Murder! Madness!

I still remember that case, as clear as my heart; it was my best one after all.

GREETINGS! I’m Paul Harris, a former detective and now, a writer. I know, I know what’re saying: but Paul you label every case as your best.

I KNOW! But trust me this … is the absolute pinnacle. Let’s start from the beginning.

***

1947. I was still a young detective owning a staggering 43 cases solved to my respected name. The most handsome department about me, excluding my looks, was my case solving streak. 43 cases given to me, 43 solved; unsolved: none.

I thought I could solve anything by that point when I found a blonde hair in a sheep’s fur. But then I was approached for that case.

1947, The Beverly Estate, London. Mr. Clause who was the owner of the building and a multi-millionaire was just found dead in his room, stabbed with a knife.

‘I don’t know, I just entered the room to deliver his lunch and he - and he!’ Cried Clause’s manager who called me to investigate the murder. He, among 3 more people were present in the house when the murder happened.

‘Any suspicion, manager?’ I asked the manager.

‘All 3 look suspicious to me, the gardener, Lara asked Mr. Clause which plants to do before he was found dead; the plumber; Remus was called to do pipes on the same day and Krum, the housekeeper was cleaning Mr. Clause’s room before he was found dead. I went to his room to give him lunch the night before his murder and he was doing fine.’

‘When you joined this job?’

‘1927. And call me Sam.’

‘Okay, call those 3 people and provide me a clean room, I’ll live here for some time and until that, nobody will leave this building.’

I was provided a room and decided to live there until I solve this case. I took the knife that killed Mr. Clause but no fingerprints were there. One thing was sure, out of these 4 people, nobody wanted it to seem like they were trying to hide anything.

Night time arrived and all gathered in the dining room to have dinner.

‘Do you guys suspect someone?’ I asked them all.

‘All of them,’ said Lara.

‘Especially you,’ said Remus with an expression of disgust.

‘You not gonna say anything or you don’t have anything to defend yourself?’ Sam asked Krum.

‘What?! Do you seriously expect me to tip-dance here after you’ve caged me for a murder I never committed!’ Krum thundered.

‘By the way sir, there’s something I need to tell you,’ Lara confessed after sometime.

‘Go ahead!’

‘It may be useless but when I was leaving the house after doing the plants, all lights were on.’

‘All? Are you sure?’

‘Yes, I also found it odd because no light was on just 5 minutes ago.’

‘Hmmn…’

And then something happened, for the 1st time something unusual happened in the building. Just when I was about to take my 3rd helping, out of nowhere, the whole building’s light went off.

‘Don’t make a deal! Keep calm! Hey, that was my throat!’

‘Ah Krum! You fell on me you bloody chicken feather!’ Sam the manager thundered.

It took me an eternity to rest the rustle that broke out. Sam had burnt a lamp which gave very little light. I asked him where the electricity panel was. It was in the basement.

‘Give me the lamp, who’s coming with me … Sam, come.’

‘What? I’m not coming … it’s - it’s too dark!’ Sam replied.

‘Hah! Scared cat is what you’re,’ Krum laughed.

‘You go if you’re so brave!’

‘Am not going with someone who caged me without my permission and told me he’d give me to the police if I don’t come!’

‘You all are a bunch of kids, am coming sir.’

‘Ok Lara.’ And I took the lamp and we went in the basement, leaving Krum, Remus and Sam alone upstairs.

It was a dark place, filled with rats clattering and echoing of your noisy steps. Lara spotted an unplugged wire not too long after our entrance. We joined it with the socket and light was here. But light wasn’t the only thing that came.

‘You know Lara, I might have a clue who’s behind the murder.’

‘Seriously?! You don’t think I’m behind it, right?’

‘Not sure but if you have to prove that you’re not the murderer, do one thing.’

‘What?’

I told Lara what she had to do. We reached upstairs, all 3 of them were sitting on the dining table. No one ate more and went straight to their beds. I did too.

‘The same day as always,’ I thought as I stood on the verge of sleeping.

I woke up with a start when I heard a strange voice and realized that my door was being opened. I stood silently and the next thing I knew I heard a swish noise and the door closed.

I ran and closed the door, turned on the lights and found a knife stuck on the wall. The swish noise was of that knife swinging in the air. I called everyone and told them to gather at the hall.

But as I left, something was frighteningly odd, lights of the 1st floor were on. Just like on the day of murder of Mr. Clause, as Lara told.

Exactly 5 minutes later, I was sitting in front of Lara, Sam, Remus and Krum.

‘Why’d you call us in the night?’ Asked Remus.

‘I’ve found who’s the murderer.’

‘You have?! Tell me who is he, that bastard deserves to be punished after killing Mr. Clause!’ Sam broke out.

‘Yeah tell and free me from this cage,’ said Krum.

I took a deep breath and started. Examining everyone’s expression.

‘I woke up and realized my door was being opened, and after that, a knife was thrown at me, an attempt of murder.’

Sam eyed Krum with suspicion, Krum eyed back. Lara and Remus exchanged the same traits.

‘Meet me in the dining room at 10, tomorrow,’ and I left.

I couldn’t sleep that night and kept recalling all the clues I received, summing them up and making a solid estimate.

As commanded, all 4 dragged themselves in the dining room. I had set up 4 apples on the grand table and handed them all a ball.

‘You’ve to hit these apples from there(I pointed the spot opposite of the apples)with the balls. Pick 1 apple and stand on the spot.

They all stood in front of the apples and started throwing their balls. Everyone’s ball hit except Sam’s.

‘I’ll never be good in aim,’ he cried.

‘Alright! Let’s go to the hall.’

‘What’re you up to?’ Asked Krum.

‘You’ll know.’

We gathered in the hall and I waited for something. For police to come and in about 10 minutes they did.

‘You called us sir?’ Asked the in-charge of the cops group.

‘Yes Percy, and stop calling me sir,’ I replied.

I took a deep breath and finally was going to declare who the murdered was.

‘The murderer is … Sam.’

‘Wha - what?! I was the manager of Mr. Clause!’

Everyone looked at Sam with disgust, the police was on guard and I continued.

‘Let me explain, 1st Lara told me that lights were on Mr. Clause's; previous night, the light were on too and when the electricity went off, Sam hesitated to come down because he is scared of darkness. Rest didn’t hesitate of darkness. But I didn’t ask them to come because I wanted Lara, the least suspicious, to do one thing. I told her to tell everyone of you that I’ve got a clue and I know who the murdered is; Sam didn’t like this because he thought he might get caught and tried to kill me the same night, but his knife missed. That apple thing was just a stunt to test your aiming skills because the murderer was not good at aim, that’s why he missed me. And when the light went off yesterday you tried to kill me by strangling my throat but Krum fell on you have you failed yet again.’

‘You fool! I’m his manager, how’d I-?! I was the one to call you for investigation!’

‘You thought that if you’d be the one to call me, no one’d suspect you and if you left the knife with Mr. Clause, I’d think that how could you be the one, someone was in a hurry and didn’t bother to take the knife with them.

‘Why’d I do it?! Why?!’

‘You told me you joined in the year 1927, you thought that if you’d gain trust of Mr. Clause in these year and killed him, you’d get all his property and money since you were the closest to him, his family being dead in an accident.’

Just when I finished this sentence, Sam summoned a knife from under his shirt and charged on me with full force … but too late, police had done their work. He was handcuffed and being dragged to the police car.

‘Finally, you solved it!’ Lara laughed.

‘I always had suspicion on that guy,’ Krum said.

‘Same here,’ confessed Lupin.

***

Everyone was freed from the building with a cash prize in exchange of their suffering, Sam was in the lockup and I was gifted the whole building and a cash prize.

You guessed it, I’m writing this story in the same building and its 2021 right now. I feel old.

Told you guys this was my best story yet. Anyways, this has been Paul Harris and I’ll be back with yet another interesting murder mystery.

Until then … goodbye.