• tab The loud crash startled many of the mansion’s dwellers, including the rats under the floorboards, and the men and women in their rooms. The noise came from the mansions master kitchen at exactly midnight. As the visitors to the mansion emerged from their rooms to see what was going on, a scream erupted from the master kitchen.
    tab A lady stood above the body of a man who had a knife in his back.
    tab Before I get any further though, let me introduce you to the residents of the mansion. The lady that was screaming enormously above the body was Ms. Gloria Madeen. She owned the piece of real estate that this mansion stood on and was the person who invited the residents of the town close by to stay the night before she tore the mansion down for a new strip mall.
    The man she was standing above was none other than Mr. Montgomery Montgomery, the mayor of the town.
    tab Four others came to stay, Mr. Cordova (a historical tourist), Mr. White (the priest), Mr. Pen (the librarian), and Ms. Walters (a ghost tracker).
    tab The mansion itself used to be owned by Mr. Marbury, an aloof man who built and lived in the estate for seventy-five years. He died at the age of ninety-two, leaving the estate to whoever wanted to claim it, which was Ms. Madeen, a real estate agent and architect. She was famous throughout the nation as a person who couldn’t accept a no from anybody, including the potential buyers.
    tab Nobody wanted this old mansion anyway because for one, it was in the middle of the swamp, and two, the foundation was decaying tremendously. Ms. Madeen believed that by making a mall here, this area and the nearby town could get the new people it desperately needed.
    tab But I believe I am straying so let us get back to the problem, shall we?
    tab “He’s dead!” Mr. Pen shouted.
    tab “No duh, genius,” Ms. Walters said.
    tab “Who could have done such a thing?” Mr. White gave the question they all had been secretly wanting to ask.
    tab “Calm down Gloria!” Mr. Cordova calmed her down to only a sniffle as she backed away from Mr. Montgomery and into Cordova’s arms.
    tab “Everyone knows that Montgomery was a big snacker, the man has loads of skittles in his office drawer for god’s sake!” Mr. Pen said.
    tab “Hey!”
    tab “Calm down Mr. White. I believe that Montgomery was about to have a late-night snack when he was attacked from the back,” Mr. Pen continued, “We were all in our rooms at the time except…” All the heads in the kitchen turned to Madeen as she tried to stifle her sobs.
    tab “Oh, so you think I did it?”
    tab “Well, you were the first person to find him dead. Screaming your head off tried to make us convinced,” Mr. White said.
    tab “I have a reason why I was not in my room. Like Mr. Montgomery, I was hungry as well. That thing you called a dinner did not fill me up. That’s why the ham is out.” Ms. Madeen pointed to the glazed ham that, indeed, was out of the refrigerator and on the counter. “When I went to the bathroom and came back, he was like that… and besides, his body is in front of the fridge, not in front of the counter. So, he must’ve not had an appetite for ham.”
    tab It was raining outside during this ordeal and as time passed, it grew into a pour. Because of this, the visitors could not travel to get help from the outside world. They were alone with a murderer. Everybody realized this as they all looked at each other, suspicious of one another.
    tab “Everybody, just calm down,” Mr. Cordova said. “Now maybe we could see in each other’s rooms and-,”
    tab The outburst came out loud and clear from Ms. Walter’s lips. “No!”
    tab She quickly put her hands over her mouth as if to stop herself but it was too late; it had already seeped into the minds of every human being in that kitchen.
    tab Mr. White came forth. “No? What will we find if we check your room, Ms. Walters? Hm?”
    tab She grew nervous but became confident in less than a second. “Nothing. Fine, if you all must rummage through my things, so be it. But I did not kill him.”
    tab “We’ll be the judges of that.”
    tab As the men and women walked through each of the rooms, doubt grew more and more. There were no obvious clues in all of the rooms they walked through which made some become bewildered.
    tab Mr. Pen was reading on his bed, the book was on the bed. “You all should read that one, it’s quite good.” To everyone’s displeasure, he kept talking about the book, hoping it lightened the mood. It didn’t work.
    tab Mr. White was apparently sleeping at the time of the attack. He visibly had bags under his eyes and when asked about his sleeping habits he answered, “I like to get up early in the morning. I’d say I would usually wake up around seven in the morning.”
    tab Mr. Cordova was doing some homework on the Marbury Mansion during the night; looking at its blueprints and historical value. “Did you guys know that this place was built during the Great Depression? Fascinating.”
    tab Ms. Walter’s room was picked over the most but nothing led to her being called a murderer. Although they did secretly call her a weirdo. All sorts of high-tech gadgetry were found and when asked about it she replied, “I have loads of stuff, okay? It’s for my job. I track ghosts.” The men and women rolled their eyes simultaneously which was quite a sight.
    tab The last person, Ms. Madeen, had an outstanding room. Everything was brand-name and new. It seems the real estate business was doing well.
    tab By the end of the of the inspection, nothing was found and they were all weary. Weary about the future and what the murderer might do next. That’s when Mr. Pen spoke.
    tab “I think I know who the murderer is.”
    tab “Well? Don’t keep us in suspense man!” Ms. Madeen said.
    tab “Well… the first thing I noticed was the kitchen door to the outside was open. It seems to me the murderer was outside while we were in our rooms, walked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife without disturbing Mr. Montgomery, and killed him. That would mean the killer would have needed enough time to run from the kitchen, to his or her room, and come out when Ms. Madeen screamed. Also, since they were outside, they would have needed to have a different pair of shoes and change into them before walking outside of his or her room. Otherwise, they would be treading water everywhere. And, the only person who did change their shoes was none other than Mr. Cordova!”
    tab Before Mr. Cordova said anything, Mr. Pen continued, “Everybody knew of your relationship with Ms. Madeen that you tried to hide but that wouldn’t have lasted long. You see, you wanted Gloria to give you the house blueprints to figure out the quickest route possible around the house. And when you had the chance, you would’ve hightailed it outta here.”
    tab Everybody gasped except Mr. Cordova. A lot of things happened next that was in a blur. It included Mr. Cordova trying to run away without success. With the help of Mr. White and Ms. Madeen, they helped pin him down and tie him up.
    tab With the police coming soon, Mr. Pen asked him a question. “Why would you do it? Why would you kill our mayor?”
    tab Mr. Cordova looked up and replied, “The Devil took my hands used them for his will.”