Clues and Culprites

Everything and everyone was frigid cold. December has arrived and it has been a week since the start of Cyrus' and Ellie's case. Or better known as The Case of Acasia Manor. Noris Simon has died been murdered and it was up to Cyrus Walter and Ellie Idon to solve it. But it wasn't going to be easy. Cyrus and Ellie looked over the horizon at the string of houses separated only by a fence. "Number 23" Ellie said, exhausted. The roads were very small so no vehicles were allowed into the area. They walked along the deserted path. It seemed like a ghost town and as if nobody was living there anymore. They saw a white board with '23' scratched onto it. The house was in very bad condition. It was well overdue a clean up. Cyrus had to knock on the door because there was not a doorbell in sight. After a while, a man opened the door. " Is this Francis Banon's house?" asked Cyrus. "Yes" replied the man.

They introduced themselves as Cyrus Walter and Ellie Idon from the SDA here to come to investigate the death of Noris Simson. Francis suddenly had wet in his eyes. He seemed as if he was going to cry but managed to welcome them inside. "Oh Noris" he whispered. " We are sorry for your loss sir" Ellie said. "We are going to ask you a few things about Noris." Francis managed to nod his head. "When was the last time you saw Noris?" Cyrus asked. " The last time I saw him was... 4 months ago. We never saw each other after I moved away. But we kept on writing to each other. The last letter he wrote to me was when he was selling his house to Mr Jake Smith." Cyrus and Ellie looked at each other. That was true. Francis didn't seem like the man to lie but you could trust nob involved... Cyrus and Ellie asked further questions about Noris and when they were about to leave, Francis said something that shocked Cyrus and Ellie.

She didn't notice at first, but soon realization dawned upon her." I gave him a call about a week ago." Cyrus suddenly asked him the specific day and time. November 24th at about 2:00am." Noris said in his letter that he went to bed at 10:30. So either Noris stayed up that night for some reason or Francis Banon is lying... He has no reason to lie. Does he? Why would someone stay up that late? These questions puzzled him and kept gnawing at Cyrus' brain. Cyrus held the clues they found at Acasia manor in front of him. Could Francis be the culprit that had murdered Noris and maybe even Officer Herron. When they returned back to their office, they immediately began to look further into the 3 people that came to visit them that night. They needed more information about each person that was in the building and had to visit them for questioning.

First was Mrs Matilda Shau. She was one of the maids working at the manor. She was now at home, since she lost her job in the manor. She was looking for a new place to work. She lived a few miles away from Acasia Avenue. When Cyrus and his fellow assistant reached Matilda's house and rang the bell. As they were about the ring the bell, they heard a loud commotion from above. The two detectives couldn't help overhear. It was not the right thing to do but it could help with the case.

" But we need the money, Liam. How are we going to pay for the bills. We can't just keep being in debt all the time. We don't even have enough money to pay it all back!" Cyrus looked at Ellie. The same idea flowed through their minds but they decided to keep quiet. They rung the bell and soon after, a lady came rushing in. They introduced themselves as Cyrus Walter and Ellie Idon from the SDA to investigate the murder of Noris Simon. Matilda was in shock. She knew she was going to be investigated sooner or later, but not so soon. She welcomed them in...

It turned out that the missing lipstick was hers. But she said she never went upstairs. This was really peculiar. Why would someone take something such as a lipstick? Even more questions waiting to be answered. Matilda said she wasn't there after 10:00. She went home. After some more questioning, they went home. They could put some pieces together. Soon they were going to find out who the murderer was. They have too. For the town's sake. For their sake...

Mrs Collin was a very quiet lady. When Cyrus and Ellie knocked on her door, a man appeared. They asked if it was Mrs Loren Collins house. The man nodded. Soon after, a women stood in front of them. The man welcomed them inside. His name was Robert, and he was Loren's brother. Ellie asked some questions about the investigation, whilst Cyrus looked around. Everything seemed to be so tidy. She took care of her home well. It turned out Loren was planning to stop being a maid. She didn't seem to want to talk about Noris very much. Is this because she was upset of his death. Or guilty of a crime. Robert said she was still in shock. She said she was in the kitchen when she heard the shout. Loren said she couldn't move a first. But when she could upstairs, Noris was still on the floor. Apparently, Mrs Shau came running right after. Ellie nodded and gave the notes to Cyrus.

"This is turning out to be more complicated than it looks" said Cyrus. Ellie nodded. Her eyebrows were very high up which meant she was thinking really hard. She said they needed to visit the Manor one more time. So they did.

On their way their, a shadow moved behind them. A figure was watching them all this time and it was their perfect time to strike. They had to make this nice and quick. Just like the Master wanted it. The mysterious figure moved through the building. A hood covering the persons whole face. A huge smile creeped up his face, pointing the gun at Cyrus. "Don't kill him now. Later..." was the words of the Master. The trigger was pulled, the bullet hit Cyrus right on the shoulder. Pain split across his shoulder. Blood poured out. Cyrus' cries filled the town. Some people ran away. Others came closer to see what happened. Ellie caught Cyrus before he fell to the floor, screaming at people to call an ambulance. He whispered in her ear. " I will be fine." The figure ran away, a smug on his face. The ambulance arrived and took Cyrus Walter away. Anger bubbled. Ellie was desperate to find the murderer. It was their doing...