An Unexpected Murder

Chapter 1

An unexpected Morning

“Wake up Emma!” yells my mom from the kitchen “It’s time for breakfast!” “Coming” I half shout and half murmur. I get myself out of bed, drag my feet across the floor and stomp myself down the hall to the kitchen. “Morning,” I say to my mom. “Good morning sweetie,” she says back. “I made oatmeal today.” “Yum,” I say. “Is Oliver up yet?” I ask.

 “Not yet” answered my mom. “Is dad up then?” “He went on a jog around the neighborhood.”  Sarah, my dog, gets up from her bed and comes to greet me. “Hi Sarah,” I say, giving her a belly rub which she flops over for. I go upstairs to the loft and get on the elliptical. I have been trying to do it for twenty minutes every day, I saw it in a show once, but It is not working out well. I just don’t know how to use the elliptical, I know it sounds weird, but I have a talent for things like that. Just then my dad walks through the door. The first thing I notice is the red stain on his shirt. “ What’s that stain from?” I asked my dad. “ Katie monarch asked for a hand in painting her fence, so I helped her.”

“ I am going to bring Dorothy some homemade cookies.” My mom says. “Who’s Dorothy?” I ask. “The elderly woman who lives right next to us” Answers my mom. “Oh, you mean the nice lady who stops by and brings us her delicious caramels?” I ask. “Yes,” she says. 

She walks out the door and I see her walk up to Dorothy's house. She knocks on the door. There is no answer. She knocks again. Still no answer. She knocks one more time and then decides to go in. she opens the door and then lets out an ear-splitting scream as a body comes falling out on top of her. 

She sprints down the sidewalk and back to our front door. I rush downstairs and greet her in the doorway. “What happened?” I ask. “I...I….” She stutters out of breath from her 20-foot sprint. “I don’t know.”She is finally able to say.” She picks up her phone and hurriedly calls the police. “Hello,” she says frantically Into the phone. “I would like to report a murder.”

Chapter 2

An unexpected background of myself

Hello, my name is Emma Robertson, I am 10 years old,  I was born on 7/ 21/ 2021, which would make this year 2031. I love to do crafts. My latest craft was a homemade kite, though my favorite craft I ever did was the Zumbo masterpiece. Now, I know some people get confused about what that is, so I am going to break it down word by word. Let’s start with the first word, Zumbo. I like baking shows, so I decided to make a big toothpick statue. Zumbo is the name of an Australian judge on the show Zumbo's just desserts.

 Onto the next word, masterpiece, meaning a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship. I am outgoing, wild, and kind of rambunctious. Now that we have that covered, let’s talk about my family. My mom, Jennifer, is a stay at home mom and is a great entertainer, specifically a Magician. My brother, Oliver, is 12, and still likes to do things with me because he hasn’t yet hit the teen years. 

My dad, Gabriel, is the head of a lobster company, but still has never touched a lobster in his life. My dog, Sarah, a wild yellow mutt, who will rip up any stuffed animal including a stuffed bear we gave her because we thought maybe she would like to snuggle it and that she would take care of it. She chewed it up like a piece of gum and spit it out. The first body parts ripped out were the eyes.

Chapter 3

                                  An unexpected visitor

“Bang, Bang, Bang!” I hear a knock on the door “Open up it’s the police!” “I’ve always wanted to say that” whispers the police officer with the brown hair to the other one with the black hair. I come down the hall from my room and open the door. “Can I help you?” I ask very nervously. “May we please see your parents?” says “Officer Greenham”, the one with the Brown hair. “Sure,” I say, “Would you like to come in?” I offer. “Thank you” nods Officer Smith, The guy with the black hair. “I’ll go get my mom,” I tell them. 

I head out the back door and to our small garden. I find my mom weeding the kale bin. “ Mom, there are two police officers at the door, and I let them in, so they are in the living room right now,” I say. “Okay,” she says, “Let’s go in and see what they want.” 

Together we make our way into the living room where the Officers are waiting. “May we help you?” asks my mom. “Yes,” says Officer Greenham, “ We were sent to investigate the neighborhood and see if anybody knew anything about the murder of Ms. Dorothy Calahan.” “ You were the person to call the police, correct?” asks Officer Smith. “ Yes,” says my mom “ Yes I was.” Great,” says one of the officers but I am too busy hurrying away so I don’t know which officer it was. I ran to my room and collapsed on my bed. 

Chapter 4

           An Unexpected Idea

Thoughts are racing through my head about what happened, how did it happen, why did it happen, and… wait a minute, I sit up straight and suddenly get kind of excited. What if I could solve the mystery, what if I could find out who murdered Dorothy. No, I can’t, I suddenly doubt myself. That would be impossible. I’m not trained like those two officers. But then again they didn’t seem that smart. I get up and march myself back out there, because if I want to solve this mystery then I better learn all the details I can. 

It turns out that they didn’t know really anything about the murder because they were new to the police squad and it was their job to question people about what happened. So much for that plan. I decided that I needed to go and do something to clear my mind, so I decided to ask my dad if we could go get some frozen yogurt. I found him on the elliptical in the loft. “ Hey Dad,” I said, “ can we please go to freezies frozen yogurt?” “Sure,” he said, “ Just let me take a quick shower and change my clothes,” I said okay and wandered back to my room. 

While I waited, I decided to read my book called “The Golden Ring” It is about a woman in her thirties trying to solve a mystery of a priceless stolen ring. “I’m ready” I hear my dad calling to me. “Coming” I shout back. I race out of my room starving for something cold on a hot day like this. We go to Freezies where I get a Chocolate and vanilla swirl in a medium-size container. I downed it quickly. “ Ready,” I say. We head home and during the car ride, I decide to make a conversation to break the silence. “ So, how was your jog this morning?” I ask. 

My dad always says things in detail, so when I asked him that he of course launched into a vivid description of how it went. “ I left at 7:00 o'clock this morning for my jog. First, I saw the Nelsons dog on the corner of the block through the fence so I stopped to pet him over the gate” he continued on but I had started to get bored, so I tuned out for a little bit. But then tuned back in at the end. “ Since I was doing my usual four-block trip, I decided to stop in at the Nelsons on my last trip around the block and check in on them, because with Mr. Nelson’s father dying, I thought I should pay my respects.” I nod in understanding. “Then I went home and got on the elliptical.” He finished. “ Wow,” I say “ That was very detailed, even for yourself.” He just laughed.

Chapter 5

Some Unexpected Evidence 

Later that evening, the whole neighborhood gathers for a meeting about the murder. “ We are going to have each of you walk through your mornings.” announced a real detective “The Nelson family, why don’t you go first.” “ Okay,” says Nancy Nelson. “We woke up at 6:30 this morning, ate breakfast, showered, and left for work at 6:50.” “ That is all we need from you right now.” said the detective “ The murder took place at 7:30 this morning.” the detective announces as he gets up from his chair and paced around the room. He says more, but I am not listening because something has come to mind. I am horrified about my idea. 

I think about this theory I have come up with, but decide not to share it yet with the detective because I don’t want him thinking that I am just a silly little girl trying to solve the mystery. The meeting was soon over and we all went back home, except for me. I stayed behind to talk to the detective about my theory. After I talked to the detective, he thought about it for a while, and then said, “ Interesting,” he said “ do you have any proof?” “ Not yet,” I said, “ but I know how to get some.” I am freaking out and don’t know if I should test my theory in this way. Well, for now, I just need to go home and get some dinner and some sleep. 

The next morning I woke up at 6: 17, got up, and went downstairs to get some breakfast. My dad and Oliver were already up. “ Hey dad, hey Oliver,” I said “ Hi Emma,” they say in unison. We all laughed. I made some toast and asked my dad if I could go for a run around the block. “ Of course.” he said, “ Do you want me to come with you?” 

“ That’s okay,” I said. I put on some Yoga pants, a sweatshirt, and then walked out the door to the sidewalk. 

I ran around the block quickly but stopped at the Nelson's house and knocked on the door. Nancy answers the door. “ Hello Emma,” Nancy says. “ Hi” I answered cheerfully. “ Please,” She said, “ come in.” I thank them and enter their house. I talk to them for a minute and when I leave the house in an unhappy state. I now know who murdered Dorothy. To be sure I make another stop right after the Nelson’s house and make some observations. I ran very fast back home and asked my mom if there will be a meeting today. “ There will be a meeting at noon today.” said my mom. “ Why?” “ Just wondering,” I say. It is 7:00 o’clock right now, so I have about five hours to go. 

The time actually passes quickly, as I read, go to the library, and do things with my brother. Soon enough it is 11:45 and is taking place in our yard. The detective shows up early, so I take advantage of that. I tell him that I want to announce the murderer. He says that I can do it.

When everybody was there he beckoned me up to the front. “ I think I have solved the case," I announced.

Chapter 6

An Unexpected Murderer

“ I know all of you are wondering who would do such a thing,” I say pacing around, trying to sound professional. “ What’s the motive, you might ask.” I say “ For starters, we all knew she was very wealthy, so that’s one, but do we know anything else about her?”               “There is one person I have a question for, Gabriel Robertson. Yes, my own father. You said you stopped at the Nelson’s at 7:00, but they had already left at 6:50. You came up with that excuse because you took longer than usual, and you knew I would question that.” “ That red stain on your shirt, that was blood, not paint, I know that because Katie Monac’s fence is brown, not red like blood.” 

“ Any denial?” I ask “I . . . well... you aren't going to listen to a ten-year-old, are you?” He stutters. The detective answers. “ I didn’t believe her at first when she told me her theory, but as I thought about it I truly agree with her.” All of a sudden he leaps out of his chair and tries to run away, but my mom who is sitting next to him grabs his leg and he trips, hitting the ground hard. The detective runs over to him and puts him in handcuffs. “ Well done Emma, and Jennifer Robertson,” says the detective “ Though we are very sorry about Gabriel.” “ Though I am very sad, and still loved him, our marriage wasn’t working out.” says my mom “ All of a sudden realization hits me, I will have a father in prison. I try to stay positive, but I find it very hard to.

Two months later, we have moved into a new house, the school year has started up again, and I am genuinely happy. I have started a neighborhood service of mysteries solved for anybody in need of a detective, free of charge. My father is in jail and is sentenced to life in prison. This is where my story ends, where I am happy, and having fun as a kid.

The End