1 ottumwa's mystery

The adventures of Dave and Roy:

OTTUMWA'S MYSTERY

AYOUB BENCHAREF

Chapter 1

We heard a scream coming from her room. We ran upstairs, tried to open the door but it was closed from the inside. Mr.Dave Moore busted in, and we were all shocked. We saw madame Vivian Jones on the ground covered in her own blood. He checked her pulse, " we are too late" he said " she is already gone" he continued. We were all shocked. Dozens of questions came to my mind, who did it? Why did he do it? And most importantly, how did he do it? The room was closed from the inside and the door is the only way in! Was it suicide? Or murder!

Ten days earlier earlier

My name is Roy Hanson, I am 18 years old and I study at Oakleaf High. Our school is just like any other school, except every student at the end of their second year is supposed to spend at least 20 days at some office, to have an idea of the professional world. We are still young, so nothing much is expected from us and no one takes it seriously but you still have to do it. We call it "the close up"

I was on my way back home with some friends, after the last day of this school year.

"So have you decided where you will be spending your close up?" one of them asked.

"I will be spending it at my father's bureau. He is a lawyer. What about you Roy?" another said.

"I think I will be doing the same. My father is an architect and his business is good, so I think it will be interesting to spend some time there."

As I arrived home I said goodbye to my friends and wished them good luck with their close ups. I went in, my parents were already there preparing the table for lunch.

" I'm home" I said as I opened the door.

"Welcome home" they both replied.

"How was your last day at school?" my father asked.

"Just the usual. They asked us each if we have found where to spend the close up and wished us good luck."

"Yeah about that" my father said with some unease in his voice.

"What is wrong?"

"I am afraid you will not be spending it at my bureau."

"What? Why?"

"Something urgent just came in and I will be traveling outside the country in two days."

"Are you serious?"

"I am afraid so. This matter is urgent and I can not delay it."

"And what am supposed to do now? It is too late for me to find another one!"

" Do not worry, I got you covered. I spoke with my friend Dave Moore. He accepted but only because I am an old friend of his."

"Dave Moore? You mean that detective? So I will be spending the next 20 days looking for missing people and lost cats !"

"Do not be disrespectful Roy. Besides Dave is a brilliant man. And he is surely doing more than that. Trust me you will not regret it. Besides, he is a sherlockian just like you"

"I did not mean to be disrespectful, it is the sudden change of plans. Dave Moore is indeed a well known detective, but there are a lot of stories told about him and I am not sure he is a good alternative."

"Do not believe everything you hear, and just as I said he is an old friend and a brilliant man. You might learn a thing or two with him."

As I finished my lunch, I went upstairs without saying much. But what can I say anyways, it has already been decided. To be honest, I have spent much time with my dad learning about his job. There is not much to learn now anymore, but still, it would have been better than spending time goofing around playing detective. I love mysteries and I am a big fan of sherlock, but those things do not exist in the real world, no one can deduce where you have been or what you do just by looking at you. This close up is going to be a total disaster.

The next Monday, I woke up at 9:00, ate my breakfast got dressed then left the house. My father already left the country so it was just me and mom. The detective's bureau was not very from our house, so I went there on foot.

On the way, I started thinking about this guy. I have heard stories about him. I can not know for sure if they are true or just false rumors. But I can assure you they are peculiar indeed. But one peaked my interest the most and it goes like this. One time he was walking down the street coming back from his office and heading back home, when a man walked by him. He then suddenly attacked the man ,dropped him to the ground and asked a couple of girls that were watching to call the cops. When the cops arrived, they asked him why did he attack the guy. He told them that this guy is the infamous "Galiarde lake butcher". No one believed him at first, the cops called him crazy for his claims. "How could you possibly know this?" they asked, "have you lost your mind ?" the guy shouted at him, "I am an innocent man and I have not done anything wrong. You on the other hand are an offender. You attacked me with no right to do so, Humiliated me in front of everyone and accused me with no shred of evidence! Officers arrest this man!". The two coppers were forced to do so since he attacked a man without a conclusive evidence. As they were about to arrest him, he smiled and said: "how do you explain the dirt on your shoes then?."

The man was shocked and seemed like he was caught off guard. "I must have walked in a pond and got myself dirty" he responded.

" A pond you say? That is odd indeed. You agree with me officers? It has not rained in 2 months"

The man seemed like he could not find a way around it.

"And what about those scratches you have on your neck? You seem like you struggled with a very unfriendly cat!" Dave added in a cunning tone. "I am sorry. My eyes must have gone doll. Those are not cat scratches. What you have is more like five deep lines. Some could consider them marks of struggle. If I may ask, were you fighting someone?"

The man lost all color, as if he saw a ghost. "How could he know?" he must have thought to himself.

" You are "the Galiarde lake butcher". A serial killer who attacks women late at night. Most of his victims were young nurses going to their night shifts. He attacks them, rapes them and then beats them to death. To get rid of their bodies, he throws them in the Galiarde lake, hence the name."

Dave walked to the man and grabbed him by his right hand, lifting it up while showing the knuckles, "you have marks of beating on your hand. Can you explain where these came from?"

"We would like to take you with us to the station with us for further questioning, sir." The cops said.

Backed to the corner, with no response to Dave's questions, the man started swinging punches left and right to get out of the situation. Unfortunately for him, the private detective was adept at the arts of self defense. He had no trouble putting the man on the ground.

I do not know how much of this story is true, but I did not believe it. I loved it as a kid, it reminded me of sherlock, it gave me hope of someday meeting a real life version of him. But as I grew older It lost all charm. Beside, how could someone notice so much detail in so little time anyways. It just did not seem human to me.

I arrived to the office. It seems like any other office, nothing out of ordinary for me. I walked up the stairs, his office was on the first floor. I knocked on his door, " come in the door is open" I heard someone screaming from the inside. It must be him. I pushed the door, to see a rather messy place. Papers were scattered all over the place and boxes thrown here and there. Behind the desk, and sitting on the chair, there was a man, holding some papers. He putted them down, turned to me slowly. " You must be Roy. Welcome to my humble office." He got off the chair and walked towards me to shake my hands. He was a lean tall man with light skin. He had a messy and light blond hair, with strands framing the sides of his face and between his eyes. He wore an odd striped dark blue and white bucket hat that covered his eyes. As he lifted his head and looked to me, I felt his eyes looking right through me, he had piercing gray eyes.

"What kind of men is this guy?" I thought to myself.

"Welcome to Moore's private investigation office!".

Chapter 2

"Welcome Roy, make yourself at home." Said Dave as he was shaking my hand.

He seemed like any other man, but something was unusual about him. It was not his messy hair or funny hat, it was his eyes, they were different, I can not describe it, they were just, different.

"Thanks a lot sir." I replied, "I hope I will be of assistance to you, and to learn from you."

"You seem like a nice smart kid Roy, and you look a lot like your father."

"I appreciate it sir."

"Tell me, what do you expect to learn?"

"What am I supposed to say? I did not want to come in the first place." I said to my self. "I hope to experience the work of detectives, how to investigate and think logically." I replied.

"Well, these things can not be taught, you have to learn them by-yourself. Let me ask you something, what is the difference between a detective and a normal person?"

"A normal person sees, but a detective observes."

Mr.Dave laughed as he heard my answer, "you are a true sherlockian just like your father said. You are right little Hanson, but do you know what it means?"

"I think, detectives should observe the details, the circumstances and then analyze everything before coming with an explanation. A detective should have a flawless logic and piercing eyes."

"Your answers are pertinents. I like the way you think Roy. We will be a great duo."

"I am looking forward to it Mr.Moore"

"Do not be so formal with me Roy." He said jokingly, "you can call me Dave. Come, let me show you around."

We started walking around the place, showing me things he uses to solve the crimes he encountered. "A detective should have a vast knowledge. From engineering, history, psychology and medicine. You will find criminals smarter than you are, so you should always be prepared. I am voracious reader, I read everything I can get my hands on."

He had a big encyclopedia in his office. It contained a large collection of books, about poisonous potions, antidotes and a lot more.

"You are a lucky guy, Roy." Dave said as he was showing me a paper. It seemed like an invitation. "Miss Vivian invited me to her mansion, and you will be going with me."

"You mean Vivian Jones? The famous actress?"

"Yes.It seems like she has been receiving threats lately and she asked me to investigate it. I told her I will come with my assistant. Go back home, pack your things. We will be traveling tomorrow at 9:00 PM."

I went back home, packed my things, took a bath before going to sleep and then I went to bed, earlier than usual. I was imagining how this trip is going to be, the people I will meet, but most importantly, I will have a close look to see Dave Moore's abilities. I can not wait to see what kind of adventure it is going to be.

I woke up at 8:00 in the morning, had my breakfast, kissed my mom goodbye and then went out. Dave was already waiting for me at the train station.

"Good morning Roy. You are right on time."

"Good morning."

"I can see you are a light packer like me."

"Oh yeah." Said I as I lifted my single bag, " I take only what is necessary."

"That is good, come on let us get on board."

We got on the train, found our selves some seats, put our bags and sat in our places.

"It is a two hours ride." Said Dave, "have you brought something to read on the way"

"No, I think I will just sleep."

"Not a bad idea."

I closed my eyes and leaned on the window.

I was in deep sleep, until I was suddenly awakened by a woman. She was trying to put her bags and unintentionally touched my head with her elbow.

"Rise and shine" said Dave with a sarcastic tone.

"How much longer until we get there?"

"About 30min."

"Ah, I see. So there is no need for me to go back to sleep."

"Indeed. Do you want to play a game? It will make time go faster."

"What is this game called?" I asked.

"Honestly, I have not thought of a name for it. But it is simple. You just look at someone, and guess something about them based on their luggage and looks. We can call it look and guess."

"Never heard of this game before. It seems to me like you just made it up right now."

"It is a real game" Dave said in a serious tone.

"Relax I was just kidding. But who do you play it with?"

"With myself" he replied as he laughed.

"I knew it. It does not seem like a game people would play." I thought to myself. "Would you show me how to play it?" I replied.

"Okay. I will go first since this is the first time you hear about it. Who do you want me to try it on?"

"How about that woman?" I said as I pointed to the woman who woke me up earlier. She was not sitting so far from us.

"That woman. Okay let me see."

He then leaned forward,with his hands together covering his mouth and looking straight at the woman. It was awkward honestly, I was hoping he will be done before she notices him. Luckily it did not take him very long.

He turned back at me and started talking.

"This train, departures from Widefield . It has 4 stations, Oakleaf where we got on board, Wichita Falls where the lady rode, Ottumwa where we are heading and Norfolk the terminal."

"That is correct, but what does it matter?"

"Everything matters. Norfolk is well known for its cold weather, even during summer. The lady is not wearing clothes suitable for that weather, her bag is not big as well so we can say she is heading to Ottumwa like us and she is not staying for long."

"I think it is logical to say so."

"Now the question is, what brings her to Ottumwa."

"How can we know it?"

"Her clothes. She is not wearing formal clothes, so it is not very likely to be work related. She is wearing some make up, not so much of it, just enough. You can smell her perfume, it is not very strong."

"So what if her perfume is not very strong?"

"Women my friend are not like us. If she is wearing a perfume that is not very strong, it indicates she is meeting with one person, at a private place. If she is putting a strong perfume, it means she is going to a place full of people and scents. So naturally she would want her perfume to stand out."

"Maybe you are right, or maybe you are just over-thinking it."

"This is just a game Roy" he replied jokingly, "I am not supposed to get everything right" he added.

"Now, look at her left hand, at her wedding finger precisely. If you look closer, you will see traces of a wedding ring. Those traces look recent for me, so why did she take her ring off?"

"She was scared someone might steal it, or something."

"That is possible. But then, why is she leaving her purse besides her out in the open, and she is gazing at the window not looking at her bag."

As Dave was speaking, the conductor came in. He started asking people for their tickets. We gave him our tickets. He then moved to the seats in front of us. Next, it was that lady. As he asked for her ticket, she handed it to him, along with a card. I did not know what it was exactly, all I can tell is that it was a green card. It looked like a military card.

"You know what it is for? That card I mean." Dave asked me.

"No I never saw it before."

"It is a discount card, given to soldiers and their relatives, parents, wife and their children."

"So her husband is an officer?" I asked him.

"That is very likely. The only problem is at this time of year, military members from our area are all gathered at the base, 200Km from here. So who ever she is meeting, he is not her husband."

The idea he was trying to tell me was clear for me now. A woman, well dressed, married and hiding her wedding ring. She is a cheating wife.

"I know what you are thinking right now. But before we question someone's loyalty we must have proof. Besides, like I said this is just a game"

"Yeah I know. But now, I feel like I must find out if what you said is real or no."

Dave then looked at me, smiled a soft smile and said "do not bother yourself with the results. The point of the game is to test your observation skills and deduction. Most of the time you will not be able to know if what you deduced was correct or not."

I then gazed back at the view through the window, trying to forget this game. Ten minutes later, we arrived to our destination, we got up and picked our bags. The woman also went to get her bag.

"This is your station as well?" Dave said to the woman.

"Yes. Yes it is." She answered.

"Visiting a relative maybe?" he asked her again.

She nodded her head and turned, declaring her intentions.

"I think I saw you somewhere before. Where was it exactly?" he stopped for a moment pretending to be thinking, "Ah I remembered! You were at that dinner party in Wichita falls. Your husband was an officer if I remembered correctly."

The women was surprised. " I do not remember you" she said.

"Of course you do not remember him, he just made that up" I thought to myself.

"All officers at this time of the year are at the military base. So what brings you here? Visiting a relative maybe?"

"Yes, yes. I am visiting my sister" she answered with hesitation in her voice.

"Well, send your husband my regards."

We reached our destination, got off the train, said goodbye to the woman and went in our way.

"So, we can say that confirms it." I said to him.

"You can say so. I feel sorry for the poor man. No one deserves to be cheated on."

"I agree with you. I have to admit it, that was a smart move. Pretending to know her husband, that got her to speak."

"When you do not have much informations, you sometimes have to take risks to get what you want. Just be careful, it does not work as planned always"

"Do not worry" I said," I never take such risks"

I have to admit it, his observation skills and thinking are outstanding. He notices small details, analyzes them and use them to build a bigger image. I do not know where he learned to do it, but I know I want to learn ho to do it as well.

The mansion was far from the station. We took a cab to get there. It was in the edge of the city, standing alone at the top of an isolated hill. The road leading to the mansion was in bad shape. As we got closer to the top, we could see more and more of the city.

"what a view!" I said.

"A very beautiful view indeed. Miss Vivian had this mansion for a long time. The only problem is this old road, it has not been renewed since a long time. Sometimes you can not even cross it, which makes this place even more isolated." Said the taxi driver.

"I hope it will not rain today, I have no intention of staying here for long." Said Dave.

"I hate to tell bad news, but it is very likely to rain today."

As we arrived, we found out it was not a mansion. It was more like a palace.

The cab parked right in front of the gate. We took our bags, paid the driver and stood in front of the gate. It was big and old fashioned. The two pillars of the gate, had a statue of a lion on top. All you can see behind it, is the long passage and the countless trees on the side of it. We stood there, looking for the bell to announce our presence. Until suddenly, itt opened by itself. We looked at each other, picked our bags and went in.

The passage was almost 5 meters wide. It went on for over one hundred meters. At the end, there was a fountain in the middle. At its center, there was a statue of an angel, with the water coming out of its eyes.

"That is the crying angel." A man said. The sound was coming from the palace's door. We looked over, the door was open, a tall man with black clothes and gray hair was standing there. "My name is Fritz" he said, "I am the butler. Welcome to our mansion"

Chapter 3

"Fritz? That is a German name." I thought to my self.

This man was tall, he seemed to be old, almost 70 years of age. He was strong yet he had a gentle face. Our luggage posed no problem for him. With one hand he lifted both our bags.

"Follow me, miss Vivian is waiting for you."

The mansion's interior was even more beautiful than the outside. My father is an architect, so I knew this style of architecture. This is an old German architecture, it actually looks a lot like the Schloss Wolfenbuttel, a famous castle in the town of

Wolfenbuttel in Germany. This shows how wealthy the famous actress is. Yet, what is peculiar about Vivian, is how she keeps her private life a secret. Until now, I did not know where she lived. I did not even know she was still a miss, although she is quite old.

Although the architecture was beautiful, it was very simple. As you get in through the main door, you find your self in a hall, with two stairways leading to the next floor. They were built symmetrically. The painting was red and the stairways were gold. You can see sculptures allover the place. Paintings were hung up on the walls. A huge and bright chandelier shined on the whole place.

"She is waiting for you mr.Moore at her office. Go upstairs at the end of the hallway on your right. I will take your bags to your room. Once you are finished with miss Vivian I will escort you to your room."

We followed the butler's instruction. As we went upstairs, we walked pass a room, their voices were loud and unclear, as if they were arguing.

Once we reached her office, Dave knocked on her door.

"Come in." She said.

We opened the door and went in. Her office also had a German architecture and decoration. Miss Vivian was sitting at her desk.

"You are finally here. And I can see you brought your assistant with you" she said.

"Sorry for being late. Yes, I could not leave him alone."

"I will pay you 20% in advance, you will not get the rest until you finish. The letters are with Fritz, he will give them to you and he will explain the circumstances. Do you understand?" she said in a cold tone. "Yes I understand."

"Good. You are dismissed."

"This was shorter than I expected" I thought to myself. I was not unsatisfied with the way she treated us. I felt insulted and disrespected, the least she could do is to welcome us after such a long trip!

We left her office and found Fritz waiting for us at the door. We followed him to our rooms.

"In this envelop you will find the letters miss Vivian received. At the back of each letter the date is written. The letters started coming 3 months ago and the latest one came in 5 days ago." Said Fritz as he handed Dave the envelop.

"Thank you. I have some questions for you Fritz. What is the common trait in these letters?"

"Well, they were all sent once every two weeks."

"How were these letters received?"

"By the mail. We tried tracing them back but we could not."

"Hmm. I see. What was these letters threatening miss Vivian for?"

"A simple demand honestly. They were all demanding her to give up acting."

"Why would they ask her to do that?"

"I do not know. Maybe it is a competitive actor, or a hater or someone else. That is why you are here after all, to find out."

"I understand. Thanks for your help Fritz."

"You are welcome. If you need anything else let me know. This is your room for the time being, the room above you is miss Vivian's room. The maids will bring you your lunch. Tonight at

8.30 PM we will be dining together."

The maids brought us our food. It was very fancy, not the kind of food you get to eat everyday. Although it was very delicious, I could not stop thinking of the way she spoke to us, like we were mere servants for her.

"Just let it go, it is not worth it." Said Dave as he looked at me, " I know what you are thinking. But admit it or not, she did not insult us or mistreat us. We came her to do our work, do not let your emotions control you Roy. They will blind your eyes and cripple your reasoning."

"I know but she should have spoken to us with more respect that is all I am saying. She does not seem like the person I saw on TV. Fritz in the other hand is nicer."

"Well that is normal. People do not act like themselves in front of the camera. This is your close up, Roy. The world is not perfect. People are not always nice, but that should not stop you. Keep your goals and duties above all, and always keep calm."

I could not argue with what he said. He was right, I should not let my emotions get the best of me. I am here to learn and observe and I should not wast this opportunity on such trivial things. Once we finished our lunch, we started going through the letters.

"Here, give it a shot. Let us take the first letter. Read it, and tell me what you can deduce from it."

I took the letter in my hands, the envelop was a regular yellow envelop, the stamp was also just a regular one, the date was the first of November 2018, that is 3 months ago.I opened the letter, it said :

"Vivian your acting days are over. You better stop acting or else"

Short sentence, but straight to the point. The writer did not write it using his hands, but rather chose a way that I found really weird. He cut the letters from a magazine and sticked them together on a piece of paper to form the sentence.

I think this is everything I can see in one letter.I told Dave what I saw.

"You are correct." He said, "now that you have observed everything, the next thing is to ask the right questions, why did he do the things he did? Why did he not do them in another way?"

" I do not know Dave" I said with anger, "I can not do it like you."

He calmed me down and told me, "who ever wrote this letter is not a ghost, he is human, like me and you. This means two things. What ever intentions or plans he had, they were bound by logic, and whatever he did, it must have left a trace. If you observe and think, you can recreate those circumstances, thus understanding his motives and obtaining as much informations as we can."

I tried to do what Dave said, I tried to come up with the right questions, without ignoring anything. First, the date, it was first of November. Why did the letters start at that time and not another? Was the timing special for the victim, or for the perpetrator? Meaning did Vivian do something that triggered him, or did he find out something that made him act the way he did? Next thing is the way he wrote the letters, why did he use that particular way? Especially since it is very hard and time consuming, he must have had a reason to do it that way.

Have I forgotten something, a detail that slipped from my mind. I do not think so.

I told Dave what I thought.

"Brilliant thinking Roy." He told me, "asking the right questions is the first step towards the solution. Your questions were pertinent. As for the first question, the best person to answer us is miss Vivian, or her butler. For the second question, I was thinking about it as well, I frankly found no explanation, this method is old fashioned and time consuming. It could indicate a lot of things, maybe he himself is old fashioned, or maybe he could not use something more recent for one reason or another. The best thing we can do right now is to keep this in mind without jumping into conclusions. Never theorize before having enough evidences, remember?"

"This whole threats thing makes really no sens for me. Why would he threaten her into quitting acting? He did not black mail her into submission, he just sent her letters more or less asking her to quit, without giving a reason to do so."

"That is true, but I have a feeling that will find out soon. Let us continue looking in these letters, they are the only evidences we have so far. Once we formulate our questions, we will go to ask miss Vivian for an explanation."

We started looking through the letters, there was six of them, they were pretty much the same, except for the fifth one, something made it stand out from the rest.

The envelop and stamp were the same, the method of writing was the same as well. But the content was slightly different :

"If you do not follow, you will regret all your life."

"What do you think about this one?" said Dave to me.

"This one is different. For two reasons. The first one, it is more aggressive and threatening than the others, even the letter that followed it was less threatening. And the second reason is the language, it seems like whoever wrote it, is not an English speaker, because the correct way to say it is "if you do not follow you will regret it all your life", it seems like a minor error, but since the method takes a lot of time to write, he had plenty of time, so this error is an evidence."

"You are a quick learner. But you forgot one minor detail. The sudden increase of aggressiveness in one letter, and the decrease in the following one means that there is an event that occurred in miss Vivian's life that triggered him."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Fritz knocked on the door.

"Come in." Dave said.

"Excuse me for troubling you Mr.Dave. It is 6:00 in the evening. If you want to take a shower before dinner, I will tell the maids to prepare it for you."

"Actually, we have some questions to ask miss Vivian. Can you take us to her office?" said Dave

"I'm afraid I can not. That will have to wait until after dinner. Miss Vivian is not available right now. You can ask her what ever is on your mind after dinner. Or maybe you can ask me now if you want."

"I think I will wait until I ask her personally, thank you."

"Very well sir."

Fritz was walking out the door before he stopped and turned back at us, "You should look forward to it, the dinner I mean. You will meet some interesting guests."

Chapter 4

"Seems like we will be holding into our questions until after this dinner." Said Dave as he sat on the couch.

"What should we do now?"

"You can go take a shower and rest. I will sleep for a while."

I went into the shower, I honestly needed something to relax me. This whole thing is exhausting, and things seems to only get more and more complicated.

I kept thinking about those letters, I was hoping I can come with an idea to impress Dave. I was racing with him, I wanted to prove my self to him. "Recreate the conditions to obtain as much information as you can", this is Dave's advice, I was deep in thoughts trying to understand this case, until I lost track of time. "How long has it been since I came in here?" I thought to myself, "time to get out".

I got out of the shower, but I did not find Dave in the room. He must have went outside. Luckily I brought with me some cloths to change. I got dressed and went down.

The mansion has three floors, the first one seems to be reserved for the maids and the butler. The second floor is where miss Vivian's office and some spare rooms are located along with the dining room, I believe it is where I heard those people earlier. The third floor must be where her room is. I found Dave down stairs with some maids, he excused himself and came to me.

"It took you sometime to shower."

"Yeah sorry. What time is it?"

"It is about time for dinner."

"I see, that is great then. What have you been doing all this time?"

"I could not sleep, so I went for a walk around the place. This mansion is bigger than it looks. I even went to the third floor. I found there a huge room with a big screen and some seats. It was like a miniature cinema, very beautiful."

"You must not go around the place like that! What if they got mad."

"Do not worry, no one saw me anyways. There was a room at the end of the hallway it must be miss Vivian's private room."

"Anyways, what were you talking to the maids about."

"I thought they could have some interesting informations. You would be surprised how much workers know."

"That is a good idea. So what did they tell you?"

"It seems that miss Vivian had some troubles before the fifth letter was received. They told me she seemed troubled and was isolated, she only spoke to her adopted son and to Fritz."

"She has an adopted son? I never knew that."

"I am not surprised. Despite her fame and success, she always kept her private life a secrete. They also told me that around one month before those letters started coming, she went to visit a doctor."

"A doctor? What do you think that means? Probably the perpetrator knew about it and threatened to uncover it."

"I do not know for sure" said Dave, "Who ever it was, and for whatever reason, he is not an outsider. There is no way an outsider knew about her visit to the doctor. We must be cautious, you understand. It could be anyone, so we should not tell anyone except miss Vivian herself."

"Mr Dave, I was looking for you, I did not find you in your room." Said Fritz, "it is time for dinner. Let me take you to the dining room."

We followed him, eager to meet the guests. We could hear the people at the dining room as we came into the hallway leading to it. three men were sitting at the table, and I knew two of them.

The first man on the left is Andrew Oakmill, the famous writer. He wrote several master pieces and I am really fund of his work. His success started at an early age, he started writing at 15 years and his first work was with miss Vivian her self. Most of his work was thriller movies, but he also wrote some novels.

The second man is Kevin Hailpert, also a celebrity. He is said to be the most successful movie director of his generation. Most of his works was with miss Vivian as well.

Two titans of the movie industry gathered here, it must be about a new work.

I never saw the third man before, he looked pale and had a weak built. But since he was sitting close to the head of the table, where obviously miss Vivian sits, he must be the adopted son.

The three men looked at us as we came into the room.

"This is Mr.Dave and hiss assistant Mr.Roy" said Fritz.

"Nice to meet you everyone." We replied.

Andrew got off his chair and walked toward us, and shook both my and Dave's hands.

"Nice to meet you Dave, I heard many stories about you. I can not wait to hear them from you." He then turned at me and said: "you are a lucky boy, Roy. You better use this opportunity to learn as much as you can."

Andrew seems like an energetic and nice person, everyone around here seemed old and slow, it is nice that such a young person is here.

The other two men presented themselves. I was right, the other man was miss Vivian's son.

They invited us to sit on the table, I sat next to Mr.Dave and Andrew. In front of me was Kevin, next to him was Fill, the adopted son. He and Andrew were sitting near miss Vivian's place.

"The weather changed quickly, it looks like it is going to rain." Said Fill.

"That road still gets blocked when it rains? Have you not fixed it yet?" asked Kevin.

"I am afraid it is still the same." Answered Fill.

"Come on cheer up. It is not like you have something better to do." Said Andrew in a cheerful way. He then looked with excitement at Dave, "after all we have the famous "hawk-eye Detective""

"Hawk eye?" I asked him, " what do you mean?"

"You do not know? He has many nicknames. "The blond detective", "the bucket hat" and some even call him blondie. But the most famous one is The hawk-eye detective." Answered me Andrew.

"I never heard about this, why do they call you that?" I asked Dave.

"I think you got this nickname after the "ghost killer cases"." Answered me Andrew.

I never heard about this case or about this name ever before.

"You took the case around 7 years ago. You still were not famous at that time. The killings were so mysterious and impossible that they called them the ghost killer cases." Said Andrew as he looked at me, he then turned to Dave, "I always wanted to hear the story from you. Come on

detective, do not be so shy, tell us."

Dave was not shy or timid, but he did not like to show off. Andrew kept asking for the story, but suddenly miss Vivian entered room. She was an old lady, but ass soon as she entered the room everything got quite. She was not physically strong or intimidating, but she had such a strong presence. She entered the room wearing an amazing dress, her wavy blond hair was like the sun in its brightness. She walked into her chair, Fritz pulled it and she sat on it.

"Everyone is already here. Sorry I was late. I had some work to do. I hope I did not keep you waiting for too long." "No you did not mom." Answered Fill.

"Tell the maids to start serving the dinner. Our guests must be starving." She said addressing Fritz.

The maids brought the food, it was more like a feast. Yet I was not interested in the food as much as I was interested in the guests and the case it self. Although she looked gorgeous, I could see she was weak. She lost some weight, the way she walked and her movements expose her weak body. She hid it very good, but still I noticed, so Dave must have noticed it as well.

Fritz was standing next to miss Vivian quietly. Everyone was eating their food without saying a word, until Kevin spoke.

"So, what do you think?" he said, referring to some private matter.

"We do not discuss work on the dinner table Kevin. You should know better." She answered without even looking at him.

He did not take it will, but he kept quite.

"Aren't you going to tell us one of your stories after all detective? If that's okay with you Mom." Andrew said as he looked at miss Vivian to get her approval.

"Why would he call her Mom?" I thought to myself.

"Well then detective, come on tell us. I am excited to hear it directly from you." Said Andrew.

"I do not think I can share these informations and stories so casually. Most of these investigations are secret and I can not discuss them." Replied Dave.

"Oh that's a bummer! I would have loved to hear some stories from you. You know sometimes, reality exceeds even the imagination. Maybe you saw things that I could not dream of in my wildest dreams, something to be inspired by."

Dave did not seem to like what Andrew just said, "this is life and death you are talking about Andrew, do not speak of it so lightly!"

"My apologies detective, I did not mean to be disrespectful. All I thought is, maybe, writing about the murders could be like a tribute to the victims that's all." "That's enough." Miss Vivian said while looking at Andrew, "do not speak about such things on the dinner table. We are here gathered, as a family. These two are our guests and no one should disturb them or disrespect them in anyway."

Andrew, after hearing this looked down at his plate and started filling his face with food. While this conversation was going on, I kept on looking at Fill occasionally. He was always looking at his mother, miss Vivian. His eyes were filled with emotions. They looked like the eyes of a little boy, asking for his mother to carry him, asking for her love. But, miss Vivian was like a stone. She was strong, but she was emotionless, I felt sorry for him.

"What about the threats? Have you done anything about them?" asked Kevin.

"That's why I am here sir. I am conducting an investigation about those threats." Answered Dave.

"Where did this investigation lead you so far? Any results?" asked Kevin.

"I can't share these informations with you, apologies."

"How can you speak to me like that you little…" Kevin yelled with anger before he was interrupted by miss Vivian. "That's enough."

I was looking forward to this dinner, but now I regret coming here in the first place. Isn't this a family reunion? Are they not a family? That's what she said. But all I can sens and feel are mixed emotions. Hatred, sadness and anger. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by Kevin. He excused himself and went upstairs. Soon after Andrew also left to his room. Miss Vivian did not say a word to both of them.

"I need to ask you something. It's about the letters." Said Dave to her.

"Like I said earlier, we do not discuss work issued on the dinner table." She responded.

"Yes I know, but this can not wait. De do not yet know for sure who it was and your life could…"

"Mr Dave! Do you not understand such a simple sentence! No talking about business on the diner table. Do I make my self clear?"

"Yes… I understand"

"Now, all your questions will have to wait until tomorrow. I am going to sleep now. Good night."

"May I ask you something. Like I said, we do not know who sent these letters yet or what they intend to do next. I think it will be better to keep you in a safer place under protection."

"Do not worry detective. This mansion is well protected, my room is in the third floor. Even if this intruder manages to get to my room, I have a gun in the drawer of my office and my dagger hanged on the wall.

Besides, I will not leave my house and hide. I am not afraid of dying"

She then left the room, leaving only Fritz, Dave, Fill and me.

"Do you think she is going to be safe?" said Dave as he addressed her son and Fritz.

"I would not worry if I was you. My mom is stubborn so she would not listen to our warning anyway. Besides she keeps a small gun at her drawer, she will not hesitate to use it." Answered Fill, "now if you will excuse me, I will leave. It is time for me to use my medicaments." He continued.

"And I have somethings to take care of. If you need anything, you can ask one of the maids to help you. There is always one of them who has a night shift." Said Fritz.

It was only me and Dave left at the dinner table.

"What a meal! I am glad this is finally over!"

"I agree, this felt like an eternity for me. What a tension between these guys."

"Well now it's over. Time to get back to business. We came here to get our job done. Let's go back to our rooms."

We left the dining room to go back to our place. On the way, we saw Fill coming down stairs from the third floor.

"Hey Dave." I whispered, "what's Fill doing there, didn't he say he had to go to take his medicaments?"

"It seems he was at his mother's chamber. What was he doing there at this time?"

We continued our way, not thinking about it too much, after all we still did not figure out the secret of the letters.

As we were about to open the door, we heard a loud scream up stairs coming from miss Vivian's room. We ran upstairs, Dave and me. When we got at the door, Dave started calling for her and knocking on her door. He tried opening the door but it was locked from the inside. At this moment, Andrew and Kevin arrived.

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

"We heard miss Vivian screaming and now she is not answering" I replied

"I have to break in" said Dave. He then broke through the door with all his might, and we saw miss Vivian on the ground, covered in her own blood and stabbed with her dagger just bellow the neck.

Dave rushed to check her pulse, "she is already gone. The bleeding was too fast. I'm sorry."

Chapter 5

"This is a crime scene, I would like you all to stay away from this room. Nobody gets in here." He started pushing everyone out.

"you stay Roy, but do not touch anything. Wee need to keep the crime scene exactly as it is."

By the time Dave pushed everyone out Fill just arrived.

"I want you all to go back to the dining room, Fritz make sure everyone is in there even the maids and no one gets out"

"Roy, this is serious, a woman just lost her life and I doubt this was a suicide."

"I do not think it was suicide either, but how else can you explain it. Her room was closed from the inside and every one was in their rooms. Unless the killer was a ghost, there is no way he could have killed her."

"There are no ghosts, Roy. Who ever did it was human. There must be a logical explanation and I will find it."

Dave then started examining the victim, there were no marks or signs of struggles or resistance.

"Notice this?" he said to me, "look at the way the knife was stabbed into her body. It looks odd for me."

Dave was right, the knife was not deep in her body. The angle itself was unusual, it was not straight but rather tilted. I do not know why. Maybe the killer was nervous and he made a mistake when he stabbed her. But if that was the case, why isn't there any signs of struggle.

My thoughts were interrupted by Dave, "the cut was not deep, so the victim died because of blood lost. But this itself is not normal. She lost a huge amount of blood compared to the wound."

"Maybe it was because of her age, or she was on a special treatment."

"Let us go see the room to look for more evidences."

First, we checked the place where the dagger was usually placed. It was on the wall, not too high up. Strangely it was at the neck level of the victim. The door was closed from the inside, there was nothing unusual about it, so the perpetrator did not use the door in his crime. The room itself, was directly above the guests rooms. We checked the windows, They were firmly closed from the inside, so there was no way someone could get in the room. One of the windows was facing the place where the dagger was. When we opened this window, we noticed something interesting. There was two thin scratched on the bottom of the window, they were thin but they were visible and new.

"What do you think this is?" Dave asked me.

" I do not know. These marks are toot thin. I never saw them before."

"I think it is time to speak with our suspects." Said Dave in a confident tone. I knew he was getting closer to solving the crime.

We went outside and closed the room behind us.

"Let me see my mother" cried Fill.

"I'm sorry. This is a crime scene. Until this investigation is over no one will be getting inside this room. Here is what you are all going to do. Everyone will wait in the dining room. I will be investigating each and everyone of you individually."

"Are we suspects now? This is clearly a suicide, she was alone no one could have killed her" yelled Kevin.

"Like I said, this is an investigation. We have already called for the cops. But since it is raining right now, the road might be blocked so the cops will be late. That is why I am going to start this investigation until they arrive."

Kevin was not satisfied with what he heard, he tried to push

Dave. But before he knew it, he was already on the ground with Dave twisting his arms. He eventually gave up and everyone got inside the dining room. We locked the room to make sure no one gets out.

We started the investigation with the maids. Most of them were in the kitchen so they saw nothing, but one of them heard something interesting earlier this day. She said:" I cam back from the garden after taking breakfast to the Gardener. When I heard miss Vivian at her office arguing with Fritz. I couldn't hear exactly what she was yelling about. All I heard her say was "this is how you repay me!""

"What do you think that meant?" Dave asked.

"Well, I do not know for sure, since I am new here. But I heard

Fritz was a refugee, he came here after his family was killed in

Germany. Miss Vivian took care of him"

"I see, thank your for your help." Next was Fill.

"I know this is a bad time Fill, but we must ask you a couple of question. You told us you were going to take your medicaments, but then we saw you coming down stairs soon before we heard miss Vivian's scream. Why did you lie?"

"Why would I tell you where I was going? You are an outsider from this family detective. Do not forget that."

"Thank god I am not." Answered Dave with a sarcastic tone. Fill seemed offended but Dave spoke before he did, "so you have no alibi?"

"Do you think of me as a suspect? How dare you!"

"Mr Fill, this is not about what I think or what you think. This is about what you can prove. Thank you very much."

Next was Kevin, he was agitated and angry. He started screaming as he entered the room.

"Do you seriously think I am a suspect? I was inside my room, I could not have done anything."

"Calm down sir. We are doing our job, if you are innocent then there is no reason to be angry. We will ask you a couple of questions and then you can leave. Is that okay?"

Kevin kept quite for about ten second and then sat on the chair. "This better be quick."

"Tell me Mr.Kevin, what were you doing in your room after you left?"

"I went to my room, changed my clothes. I had some work to go over so I was sitting on the desk."

"Very well. Did you hear any weird noises or someone walking behind the building?" "No I did not hear anything."

"What was the private matter between you and miss Vivian?"

"That is non of your business!"

"She was pretty bothered when you mentioned it so I need to know. You will confess eventually when the cops get here, so better tell me. Do not worry I can keep a secret."

Kevin was hesitant, but he eventually started talking, "as you know, most of my work was with miss Vivian, and I am glad you know, she is a star, but…" "But what?" asked Dave.

"But she is a dying star, she has gotten old and weak. She is getting less and less movies. Last month I got an offer for a leading role, but they did not want miss Vivian, they wanted someone younger. I asked her to let me work with someone else but she refused. She wanted the role for her self, she told me "if you want to replace me then you can leave, I do not need someone who doubts my acting skills" of course I did not doubt her skills, but her stubbornness and short temper made me agitated and angry, but I swear I could not kill her."

"Do you have an alibi or someone who can confirm you were at you room?"

"No I don't"

"Thank you very much"

Next is Andrew, he was the second one to leave after Kevin. I called for him. He was sad and quite, the energy he had earlier totally vanished. With his hands in his pocket he entered the room.

"Can you tell me what did you do after you went to your room Mr.Andrew?"

"I changed my clothes and laid on my bed to read my book. I was about to go to sleep when I heard miss Vivian screaming, so I went outside to see what is the problem."

"Can you tell me what took you so long to get out of your room after you heard her screaming?"

"Well I loose track of what is happening around me when I read."

"That happens to me too. Did you hear any weird noises or unfamiliar movements?"

"Yes. I heard someone walking outside, but I thought it was one of the maids so I did not bother checking it."

"I see. Is that everything?"

"Yes, this is everything I can think of."

The las one is Fritz, he entered the room quietly and sat on the chair. If he wanted he could have refused to answer, even Dave could not beat him. He was a very strong man despite his age. "Tell me Mr.Fritz, where did you go after you left the dining room?"

"I went outside to smell some fresh air. I was walking in the garden, when one of the maids called for me and told me the horrific news."

"Was anyone with you at that time?"

"No I was by my self."

"What were you and the victim arguing about this morning?"

"I suppose who ever told you this has already told you my story. My family was killed in Germany during world war two, I was still very young. When I came here miss Vivian took care of me and I became her loyal servant. I considered this place a home for me, but I could never forget Germany. Eventually, I got homesick and wanted to go back. I asked her to let me leave but she refused. I kept on asking and she eventually got so pissed of."

"Is this everything?" asked Dave Fritz nodded his head confirming it. He sent Fritz back to the dining room, I escorted him and closed the door again and got back to Dave.

"Who do you suspect?" I asked.

"I can't say for sure. We need to figure out how the killer did it in the first place. There is something bothering me. When we heard the scream and ran to her room, a weird item was on the table next to her room. When I pushed everyone out it was gone. It was like a black cylinder."

"I did not notice it. I was too focused on her room."

"In moments of fear our field vision becomes narrow. One last thing, Andrew kept his hands in his pockets most of the time, do you think he was hiding something?"

"Maybe he was just stressed because of all of this."

"Maybe you are right. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has a motive to do it. This is a hard case."

Suddenly, we heard knocking on the door. " Come in." Said Dave. It was one of the maids.

"I brought what you asked for Mr.Dave."

"That is great, thank you." she gave Dave a paper. It was a list of the medicines miss Vivian was taking. He read the list and smiled like I never saw him smiling before.

"Tell me miss, Of the people present right now in the house, who else knows what medicines miss Vivian was taking?"

"All of them, I believe. Miss Vivian considered them all like a family."

"I see. Well then, is everyone still in the dining room?"

"Yes Mr.Dave."

"Very good then. Let us go to the dining room."

she went ahead of us. I did not know what Dave was thinking, so I had to ask him.

"Dave! What was on that list?" I yelled at him.

"Calm down. It was just as we expected. She was using "arixtra". I believe the killer was aware of that and he used it to his advantage. This medicament reduces the density of the blood"

I followed him back into the dining room. As we entered, everyone looked at us with anticipation in their eyes. They were all eager to hear what was Dave about to say.

"Do not worry everyone. Miss Vivian did not kill herself. The killer is not a ghost, he did not vanish and he certainly can not go through walls. I would like all of you to sit down, as I am about to reveal the killer."  

Chapter 6

They were all shocked when they heard him. Who can blame them, anyone would think it was suicide. After all she was alone at her room.

"First of all, let us go through what happened, step by step. We had dinner at 8:00 PM. At 8.30PM Kevin excused himself from the table, he said he had some work to go through." "That is the truth" said Kevin, as he interrupted Dave.

"I did not say yo were lying, so please do not interrupt again. As I was saying, at 8:40PM, Andrew left the table and went to his room. Does anyone of you have a witness who can confirm you went to your room?" "No." They both replied.

"Very good then. At 9:00PM, miss Vivian angrily left the table and went back to her room. That was the last time she was seen alive. At 9:10PM Fritz and Fill left me and Roy alone and at around 9:15min we heard a loud scream coming from miss Vivian's room. Roy and me went running up stairs. We kept knocking on her door, but she didn't respond. Then we broke it and we found her on the ground, stabbed to the neck and covered with her own blood. Soon after, Andrew and Kevin arrived. Can you all confirm that is indeed what happened?" Everyone agreed with what Dave said.

"Very well then. Now, we checked the room. The door and the windows were firmly closed from the inside, so the killer had no way of getting out or in the room without being noticed. Miss Vivian was indeed alone in her room when she was murdered."

"Well if she was alone in her room, then it is suicide!" yelled Kevin angrily.

"Unfortunately that is impossible. Miss Vivian did not show any suicidal tendencies before. Besides, the way she was killed is in no way a suicide. She was stabbed to the neck with a tilted angle which means the possibility of suicide is very unlikely." "Well, what happened then?" asked Fill.

"We heard a loud scream coming from upstairs she was stabbed just below her neck. Which got me thinking how could she scream like that? Let us not forget she was in a closed room, all alone."

"The scream we heard was my mother's" said Fill.

Dave pulled his phone from his pocket, and pushed the play button. And we heard the same scream as before. But how?

"It was not hard to find it. This was from an old role Vivian played. When I was running upstairs, I noticed a black item that had a cylindrical shape, but when I pushed you all outside it was already gone. I believe the killer put it there."

"But why would the killer do that?"

"To scare miss Vivian. He knew she had a pistol at her drawer, so he had to find a way to make her go for the dagger instead. When she heard a loud scream near the door, she was too scared to think logically. So she went running to her dagger. And that is exactly what the killer wanted."

"So what if she went to carry it?" I asked.

"Remember those two thin scratches we found inside the window. Those are the traces of fishing cable. It is very thin but strong."

"But why did he use it? And why did he use that scream?" Fill asked him in confusion.

"The scream was to scare her and push her into going towards the dagger. The killer went to her room before, passed the cable through the dagger. It has a small hole in its grip. It is used to make pulling the blade from the pocket fast and easy. He then passed the cable through the window."

"So the killer can't be Fill since we saw him coming downstairs."

"Indeed. Fill is not a suspect. After preparing his weapon, he left her room unnoticed and waited for her to get inside the room and close the door. Then he activated the speaker and we know what happened next."

"But for his plan to work, the killer needs to be in a position to know exactly when the victim is in front of the dagger, otherwise his plan will fail." Said I.

"You are right. There are 3 people who were in the perfect position to know where she was. Kevin and Andrew were at the room exactly bellow her and Fritz was outside in the garden."

"But that is impossible! How would he know that the wound would be deep enough to kill her!" asked Fill in anger.

"It did not need to be a deep wound. Miss Vivian was using a lot of medicines, "arixtra" is among them. One of its side effects is making the blood less dense. So any wound would cause serious bleeding. Miss Vivian did not die because of the wound itself, but because of blood lost. Once the killer heard her falling on the ground, he let go of the cable from one end, and started pulling it from the other end. Until it was all back in his hand. When we came in, all we saw was a knife and a dead body"

Everyone was shocked to hear this. I myself was surprised. This awful way of killing. Who would do this and why.

Suddenly, one of the maids entered the room. She came in carrying the black item Dave was talking about!

"I asked her to go through your luggages to look for this item. As I expected, she found it."

"Where did you find it?!" asked Fill as he started coughing. The maids went to him to help him.

"You should take it easy on your self master Fill!" one of the maids said.

"No! No! I want to know who did this!" screamed Fill.

"I found it in Mr.Kevin's room." She said.

Fill was in shock, he started walking towards Kevin, screaming! " You bastard! How could you! We considered you family! How could you do such a thing!"

Kevin started walking back, "no believe me! I did not do it!

Someone set me up! Dave you bastard! I did no do it!"

"Shut up!" yelled Fill, "do not lie to me!" "He is not lying" said Dave.

"What do you mean?" asked Fill.

"He is not the killer."

"Then who is it."

"The killer is you!" said Dave as he pointed to Andrew.

"What! Are you insane! You just found the speaker at Kevin's room! Besides, Kevin left the table before me so he had more time to prepare for his crime!"

"You are right. He had more time. But preparing for the crime did not take you too long. Unfortunately for you, your murder weapon exposed you."

"What do you mean?" asked Fill.

"He used a fishing cable, that cable left traces on the window.

Can you imagine what traces it would leave on the killer's hands.

That's why Andrew kept his hands in his pocket all the time. Show us your hands Andrew, show us the hands of a cold blooded killer!"

Andrew slowly started raising his hands, looking at the ground without saying a word. Everyone was surprised when they saw his hands, they had marks all over them.

"I did not expect it to leave this much traces on my hand. What an idiot I was." He said.

"But why? Why Andrew? She considered you like her son." Cried

Fill.

"Shut up you idiot! Are you kidding! She loved no one. She only did it for profit. When I wrote my first story, I went with my father to show it to her. He was deep in dept, so we were in a desperate need for money. When she knew I was talented, she used our weakness to force me and my father into working with her and with her only. Even after I grew up, she wouldn't let me go, she kept me like her pet!" then Andrew gave up to his tears.

Eventually, the rain stopped and the cops arrived. We told them everything and they arrested Andrew. Dave and I stood next to the crying angel, watching as the cops were taking Andrew. Soon Fritz came to us.

"Thank you Mr.Dave for your help. I will personally transfer the money to you." He said.

"Tell me Fritz. Why did you send these letters?" said Dave.

With all of this going on, I forgot about the letters. But why did he accuse Fritz.

"What do you mean?" asked Fritz.

"I am not completely sure. But I think it was you who sent them."

"How did you find out."

"Well, there were few people who knew about her visit to the doctor, so it meant this was someone close to her. The weird style of the letters, it is an old fashioned way so I was suspecting you the most. So it was you?"

"Yes it was me."

"Why did you do it?"

"Miss Vivian was getting older. When we went to the doctor, he diagnosed her with a terminal disease. She did not have much time left and the medicaments only reduced her pain and the rapidity of the illness. However, eh kept her self buried in her work. I wanted her to quit and spend her remaining days with her son. But she would not listen to me."

"I understand. I will not tell anyone about this so rest assured. I must leave now. Farewell Fritz. Come on Roy, time to go."

He then pushed his hat to the front, covering his eyes, and started walking without saying a word.