothes.
16. “Watch what you’re doing!” Bellow Mrs. Johnson rudely at Detective Jacques.
17. “We have to examine the body for clues, and with clues, we then can solve the mystery.” explained Detective Jacques patiently to Mrs. Johnson.
18. At this time, another policeman arrived, said to be Detective Jacques’s assistant. Detective Jacques took of the clothes of Mr. Johnson, and found an injection hole, together with a stab wound. He noted down “Stab wound and injection mark on victim” in his notebook.
19. “May I find out where have you been before you found your husband in this state?”
20. “I…I went to the butcher to buy lunch. He also drove toward my house after that.” Mrs. Johnson stammered in tears.
21. “Do you know any way that the butcher can obtain a syringe?” Detective Jacques continued to fire questions at Mrs. Johnson.
22. “His son is a doctor.” Mrs. Johnson answered truthfully.
23. Detective Jacques wrote Butcher under the column of suspects, and signaled to the policeman to go to interview the butcher.
24. The first thing he saw when he entered the butchery, was the to-do list. On it was written: Borrow syringe from son. Detective Jacques noted down the to-do list, just as the butcher returned with his clothes stained by blood completely. Detective Jacques jotted down “Butcher’s cloth is blood stained”, and asked the butcher whether why he has tried to borrow his son’s syringe.
25. “Hey who are you! Before I answer your ridiculous question which is not your business, tell me who you are and why are you here first!” hollered the butcher rudely towards Detective Jacques.
26. “I am Detective Jacques, and I’m here to investigate on the death of Mr. Johnson.” Detective Jacques self-introduced himself calmly.
27. “Mr. Johnson’s dead? Oh no! I cannot believe it! And anyway, I borrowed the syringe to inject some growth speed up chemical into my chickens.” The butcher responded back.
28. “And… the blood on your shirt?” Detective Jacques started abruptly.
29. “Oh, chicken blood!” The butcher answered mechanically with a laugh.
30. Detective Jacques took a look at the butcher’s only knife, and jotted down: “Blood on shirt is chicken blood”, “Syringe for growth chemicals on chickens” and “Knife to large to create the small stab wound”. He then asked for the direction to his chicken farm, and drove off for an interview with the gate keeper. Meanwhile, he told his assistant, the police officer to go back and inform Mrs. Johnson of the findings.
31. Upon arriving at the chicken farm, the watchmen, Mr. Higgins, stumbled over towards Detective Jacques.
32. “Howdy! Heard from the Mr. Brewster, the butcher’s son that you are the detective for the murder on Mr. Johnson right? Mr. Higgins greeted Detective Jacques pleasantly.
33. “Yes. May I ask you something?” Detective Jacques answered with a smile.
34. “Ask away!” Mr. Higgins approved.
35. “Did the butcher come here this morning to kill some chickens and inject growth chemicals into them?”
36. “Yes, yes. I still remember his bloody shirt. It was hilarious.” Mr. Higgins giggled.
37. Detective Jacques put “alibi” next to the butchers name from the column of suspects, bade goodbye to Mr. Higgins and left, confused. There’s something fishy about this crime, and now we are stuck in a deadlock. Thought Detective Jacques.
38. Back at Mrs. Johnson’s house, Detective Jacques was alarmed to see that the house was empty. But Detective Jacques surprisingly remained calm, and noted down the details of the kidnap.
39. His spirits sank, as no one was able to unravel this mind-boggling mystery. For a while it seemed as if Detective Jacques was ready to give up, but he took out his notebook again silently, and wrote “Mr. Brewster” under the column of suspects.
40. First of all, the butcher’s son had access to operation knifes and the syringe. Secondly, the butcher’s son was not supposed to know about the incidence at all before his father, the butcher. Detective Jacques thought, as he knocked on the door of the Mr. Brewster’s house.
41. “Come in!” a voice from inside the house reacted to Detective Jacques’s knocking.
42. Detective Jacques stepped in and self introduced.
43. “Do you know about Mr. Johnson’s murders?” Detective Jacques inquired.
44. “What murder? And what does it have to do with me?” bellowed the Mr. Brewster.
45. “May I take a look at your syringe and your operation knife?” requested Detective Jacques, ignoring Mr. Brewster’s lies.
46. Detective Jacques wrote down beside Mr. Brewster in his notebook “Decline to admit that about his knowledge of the murder”. Then he walked over to stare at the operation knife and the syringe. He again, wrote “Murder weapon belong to butcher’s son, correct size.”’
47. “Did you go anywhere today?” Detective Jacques asked again.
48. “Yes, in the morning to Mr. Higgins. We had a long chat there.” answered Mr. Brewster. “Anyway, there’s no chance I’m the murderer, and think of it, my father and Mr. Higgins also have access to my poisons, operation knifes and syringe does…”
49. “Before you continue, I would like to say, you are arrested for murder and kidnap.” Detective Jacques announced.
50. “What… how…did you know…?” The butcher’s son stammered in shock.
51. Mr. Brewster drew out his gun, and pointed his gun towards the cupboard. At this time, the butcher arrived at the scene and saw this. He crept up to his son and hit his gun off, where he stamped it.
52. “Son, do you know the consequences of murder? The worst thing you can do is to commit a crime. If you had done a crime, you must accept the consequences. Now free the people you’ve kidnapped.” commanded the butcher, with tears of sorrow and disappointment in his eyes.
53. The butcher’s son opened the cupboard and allowed Mrs. Johnson and the cowardly and irresponsible assistant to come out. The assistant came out in tears, so did Mrs. Johnson. After that, the butcher’s son was arrested by the Detective Jacques assistant, after the shock recovery, where Mr. Brewster was brought to the police station, and received his death sentence. The butcher stood there, shocked, tearful and motionless for a moment, as he fell unconscious to the ground. Mr. Brewster took a last look at his father, as he bit back his tears and went to jail, waiting fearfully for the day of the execution.
54. Detective Jacques smiled as he stamped “case solved” onto the page of his notebook for Mr. Johnson’s murder. (1460)
MSS21-Zhang Wanyi
1. That Christmas was one of the coldest day of the year. Usually, the people would go around the neighbourhood singing carols or decorating the Christmas trees by the side of the streets, but that year, Christmas just seemed to be a curse that enveloped the whole state in a creepy silence that seemed to have formed a thick layer of ice over the houses, making the weather extremely cold as well .
2. A warm glow came from one of the houses on St Karen Street, making the house look ever so friendly and inviting in the cold and silent street. 5 people occupied the whole 2-level house. In the kitchen was a plump lady in her 50s, singing along to the carols in the radio. In her hand was a egg beater, and her fingers were covered in gooy muck( which were actually eggs and dough). Upstairs, an old man aged about 80 was lying on the bed, waiting for the his daughter, Ms Carruthers, the plump lady, to bring his dinner up. He had broken his leg 1 or 2 months ago, and had not fully healed yet. In a connesting room, an old lady, his wife, had fallen asleep on her rocking chair, her undone knitting lying on her lap.
3. The other 2 occupants, a Mrs Pooly and Mr Pooly, were in the guest rooms, cleaning up the mess they had made during the day. Mrs Pooly was Ms Carruther’s sister, and she and her husbsnd had came for a short- term visit for the Christmas holiday. Mrs Pooly had long, thick, blue hair which was piled on the top of her head, was strong and built, while Mr Pooly was the complete opposite, with only a few strands of hair on his head and a thin and reedy figure.
4. After cleaning up, the Poolys went downstairs to taste the cake that Ms Carruthers had just finished baking – the strong scent of cake told them that the cake was ready. The Poolys and Ms Carruthers a nice time chatting and eating the cake. It was then Ms Carruthers suddenly remembered that her father was still waiting upstairs for her to deliver his dinner. Quickly apologizing that she had to go upstairs for a while, she quickly snatched up the tray of food and was about to go upstairs when she heard Mrs Pooly say,” I feel so full! Well, if anyone is looking for me, I’ll be outside taking a walk.”
5. “Sure. Go ahead,” said Ms Carruthers, and went upstairs. As Mrs Pooly stepped outside, a gust of cold wind hit her face, and she shuddered. It was uncommon that the streets would be so quiet and cold. It was almost like it was a sign that something bad was going to happen.
6. “Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” A blood-curdling scream pierced through the whole neighbourhood. In the house, Mr Pooly had such a fright that he was only a tiny bit away from fainting. Upstairs, Mr Carruthers flinched slightly. Mrs Pooly came running back. After calming down her husband, she went upstairs and stuck her nose into Mr Carruthers’ room. Mr Carruther’s room seemed fine except for the fact that Mr Carruthers was in a state of shock. “ What happened? What happened?” Mr Carruthers shook his head after he came out of his daze. “…I…I don’t… know… It’s so loud… the scream… seemed like it came… from next… door…do… go… and… check… if… something… is wrong…” Mrs Pooly comforted the old man like she was soothing a little child, and after making sure he was okay, strode into the room next door. The room Mrs Carruthers was in.
7. A weird sight greeted Mrs Pooly, but she let out a little gasp. On the floor lay a horrified Ms Carruthers, her eyes wide open, her hands grasping at her face. On her mother’s rocking chair, Mrs Carruthers was still asleep. “ What is the matter with you? I think the scream I heard was let out by you, wasn’t it? What were you thinking about? Waking the whole neighbourhood? Notheing is the matter and you’re screaming like this…” Mrs Pooly would have nagged on and on if Ms Carruthers had not stood up shakily, slapped her, and said,” Shut up. Look at mother carefully. Don’t you see?! She’s… she’s…” Unable to continue, Ms Carruthers broke down, crying wildly. Mrs Pooly walked over to her mother and shook her several times. Nothing. Again. Nothing. As if she suddenly realized what is happening, Mrs Pooly turned around to face her sister, her knees suddenly feeling weak, her head spinning. Her sister had came out of her hysterics, and seeing her expression, nodded slowly.
8. Now, Mrs Pooly was one to take action as soon as possible when something extraordinary happened. Shaking herself out of her daze, she said briskly,” Now, the police is on holiday today, being Christmas, so we can only go to the private detective in town. I should say he hsn’t gone for a holiday.” Pulling on her fur coat, Mrs Pooly took her husband and Ms Carruthers by their hands and dragged them along with her, to the house of the famous detective, Mr Tood’s house.
9. At Mr Tood’s house, Mr Tood was having his supper, curled up in his old but comfortable sofa seat. All of a sudden, ” DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!” the doorbell rang several times continually, and before he knew it, the door slammed open. “ Mr Tood! What were you doing? And I rang the bell so many times!” Mr Tood looked hard at the threesome before him, and recognized them as the Carruthers and the Poolys. “ Well, what is it?” he asked, surprised that they had came at such a late hour. Rapidly, Mrs Pooly, being the most collected one of the three, told Mr Tood the story. “ What?! Mrs Carruthers died!”
10. Mr Tood decided that although it was very late now, he would investigate. There were 4 suspects. Mrs Pooly, Mr Pooly, Ms Carruthers and Mr Carruthers. However, all of them seemed unlikely. Ms Carruthers could have been a suspect if she had not claimed that she had been downstairs with Mr Pooly all the time after she delivered Mr Carruthers’ food to him, and had only gone up after hearing the scream, her being the braver of the two. Mr Carruthers could also have been the suspect had not his leg been fractured for the last few months. Wait. The last few months. From what he knew, fractures heal in about 3 weeks. So, Mr Carruthers was not injured.
11. Mr Carruthers was the murderer.
12. Once this was revealed, everything made pretty much sense. He had used the knitting needle that was left on Mrs Carruthers’ lap and stabbed her somewhere on a vulnerable spot. Mr Carruthers would get all the money that Mrs Carruthers had left at her side of her family, and the insurance of her death too!
13. When the police investigated the next day( The Poolys and Carruthers had been asked to leave everything in place)they agreed with the detective’s statement. It was uncommon that such an old man would do this, but then, anything these days can happen… (1198)
2. A warm glow came from one of the houses on St Karen Street, making the house look ever so friendly and inviting in the cold and silent street. 5 people occupied the whole 2-level house. In the kitchen was a plump lady in her 50s, singing along to the carols in the radio. In her hand was a egg beater, and her fingers were covered in gooy muck( which were actually eggs and dough). Upstairs, an old man aged about 80 was lying on the bed, waiting for the his daughter, Ms Carruthers, the plump lady, to bring his dinner up. He had broken his leg 1 or 2 months ago, and had not fully healed yet. In a connesting room, an old lady, his wife, had fallen asleep on her rocking chair, her undone knitting lying on her lap.
3. The other 2 occupants, a Mrs Pooly and Mr Pooly, were in the guest rooms, cleaning up the mess they had made during the day. Mrs Pooly was Ms Carruther’s sister, and she and her husbsnd had came for a short- term visit for the Christmas holiday. Mrs Pooly had long, thick, blue hair which was piled on the top of her head, was strong and built, while Mr Pooly was the complete opposite, with only a few strands of hair on his head and a thin and reedy figure.
4. After cleaning up, the Poolys went downstairs to taste the cake that Ms Carruthers had just finished baking – the strong scent of cake told them that the cake was ready. The Poolys and Ms Carruthers a nice time chatting and eating the cake. It was then Ms Carruthers suddenly remembered that her father was still waiting upstairs for her to deliver his dinner. Quickly apologizing that she had to go upstairs for a while, she quickly snatched up the tray of food and was about to go upstairs when she heard Mrs Pooly say,” I feel so full! Well, if anyone is looking for me, I’ll be outside taking a walk.”
5. “Sure. Go ahead,” said Ms Carruthers, and went upstairs. As Mrs Pooly stepped outside, a gust of cold wind hit her face, and she shuddered. It was uncommon that the streets would be so quiet and cold. It was almost like it was a sign that something bad was going to happen.
6. “Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” A blood-curdling scream pierced through the whole neighbourhood. In the house, Mr Pooly had such a fright that he was only a tiny bit away from fainting. Upstairs, Mr Carruthers flinched slightly. Mrs Pooly came running back. After calming down her husband, she went upstairs and stuck her nose into Mr Carruthers’ room. Mr Carruther’s room seemed fine except for the fact that Mr Carruthers was in a state of shock. “ What happened? What happened?” Mr Carruthers shook his head after he came out of his daze. “…I…I don’t… know… It’s so loud… the scream… seemed like it came… from next… door…do… go… and… check… if… something… is wrong…” Mrs Pooly comforted the old man like she was soothing a little child, and after making sure he was okay, strode into the room next door. The room Mrs Carruthers was in.
7. A weird sight greeted Mrs Pooly, but she let out a little gasp. On the floor lay a horrified Ms Carruthers, her eyes wide open, her hands grasping at her face. On her mother’s rocking chair, Mrs Carruthers was still asleep. “ What is the matter with you? I think the scream I heard was let out by you, wasn’t it? What were you thinking about? Waking the whole neighbourhood? Notheing is the matter and you’re screaming like this…” Mrs Pooly would have nagged on and on if Ms Carruthers had not stood up shakily, slapped her, and said,” Shut up. Look at mother carefully. Don’t you see?! She’s… she’s…” Unable to continue, Ms Carruthers broke down, crying wildly. Mrs Pooly walked over to her mother and shook her several times. Nothing. Again. Nothing. As if she suddenly realized what is happening, Mrs Pooly turned around to face her sister, her knees suddenly feeling weak, her head spinning. Her sister had came out of her hysterics, and seeing her expression, nodded slowly.
8. Now, Mrs Pooly was one to take action as soon as possible when something extraordinary happened. Shaking herself out of her daze, she said briskly,” Now, the police is on holiday today, being Christmas, so we can only go to the private detective in town. I should say he hsn’t gone for a holiday.” Pulling on her fur coat, Mrs Pooly took her husband and Ms Carruthers by their hands and dragged them along with her, to the house of the famous detective, Mr Tood’s house.
9. At Mr Tood’s house, Mr Tood was having his supper, curled up in his old but comfortable sofa seat. All of a sudden, ” DINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!” the doorbell rang several times continually, and before he knew it, the door slammed open. “ Mr Tood! What were you doing? And I rang the bell so many times!” Mr Tood looked hard at the threesome before him, and recognized them as the Carruthers and the Poolys. “ Well, what is it?” he asked, surprised that they had came at such a late hour. Rapidly, Mrs Pooly, being the most collected one of the three, told Mr Tood the story. “ What?! Mrs Carruthers died!”
10. Mr Tood decided that although it was very late now, he would investigate. There were 4 suspects. Mrs Pooly, Mr Pooly, Ms Carruthers and Mr Carruthers. However, all of them seemed unlikely. Ms Carruthers could have been a suspect if she had not claimed that she had been downstairs with Mr Pooly all the time after she delivered Mr Carruthers’ food to him, and had only gone up after hearing the scream, her being the braver of the two. Mr Carruthers could also have been the suspect had not his leg been fractured for the last few months. Wait. The last few months. From what he knew, fractures heal in about 3 weeks. So, Mr Carruthers was not injured.
11. Mr Carruthers was the murderer.
12. Once this was revealed, everything made pretty much sense. He had used the knitting needle that was left on Mrs Carruthers’ lap and stabbed her somewhere on a vulnerable spot. Mr Carruthers would get all the money that Mrs Carruthers had left at her side of her family, and the insurance of her death too!
13. When the police investigated the next day( The Poolys and Carruthers had been asked to leave everything in place)they agreed with the detective’s statement. It was uncommon that such an old man would do this, but then, anything these days can happen… (1198)
MSS20-Zhai Zirun
1. Miss Murple was just calmly sipping her tea while sitting in her armchair when there was an urgent knock on the door. She said mildly, “Come in.”, and the knocker opened the door and strode towards her. She recognised Inspector Slick from the nearby police station, whom she had made an acquaintance with.
2. He pulled out a nearby chair and sat down in it, sweating profusely and panting for a few seconds, while Miss Murple waited patiently for him to explain his sudden arrival. He then coughed and told Miss Murple that there was a murder at the town square, and asked her if she would like to investigate the case, since she had solved some difficult cases before.
3. She considered the prospect for a minute, and then agreed, “Alright. However, I shall like to carry out my own investigation, instead of having the police going everywhere with me and attracting a lot of unwanted attention.” Inspector Slick looked relieved, and then asked her if she wanted to take a look at the crime scene, and she agreed.
4. Upon arriving at the town square after fifteen minutes, Miss Murple saw a body lying on the ground with a barrier around it and a large crowd gathered around the barrier. Inspector Slick cleared a way and she went through the crowd to look at the body. She saw that it was the body of Anna Stowell, who lived quite far from the town square. Inspector Slick informed her that Anna Stowell had probably died around midnight and that she died from a shot straight to her head.
5. Then, he held out a torn piece of card in a transparent plastic bag and said, “This was found in the victim’s right hand.” Miss Murple took it and saw that there was the writing “oej twleslo” on it near the top of the piece. A pen was also found in Anna’s pocket. The Inspector also told Miss Murple that no one had made any sense out of it. Miss Murple told Inspector Slick that she would have to pay a visit to the victim’s house, and that she wants to go by herself. Subsequently, she set off towards the direction of the Stowell house, leaving Inspector Slick behind looking bewildered.
6. After ten minutes, Miss Murple arrived at the house. Then, she knocked at the door and waited for someone to open it. Finally, Mrs Sarah Stowell, the mother of Anna Stowell, who was another acquaintance of hers, hobbled up and opened the door. She looked stricken and her face was quite white. However, she still said, “Come in” calmly.
7. Miss Murple followed her into the living room. She sat down slowly on an armchair and motioned for Miss Murple to take a seat too. After Miss Murple did so, she asked her, “What brings you here, Mary?” “I have come here to talk to you about the murder of your daughter, because I believe I have a clue to tracking down her murderer.”
8. Mrs Stowell looked astounded, and then exclaimed, “I will do my best to help you.” Miss Murple took out the piece of card that Inspector Slick had given her earlier, and then showed it to her, “Do you think you recognise this scribble?” Mrs Stowell put on her spectacles, which were lying on the table, and peered at the writing.
9. She confirmed that it was her daughter’s handwriting. Then, Miss Murple asked her if Anna had any relative called “Joe Stowell”, and if Anna liked making up anagrams. Mrs Stowell looked surprised and replied that Anna had a distant cousin called Joe Stowell and that Anna did like making up anagrams, and was so good at it that she could make one up in a few seconds.
10. After that, Miss Murple asked her, “Was Anna left any money or valuable items by her recently deceased grandmother?” The grandmother of Anna Stowell was well known to be quite rich by the time she died. “Actually,” Mrs Stowell replied, “Anna’s grandmother left her the whole of her riches, but if anything happened to her……” Mrs Stowell suddenly broke down, and Miss Murple had to make her a cup of tea. “If anything happened to her, then the whole thing would be left to Joe’s uncle.” Then, Mrs Stowell also told her that Anna had sneaked out secretly on the night she died.
11. Miss Murple nodded and voiced her thanks, then left the house in quite a hurry. She went back to the town square, and then rummaged in the trash bins, much to the disgust and astonishment of the passer-bys. She seemed to have found something, and took it along with her to the police station in a rush.
12. At the police station, Miss Murple asked to see Inspector Slick, then told him that she had solved the mystery. She explained, “You see, the writing on the paper is actually an anagram. It, when solved, spells “Joe Stowell”. However, I thought that there might be a top half of the message, and therefore decided to visit Mrs Sarah Stowell. She told me that Anna liked making up anagrams, and could make one up within a few seconds. Also, Anna's rich grandmother left her the whole of her riches, but those were left to Joe Stowell’s uncle if anything happened to Anna. Therefore, this is a possible motive for the crime.”
13. Then, she continued to explain, “The murderer probably secretly arranged to meet Anna in the town square and killed her then by shooting her. Then, he walked away, but came back to see if she had left any clue that he was the murderer just before she died. He found a slip of paper with the anagram of “uncle of Joe Stowell”, which is referring to him. He wanted to get the slip of paper out from her fingers, but could not, as her body had already gone rigid, so he tore the top half away, left behind the anagram of “Joe Stowell”, and threw the top half into the bin.” She held up the grubby and torn piece of paper she found in the bin. “My conclusion is that this is a very careless and brainless murderer.”
14. Inspector Slick looked amazed, then thanked Miss Murple profusely and went to arrest the murderer, who was Joe Stowell’s uncle, and also Anna Stowell’s distant uncle. (1062)
2. He pulled out a nearby chair and sat down in it, sweating profusely and panting for a few seconds, while Miss Murple waited patiently for him to explain his sudden arrival. He then coughed and told Miss Murple that there was a murder at the town square, and asked her if she would like to investigate the case, since she had solved some difficult cases before.
3. She considered the prospect for a minute, and then agreed, “Alright. However, I shall like to carry out my own investigation, instead of having the police going everywhere with me and attracting a lot of unwanted attention.” Inspector Slick looked relieved, and then asked her if she wanted to take a look at the crime scene, and she agreed.
4. Upon arriving at the town square after fifteen minutes, Miss Murple saw a body lying on the ground with a barrier around it and a large crowd gathered around the barrier. Inspector Slick cleared a way and she went through the crowd to look at the body. She saw that it was the body of Anna Stowell, who lived quite far from the town square. Inspector Slick informed her that Anna Stowell had probably died around midnight and that she died from a shot straight to her head.
5. Then, he held out a torn piece of card in a transparent plastic bag and said, “This was found in the victim’s right hand.” Miss Murple took it and saw that there was the writing “oej twleslo” on it near the top of the piece. A pen was also found in Anna’s pocket. The Inspector also told Miss Murple that no one had made any sense out of it. Miss Murple told Inspector Slick that she would have to pay a visit to the victim’s house, and that she wants to go by herself. Subsequently, she set off towards the direction of the Stowell house, leaving Inspector Slick behind looking bewildered.
6. After ten minutes, Miss Murple arrived at the house. Then, she knocked at the door and waited for someone to open it. Finally, Mrs Sarah Stowell, the mother of Anna Stowell, who was another acquaintance of hers, hobbled up and opened the door. She looked stricken and her face was quite white. However, she still said, “Come in” calmly.
7. Miss Murple followed her into the living room. She sat down slowly on an armchair and motioned for Miss Murple to take a seat too. After Miss Murple did so, she asked her, “What brings you here, Mary?” “I have come here to talk to you about the murder of your daughter, because I believe I have a clue to tracking down her murderer.”
8. Mrs Stowell looked astounded, and then exclaimed, “I will do my best to help you.” Miss Murple took out the piece of card that Inspector Slick had given her earlier, and then showed it to her, “Do you think you recognise this scribble?” Mrs Stowell put on her spectacles, which were lying on the table, and peered at the writing.
9. She confirmed that it was her daughter’s handwriting. Then, Miss Murple asked her if Anna had any relative called “Joe Stowell”, and if Anna liked making up anagrams. Mrs Stowell looked surprised and replied that Anna had a distant cousin called Joe Stowell and that Anna did like making up anagrams, and was so good at it that she could make one up in a few seconds.
10. After that, Miss Murple asked her, “Was Anna left any money or valuable items by her recently deceased grandmother?” The grandmother of Anna Stowell was well known to be quite rich by the time she died. “Actually,” Mrs Stowell replied, “Anna’s grandmother left her the whole of her riches, but if anything happened to her……” Mrs Stowell suddenly broke down, and Miss Murple had to make her a cup of tea. “If anything happened to her, then the whole thing would be left to Joe’s uncle.” Then, Mrs Stowell also told her that Anna had sneaked out secretly on the night she died.
11. Miss Murple nodded and voiced her thanks, then left the house in quite a hurry. She went back to the town square, and then rummaged in the trash bins, much to the disgust and astonishment of the passer-bys. She seemed to have found something, and took it along with her to the police station in a rush.
12. At the police station, Miss Murple asked to see Inspector Slick, then told him that she had solved the mystery. She explained, “You see, the writing on the paper is actually an anagram. It, when solved, spells “Joe Stowell”. However, I thought that there might be a top half of the message, and therefore decided to visit Mrs Sarah Stowell. She told me that Anna liked making up anagrams, and could make one up within a few seconds. Also, Anna's rich grandmother left her the whole of her riches, but those were left to Joe Stowell’s uncle if anything happened to Anna. Therefore, this is a possible motive for the crime.”
13. Then, she continued to explain, “The murderer probably secretly arranged to meet Anna in the town square and killed her then by shooting her. Then, he walked away, but came back to see if she had left any clue that he was the murderer just before she died. He found a slip of paper with the anagram of “uncle of Joe Stowell”, which is referring to him. He wanted to get the slip of paper out from her fingers, but could not, as her body had already gone rigid, so he tore the top half away, left behind the anagram of “Joe Stowell”, and threw the top half into the bin.” She held up the grubby and torn piece of paper she found in the bin. “My conclusion is that this is a very careless and brainless murderer.”
14. Inspector Slick looked amazed, then thanked Miss Murple profusely and went to arrest the murderer, who was Joe Stowell’s uncle, and also Anna Stowell’s distant uncle. (1062)
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