To begin with my first post, check this small murder mystery out, written by me when I was in school.. [Don't mind if it is childish/immature, as it was written when i was a child]
“That Fishy Murdering Business…” - A short story by R.Pitchappan
“What shall we do? There’s no other go,” said my father to his colleagues. It was a bright Sunday morning. My father’s jewelry business wasn’t going well. Business was dull and there had been no transactions for the past few months. Dad’s colleagues had come to meet him top make a final decision. Mr.Grutes one of the partners, was the one who was making such a fuss. It was decided that for better business, all would move to New York.
A week after the decision was made, dad’s partners and our family boarded a ship with enormous luggage. There were 7 persons on the whole including dad, who were partners in the jewel business. On the ship, Mr.Grutes and the other colleagues were constantly involved in some discussion or the other. But whenever I approached them they changed over to some other the topic. I was told that it was none of my business. That night, mom also joined their discussion. The ship wasn’t rolling much.
While everybody went back to his or her respective cabins, mom turned up late that night after dad.
The ship anchored at the New York port. We got off the ship with great difficulty, as it was a Herculean task to carry the luggage. All had got off, but Mr.Grutes was missing! What could have happened to him? We thought that he might have got off before us and scurried off because he hadn’t approved the idea of starting a new business.
Our family and the other colleagues went off in different directions seeking a house for rent. We tried a double bedroom flat in the heart of the city. But it was very expensive. Hence we got a single-bedroom flat near the city borders.
One of the colleagues -- Mr.Lantursen was our distant relative. It was the occasion of his first wedding anniversary and so he invited us, as he had thrown a party at the Central Park Hotel at Washington D.C. “How about a toast of champagne at the party?” asked Mr.Lantursen over the phone. It’ll just be great,” replied dad.
It was a nice drive through breath-taking scenery. We had a nice time at the hotel. Mom was very busy gossiping with an old friend whom she had met 3 years ago. So, she asked dad and me to go home. She told us that she would come back the next day. So, we came back home. But to our surprise, turned up at 12:45 p.m. the same night!
The next morning, I went to nearby restaurant to have a burger. On the way back I saw a gentleman reading a newspaper. There was Mr. and Mrs.Lantursen’s photo on the front page! I bought a newspaper and showed it to my dad. The headlines read:
‘Couple Murdered On Their First Anniversary’
I could see the mournful look on dad’s face. I wondered who could have killed the couple. Dad’s colleagues were now only 4 in number. He, along with them, started a new business - import and export of leather. The profit or loss would be shared among the 5 partners. My mom pleaded with him to join in. but only dad refused. The company was named ‘Penta-leather Import and Export’.
Dad’s financial status improved as the company made unexpected profits. But he didn’t wish to share it with the other 4. I couldn’t see contentment or a sense of satisfaction in his eyes. Once he yelled, “Hell with those awesome 4. I work extra time. But it is they who reap the profits. Mr. Mitachy is not ready to leave the company even after I requested him to do so. He has already won a lottery worth $1 million. If he weren’t there, it would be more profitable.”
A meeting was held at Mr.Mitachy’s place (California) about the sharing of the profits. It was concluded that the one who works more gets a larger share in the profit. It was only after a day that dad reached home. He explained that he had lost his purse and that he had to stay at one of his colleagues - Mr. Stratford’s house. He borrowed some money from him and came by the C.A. Express with that money. I was alone at home as mom had gone to visit her cousin for a day.
The next afternoon, when I was watching my favorite ‘The Benny Hill Show’ on television, mom was back. She began to browse the channels. The national news caught our attention. It reported, “An unidentified stranger in black overalls had shot a resident of the Stanley Avenue - Mr.Mitachy, near his house and made a great escape.” The photograph of Mr.Mitachy was flashed on the television!
Dad was wearing black overalls when he had returned home the previous night! I suspected him. He had hated that fellow like hell. He could have gone to the extent of even killing him, so that his share of the profit would be larger. But I believed dad’s protest that it wasn’t him. Now the company’s name was modified to - ‘Quadra-leather Import and Export’. It had been a long vacation. Dad got me admitted into the Avon’ de Barke’s school in the 10th grade. I soon made new friends. Mr. Stratford’s son - Johnny was my desk-mate. We became thick friends.
The other two colleagues - Mr.Filberry and Ms.Thomas Anderson had been meeting for long. They had plans to marry. The marriage got over without any intervention. Now, they got the biggest share in the company’s profits!
Mom and dad went to wish them with presents on successive days. Meanwhile, Johnny was staying at my house. We were alone playing ‘The Ashes Tour’ on the computer which dad had bought last week. Dad came back unaccompanied by mom, with a wry face. He also denied meeting mom. He said that when he reached Mr.Filbury’s house, it was locked. There was a notice on the door reading:
‘House Vacated As Inhabitants Are Dead’
A cold chill ran up my spine. Who could be doing this fishy stuff? Could it be dad again? He was jealous of their huge profits. This time I was sure that it had to be DAD - the CRIMINAL. I hated him now. In an outburst of rage, I set out with Johnny, taking some money, to bring back mom. But our efforts to find mom were in vain. We came back to see what was in store for us - Mr. Stratford lying dead at the gate!
“How dare dad kills his own colleague, the friend who helped him when he had lost his money near his house”, I screamed. Mr. Stratford must have come to fetch Johnny. We panicked into the front room - to find my dad dead! Bewildered by that sight, I wondered, “Why should dad kill himself if he was the one who had murdered Mr. Stratford?” Then a fact struck my mind, “Why did I suspect only dad? It could have been mom too!” I recollected that mom hadn’t been at home during any of the serial murders of the business partners!
Then I remembered that mom wrote her diary regularly every night. It would be lying at her desk. Johnny and I, terrified by our father’s sudden death, hurried to my mom’s desk and rustled through the pages. I got the shock of my life - it was MOM!! It had been my mom!
Each and every incident of the serial murders was recorded in her diary. What a clumsy act to do by such a perfect, nonchalant, cold-blooded silent killer! It was her only flaw. The secrets that the diary revealed made my blood boil with anger:
She had grown up in a murderous surrounding while their own colleagues had assassinated her parents. DAD and HIS COLLEAGUES had been involved in their murder!
Now I understood why mother married dad - to avenge her parent’s death.
She had killed Mr.Grutes and threw him into the sea, and came late to the cabin. She had murdered Mr.Lantursen on the evening of his first anniversary. Mrs.Lantursen had witnessed the murder. So she had shot her too! She had come home late that night. Mom, under the pretext that she went to meet her cousin, had gone to Mr.Mitachy’s house wearing a black overall and had shot him dead. (She had written her diary about today also. This meant that she has to be somewhere nearby. I inferred the following).
When she went to wish Mr.Filbury and gave presents, she had planted a weak bomb in the present. After giving the presents, she came out and put on a notice on the door that the inhabitants are dead. She locked the door from outside with the one she had bought on the way. (She had stalked all the victims and killed them one by one to quench her thirst, i.e. avenge her parent’s death).
I heard the doorbell.
We both (Johnny and myself), took a revolver each and loaded with bullets. They were lying in her drawer. As soon as we opened the door, we saw my mom with a knife in her hand pointing towards us! I had never known that my mom had this much courage - to even kill her own son, and even Johnny for the sake of hiding her murderous nature.
It was just a matter of a few seconds. We both emptied our bullets into her heart. It was a cold-blooded murder. But it gave us warmth supplemented by the fire of anger.
We both went to gaol not as murderers, but as contented friends, who quenched every body’s thirst by a murder. We served our sentence and made a comeback to lead a life of togetherness, love and peacefulness. We resumed studies in a school owned by Johnny’s uncle. I resolved not to get into that “fishy murdering business” again...
R.Pitchappan(Written when in 11B, D.A.V. School, Mugappair,Chennai)
