Dinner and Murder (Part I)

It was a cold stormy night. Alexander MacElroy had invited his family over for dinner and for an announcement involving the future of his company and a special arrangement for one of them in particular. He made his fortune in the manufacturing of light bulbs. He had always joked that it just an idea he had. The guests included his widowed sister Debra and her children Brian and Lilith. He still referred to them as children even though they were both well into their thirties. His company lawyer, Stephanie Livingston, would also be there. Also present was his butler, Dennis Kensington.  He had been the sole servant of the house for many years. 

Although dinner was set to be served at six o’clock, all the guests started to arrive early. Over the years, the members would always seem to find some excuse to come by and lounge around the manor, much to Alexander’s distain. His sister Debra had a fondness for music and would want to come play on his grand piano. His niece Lilith had become, as she called it, a ‘wine connoisseur’ and would peruse his wine cellar. Brian could always be found playing billiards. If he wasn’t practicing here, he was hustling somewhere out there. Even his lawyer Stephanie would always be over going through the books in his library. He wouldn’t mind much, except for that she would always leave it disorganized and even damaged some of his rarer volumes. As they all began to arrive though, this night seemed different. He noticed that they all seemed to be wandering around in rooms other than the ones where they would normally be found in. He had met with each of them and talked a bit. They all had questions as to what the big announcement was, but Alexander said that would come later. Dennis was busy in the kitchen preparing the dinner. Sometimes being the only full-time staff member would be exhausting, but for some tasks he was able to bring in outside assistance. But even Dennis was kept in the dark as to what the big announcement was going to be. While dinner was cooking, he went into the dining room and prepared some wine. He opened two bottles and decanted them to filter out any sediments and allowing them to aerate on the bar cart. He also set out an ice bucket in case anyone would request it.

As the night went on, everyone seemed to move about the manor on their own, as if they were deliberately trying to avoid one another. Eventually it was time and Dennis signaled to the group that dinner was ready to be served. As they all entered the dining room, they proceeded to sit down at the designated chairs. Alexander took his usual place at the head of the table, his sister Debra at the opposite end. Lilith and Brian sat next to each other on one side while Stephanie sat on the other side, across from Lilith and closer to Alexander, with and empty chair next to her. Dennis began to serve the first course, soup, vichyssoise to be exact. When all were served, Lilith asked Dennis for a glass a wine. She preferred her wine chilled a bit, so she asked him to place an ice cube in it. Dennis took her glass from the table, went over to the bar cart, and poured wine from the decanter that had been placed out to breathe. He then used tongs to place two ice cubes from the wine bucket into the glass and served it back to Lilith. 

At that moment, there was a ring from the front doorbell. Frustrated for being disturbed while eating, Alexander told Dennis to see who it was and send them away and to come back later after the meal was finished. Dennis left the room to answer the door. Shortly thereafter, Dennis returned, appearing rather shaken and concerned. “Sir, there is someone here who says he need to see you and that is of an urgent matter.”

“I don’t care who it is. You know that I don’t like being disturbed during a mealtime. Send him away.”

“He isn’t here to see you. He says his business is with all of us.”

Before Alexander could answer back. A figure walked into the room. He was covered in a black cloak. No other bodily features could be discerned. As he moved, the hem of the cloak skirted the floor, but instead of a clean hem line, the edge brushed the floor as smoky wisps and not having any definite shape. Those in the room sat in awe as this mysterious figure approached the table and stood by the open chair. As the figure drew back the hood of the cloak, a face was beginning to form. At first it appeared to be that of a skull, but as the hood was pulled back, a more human face began to appear.

“Hello all,” the figure spoke. “I am Death. I am here to collect souls from those who have passed on from this realm.” 

Alexander slowly stood up. “Why are you here? No one has died here tonight.”

“Not yet,” replied the guest. “Usually, I don’t make my presence known, but I felt that this was an unusual occasion and required some special handling. Some of you are going to die tonight and due to the forthcoming circumstances, it’s difficult to determine exactly what will transpire here tonight.”

“What do you mean? What circumstances?” asked Alexander.

The figure then looked around the room, stopping and staring into the eyes of each of them and ending at Alexander. “You see each of you in this room is plotting to murder another person in this room tonight. And each of you will be a murderer and likewise a victim. A lot of it will depend on the order of the events that occur tonight. What makes this situation more intriguing is that it isn’t as simple as one killing the other. One of you has planned to kill one of you, then that one has planned to kill another and so on so that it is like a circular domino chain.”

“How is it possible for someone to be a murderer if they have already been a victim?” asked Alexander.

“You should know the answer to that question. You have each already laid your trap for your intended victim. Now you what each need to ask yourself is how well has the trap been laid and if any lure would be needed to catch your victim if you are not there” replied the figure.

The individuals in the room all looked around at each other. All realizing that what he said was true. That they all did indeed lay some trap to murder one of the others, but that there was also a trap that had been laid in waiting to kill them is what really had them nervous. They each knew the motive they had for killing one of them, but searched their minds and souls as to which one of others had a motive to kill them.

Hesitatingly, Alexander raised his arm and pointed at the figure. “This is ridiculous! Leave her at once! Not one of us would harm any of the others!”

The figure then backed toward the door. “You know yourself that isn’t true. It just isn’t clear how it will turn out now that you know and wonder if any can avoid your fates.” He then reached his arm under his cloak and pulled out a pocket watch and opened it. “If you doubt what I say, then just wait. The first of you is about to die in the next few minutes. In trying to come up with an explanation for all this to the authorities, if you survive, you may want to recall that last line of the poem from the Agatha Christie tale, One Little Indian left all alone, we went and hanged himself, and then there were none “. He then reached into his cloak and pulled out a rope with a noose on the end and threw it on the table. “Oh, and don’t think that any of you can just walk away from this.” He raised his arm and a series of slamming doors came from all around the house ending in the dining room windows having shutters slamming closed on them. Shutters that were never there before. “I’ll be back later to collect those of you who don’t make it.” As he turned and walked to the door, the figure slowly began to fade away into nothingness.

“I can’t believe any of this true. Why would anyone want to kill me? I can assure that don’t want to kill any of you” said Brian nervously

Debra began to start crying and slowly looked around the room. Stephanie began shaking in her chair as if a deep chill had struck every nerve in every bone of her body. Dennis was standing still in the corner, frozen in shock since he had let this being in.

Alexander did have plans for a big announcement, but that seemed to fall to the side, especially when his special arrangement could be soon brought to light. 

They all looked around at each other. They each knew it was true what was said. Lilith sat quietly at the table. She let out a cough. She took a sip of her wine to sooth her throat. She began to cough more, louder and stronger. The coughing became more intense and eventually Lilith began coughing out blood. The strength of the coughing became so great she fell to the floor, coughing and wheezing and unable to stop. More and more blood was coming out and eventually bits of internal flesh began spewing out. All the others stood around gasping in fear, not knowing what to do. Finally, the coughing stopped. Lilith’s body laid there lifeless on the floor. She was dead and one of them did know how and why.

End Part I