Mystery

Week 1- For the first week we are going to do a classic genre of writing with twist. 

The Writers of the Creative Summer Writing Club have to use these elements:

(If you heard about the contests please visit the page labeled Contests for your weekly contest rules and guidelines)

Genre-Mystery

Timeframe & Setting-1920-1940, Spain

Objects- A British Lady & Lizards

 Guidelines:

1. They must use all of the elements given to create a story at least 2 pages long

2. No swear words and no suggestive themes

3. All elements given must be used in a substantial way not just mentioned

4. They MUST have fun and be creative!

Return to this page next week to see the writers story's!

Noah T.'s Mystery

The Mystery of the Missionary

The setting is in Teruel, Spain during the Spanish Civil War.

Alexis Bentsen had always been a charming lady with delicate features and captivating smile. Her soft-spoken voice joined with a charming British accent made her almost irresistible to like. Everyone at their small church that she and her late husband had built seemed to enjoy the being in her presence. Alexis was often seen walking with the church women to the market and would always have them come to her little home for tea where she would discuss the Bible and the political tension going on around them. On one particular night the church was celebrating her one-year anniversary of her being in Spain. All of the lady’s of the church had brought their somewhat reluctant husbands to the small gathering at the church. Alexis sat in a small wooden chair talking to the guests who walked by extending congratulations. One frail looking woman came up to her and softly thanked her for always comforting her with her troubles. All at once a huge muscular man burst in the door of the church roughly slamming it behind him, causing the entire structure to quake. The frail woman whirled on one heel and whispered in a hoarse voice “Its Fernando.” The man advance through the room roughly pushing those in his path out of his way. “What are you doing here Eloise I told you the English woman would poison your mind and it seems she has? You will come home with me and I will teach you a very good Sunday lesson.” Roughly grabbing her by the arm the small woman yelped as he dragged her out the door. Before slamming the door he roared inside “You English lady had better leave this country because it seems my wife was a better house keeper before you came.” Alexis calmly looked at the man and said “Women are not just for house keeping Senor Fernando and I will stay here and teach these women for as long as the Lord will’s me to.”  Looking up in amazement he said, “You will not be here long if I can help it!” With that he stormed out dragging the woman beside him and slamming the door again causing the entire building to shake. Alexis took a deep breath and then turned to the group and said, “ Well everyone should we not try some of that delicious fruit that you have all brought?” The tension in the room seemed to disappear as they focus on filling their plates with all kinds of fruits adorning the small white cloth covered table. Alexis’s maidservant approached her “Mrs. Bentsen, I know you where trying to help Eloise and that is wonderful. But you must be cautious for you know the Republicans killed you husband for the same kind of talk. I was just over their serving the fruit and I overheard some of the men agreeing with what that man said. I fear you are in much more danger than you realize.” With a hinting grin Alexis said “Anne you have be my maid servant in England and you know that I do not back down because others say I should quit.” Still with a worried look Anne responded “But Mrs. Bentsen it is different this time and you know it. Back in England those where people who denied you the use of the town hall for your activities but here we are in the middle of a civil war and one elimination of a woman who was the wife of a man know to cause trouble with talks of peace is going to be overlooked by the authority’s.” Later Alexis was presented with gifts, one including a silver letter opener with her initials inscribed into the handle. One man sat in the corner with a scowl on his unshaven face. Anne came over to Alexis and said, “That man in the corner is one of the ones who was talking against you!” Ignoring her Alexis went to thank all of the people for their gifts and said she would keep the letter opener in her nightstand forever. The man in the back then slipped out and quietly slipped out the door. The night finally ended and the people began to go home. After placing all of the gifts in a small straw woven basket Alexis and her maidservant made their way home along the dusty dirt road. Once arriving home they unpacked the gifts putting them Alexis’s nightstand that stood next to her tiny bed. Before Anne went to her own home for the night Alexis looked up and said, “Anne I wanted to thank you for your concern you had tonight. I admit I have doubts about my safety as well but I believe the Lord has called me to minister to these people.” With a faint smile on her tired face Anne said, “I understand Mrs. Bentsen…Good Night.” With that she exited the one room house and shut the door softly behind her. The next morning was bright and sunny and people where bustling about outside getting to the market to sell their good’s. The cool breeze that ripped through the air like crashing waves in ocean seemed to make that Sunday morning perfect. Anne came to the front of the Bentsen residence with a bright cheerful smile waving to those who passed. Going up to the door she knocked, causing the door to open a couple inches. “Mrs. Bentsen, its Anne may I come in? Mrs. Bentsen…Are you awake?” Hearing shuffling inside she entered the house cheerfully but tripping and falling to the hard floor as she did. She looked down to see she had tripped over a large green lizard. Quickly picking the reptile up, she rushed outside placing it in a tree in front of the house. Return into the room Anne said, “My, my, Mrs. Bentsen I can see why you did not answer me when I called. I admit they are scary creatures but they are quite friendly. Well what will you have for breakfast this morning? I have some lovely fruits left over from the party last night.” Not receiving an answer she went over to her mistresses bed and pulled back the covers. The site she saw caused her to turn ghostly white and quiver inside her very being. There lay her mistress laying silently as if asleep but with the very letter opener presented to her only the night before lodged in her chest. A sob rose in Anne’s throat as she fell to her knees trembling. Rising Anne ran from the building to the house of one of the church lady’s who lived only a couple houses down. “Eloise!” Anne said sobbing. “She’s dead. Mrs. Bentsen is dead! Will your husband go for the authorities?” Still in shock Eloise said “Miss Anne…Mrs. Bentsen…dead? Actually Fernando is not here, he left last night after her dropped me off here he left and I haven’t seen him since. A thought entered Anne’s mind as she remembered the threat made by Fernando the night before. “Eloise, come with me.” Anne said. Dragging Eloise behind her Anne set off for the church where she knew all of its members where gathered for Sunday Service. When they arrived at the church, everyone was standing outside. Everyone began milling around Anne asking where, “Where is Mrs. Bentsen? She never has missed a week at church? Has something happened?” Anne began sobbing uncontrollably and fell into the arms of one of the lady’s. Eloise shyly stepped up and repeated what Anne had told her. The crowd’s mood suddenly went from panic to horror. Several of the ladies buried their faces in their hands and wept while others stood there dumb founded from the news in disbelief. When Anne finally managed to control herself she suggested that someone contact the authorities. One of the husbands raised his hand and Anne looked to find the face of the man that had been the very man last night who she had overheard, apposing her mistress at the fruit table. However not seeing any harm in sending him she gave him an approving nod. The man quickly hurried away into the bustling crowd. Anne then walked over to Eloise who was sitting on the dusty wood steps of the church. “Eloise, did your husband say anything to you last night after you left the church?”  Eloise looked up with disbelief in her eyes. “Miss Anne, surely you do not suspect my husband?” Anne sighed deeply and sat down. “ Eloise, I am not saying Fernando did murder Mrs. Bentsen.” Speaking of the death of her mistress made her choke up. With a shaky voice she continued, “But your husband did threaten her to leave or else.” Eloise put her face between her knees and the sat back up and said, “Miss Anne he did not say anything until we got home. He asked me if I knew of anything she disliked or feared.” Anne looked at her and asked, “What did you tell him?”

“I told him that she feared lizards and snakes and when I said that he turned and walked out the door and never returned.” Anne thought for a moment and then stood up and slowly walked behind the church thinking. A few minutes later the man who had gone for the authorities returned. Eloise quickly ran to the back of the building to retrieve Anne who was leaning up against a tree softly weeping. They made their way back to the front of the building where the whole crowd, that had now grown in number from the passing word of a murder, was gathered around the man. Anne approached him and he said, “The authorities are not coming. They said they had more important things to do than investigate the death of a troublemaker.” The crowd began to stir with energy as some purposed to do the investigation themselves. Quickly they divided into groups. One group was to search for evidence at the murder scene and the second was to find witnesses and the third was to handle the body of the missionary. Several days past, Alexis Bentsen was buried in a tiny cemetery just outside the small town. Still determined to find the murderer Anne sat down at her small wooden plank table in her small home to review the details everyone had been able to find and wrote them down on a piece of paper.

 1. Fernando threatens Mrs. Bentsen the night before she was killed

2. Fernando asked his wife if she knew of anything Mrs. Bentsen was afraid of

3. He has never returned to his home yet

Suddenly something became clearly visible in Anne’s mind. When she knocked on the door of the house it was ajar. Second when she did enter the room she tripped and fell over a…lizard! Fernando had not murdered her mistress, and it all became more plausible as she thought about it. He didn’t even know where the letter opener was to kill her because he had left long before she opened the gifts. A felling of relief swept over her knowing that Eloise was not going to have to worry about being the wife of a cold blooded murderer but rather the wife of lizard catcher. But even know Fernando had not done it did not make it any easier. She then thought back again, this time remembering the man at the fruit table speaking against her mistress. Him slipping out after her receiving the gifts and once she thought about it. He was the one sent for the authorities but he had said they wanted no part in it. Quickly rising from the table she rush out the door of her small house into the busy streets. A few minutes later arriving at the police station. Asking the officer behind the desk if a couple of days ago, a man had come in reporting a murder of a British woman. The officer looked surprised and said he didn’t recall any such matter. Anne then told the officer the entire story and Anne and the officer soon where on there way to the house of the murderer. At last Mystery of the Missionary was solved.

 ________________________

 Linnea’s Mystery

The year is nineteen twenty-three and the place is Vitoria, Spain. Things here are slow. Normal. Peaceful. Just like the country itself. It was no fun here, really. Except for the odd looks I suppose.

 I'd slip out of my detective office once a day for a circuit around town. To see if anything was going on, (Nothing ever was) and come back.

 I stuck out like a sore thumb. (Which, honestly, that expression makes no sense to me. Maybe a sore thumb would stick out. But really?) Who cares?

Maybe the Spaniards don't wear peach ball gowns that are literally about four feet across at the bottom and embroidered with so many flowers they look like a walking garden.

Mothers would hide their children behind them and rush on if I walked past and never paid anyone any attention whatsoever. Older children would stop, stare, and run off like I had some disease.

But nobody – nobody – could solve a mystery quite like me.

Crimson Scarlet Rose – detective extraordinaire.

Of course, everyone just knew me as the weird lady who lived in the ramshackle detective agency beside the market. No one ever brought cases to me (I wasn't much of a Spanish-speaker), but I was good at attracting adventure, so it'd come my way eventually, I was sure.


And if it didn't, I'd move on.

But it did.

It came in...mmh. Sometime in May I guess. I was sitting in my chair behind my desk, batting my eyelashes at the ceiling and tapping the heel of my outrageously high shoe on the floor (Cut me some slack. I'm four feet tall.) When the door banged open and slammed into the window beside it, sending a crack in the window from corner to corner.

The woman that barged in was tall, skinny as a twig, and wore a hat which I'm sure was the height of fashion in some unknown world where they wore fruit on their heads.

“Help.” She said simply.

I slowly moved my eyes to see her and blinked a couple times. “With what?”

“You're a detective,” I was surprised to find that her accent was not Spanish, but English. Weird. Upon further inspection (and actually being able to see her face) her light skin tone confirmed the fact.

“Yes,” I said in reply. “I am.”

“Then you could solve a murder mystery.”

I blinked. A murder mystery. Now that could be fun. “What's the problem?” I pointed to a chair across from me.

She sat on it with a huff and whipped her hat off and into her lap, revealing static-y ginger hair. “I found the body around three AM,”


I blinked. “What were you doing awake at three AM?”

“I'm telling the story.” she said.

I snorted. “Continue.”

After hearing her rather lengthy story, I stood up. “Lead me to the crime scene, madam, I'll do my best.”

She stood and breezed out the door, calling over her shoulder for me to “Hurry up!” and huffed down the street.

I rolled my eyes, gathered my skirts and followed. This could be fun.

She was right, the body she had described was horrible, but this...was not the adventure I'd pictured.

It was a lizard. Albeit a very large lizard, but a lizard nonetheless.

“And....this is the victim?” I asked skeptically, poking the thing's leg with a stick.

The British lady nodded. “Yes! Find out who killed it please.”

“Um. Why? Lizards die you know.”

“As do people! And do you brush off a human murder?”

“Alright. Alright.” I held up my hands in defeat, sighed, and stepped back, scanning the scene. “You said you found the...body...at three AM.”

She nodded.


“When do you expect the...crime in question. To have taken place?”

“Do I look like I care? Figure out who killed it!”

This lady was exasperating. “Alright. Alright.” I shook my head and examined the scene.


What little was left of the dead lizard's mangled body told me that it had eaten, slept, and never woken up. No fight at all. It seemed to have been hit on the head.

Like I said, no fight, so the ground revealed nothing.

The plants said nothing, the air around the dead beast. Nothing nothing nothing. Just like I'd thought. It wasn't even worth it to try and ask the woman for any more details. It was clear she didn't know what she was talking about.

“Um. I'll need time to think, ma'am.” I said at last to her. This lady was crazy, I decided, and not worth my time.

“Hurry.” She demanded, turned, and walked away.

“Hurry,” I mocked in a squeaky voice once she was out of earshot, then shook my head, gave the dead lizard a glance, and walked back to the office.

But, of course, just when I thought adventure had ended, it began.

I had barely shut the door and sat behind my desk again when she showed back up.

This time she shattered my window.

“Ma'am, I haven't-”

“The body is gone, detective. Now come find it.” She turned and was gone before I could reply.

Muttering about crazy people with bird fruit hat things on their heads I followed with my eyes rolling.

The street was dark and the air was cool as I padded after her...well okay. As I clattered after her. My shoes weren't exactly silent.

I lost sight of her. Well that was weird. “Um. Ma'am?” I called, still walking, wondering if maybe I'd just fallen behind...?

“Hello deary.” Sneered an accented voice, and as I whirled, something hard hit my head.

I clutched at my ringing ears and stumbled backwards, tripping on something large and breaking a heel on my shoe. I tumbled to the ground, having no idea what was going on.

A shoe was planted on my shoulder, keeping me on the ground. “Seems you solved the case.”

 It sounded like her voice, but at the same time, it didn't. At all.

So many things bombarded me that all I could make out was this was bad.

And

Wow that lizard really was murdered

And, even more oddly

Apparently I don't look good in peach.

This wasn't good, that was for sure

Another sure thing was that British lady? Yeah. She was my old enemy/sister. And she wanted to kidnap me.

Just then I woke up, as my small book fell from my lap to the floor beside the bed.

Maybe Vitoria Spain, 1923, wasn't for me after all.

 _________________________________________________________________

 Noah N’s Mystery

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night in Spain as the security guard looked around the museum. I can't believe I got this dead end job he thought as he wandered the halls of the Señora Lo Hizo city museum looking for supposed bandits that were going to to “robb” this museum.

Who would want this junk anyways? the guard pondered and then laughed it is nothing but a bunch of garbage!

Just then he heard a noise in the distance, as if glass was being broken. "Who is there!" he shouted as he ran towards the sound.

Before he could get there, he noticed a figure in the shape of a person wearing one of those costumes that he had seen earlier at the costume ball that was at the museum to consecrate the arrival of the previously lost, golden lizards of the Aztec person of no paticular rank Ayotastetherainbowa. This was no normal costume though. It was a rabbit costume.

"Put the lizards down you fat and ugly rabbit!" the guard called out in a half terrified voice, aiming his gun at the rabbit. Put the lizards down you fat and ugly rabbit? What sort of a heroic call was that? he thought to himself.

The rabbit looked to him and said "Teltzlepoca wants his lizards back" and with that, the rabbit whirled around and produced a Thompson submachine gun, and fired about 10 rounds in to the security guard's stomach. The guard dropped quickly and the bunny suited figure walked away. As the guard lay dying he thought one last thought. Why did I just speak and think in English at random?

Chapter One: A Pink What?

George Romaro sat at his desk slowly puffing on his cigar as he listened to his partner ramble on about the case. Bob, why must you do this to me every time we have a case? he thought with an increasing impatience.
"So as I wus sayin George" Bob said in his dull voice "Sum suckers wus dumb enough to hire us to do a case. It's some town in Spain called..." he paused for a momment, as he forgot the name of the city. "Señora Lo Hizo I think. Anyways, sum lizards wus stolen that belonged to sum Mexican dude."

"You mean the Aztec person that no one knows the rank to Ayotastetherainbowa?" George questioned.

"Yah, I think so George" his mentally slow partner replied "anyways they think an English detective would do them sum good so they want us there immediatly."
George thought about it for a second. "Greta!" he shouted out as his German assistant came in through the squeekily hinged office door. "What do we have going for the next two weeks as far as cases?"

"Vell sir, as alvays you have nasing" She said in her thick German accent "but your partner vas promising to take me out to dinner tomorrow, I shink to some resturant called "Gutty Joes" and I vanted to go..."
"We're not going to Gutty Joes, we're going to Spain, Greta so start packing your things."
The slightly overweight German woman walked out of the room, her dark curls bouncing as she walked on out.
"Before we go to pack our things, I have only one question to ask Bob. Why would you ever take a woman you were trying to get to love you to Gutty Joes?"
Bob looked sheepishly at his blue eyed boss "Cus it's all I can afford with the low wage I get. But the food ain't really bad there George, just as long as you don't think of what a hot dog there really is."

Chapter Two: Tell About the Rabbits George.

After boarding the cheapest boat to Spain, the threesome entered the city and, after they talked with the local authorities, George and Joe decided to round up all the likely suspects. They were able to narrow it down to but three people with help from the authorities. The first one was a gentleman by the name of Carlos Velasquez who was well known to be working with the mob racket in Spain, and dealing out booze to the United States. The second was a woman by the name of Margret Laney who was from Britan herself, and was seeing the lizards because she was the foremost Aztec historian in England, or at least claimed to be. The final one was Don Vettitorio who also had ties to the mob, but was a full member of the Mafia instead of the Spanish mob. They were each questioned, and George saw that each of them could have had a reason. Don and Carlos were greedy, but Margret wanted them because she felt they were too special to be in a museum. Bob noted down nothing, because he was busy thinking about the Rabbit suit or some other thing he wasn't telling George.

As George sat and processed this all, his mind stumbled across two pieces of logical reasoning. The first piece was that Carlos couldn't have done it, as he was just a punk and wouldn't have had the money to buy a Thompson. The second piece was that Don couldn't have done it because he was too high class and wouldn't have dressed up in a Rabbit suit as it was known that the person did, due to giant tracks being made in the cement that were shaped like Rabbit paws. Don would have also hidden his tracks better, as he could afford to. Margret however had that ability to hide in the shadows and be unsuspected because she was a woman. Not to mention, nerds have no self respect so she could have dressed up in the bunny suit. George decided to pay her a little visit in the warehouse that they were holding the suspects in, as the jail was non existant in this town.

But before that could happen, Bob popped in and shouted "George, I figured it out! That lady did it! The nerdy one with the funny glasses and funny, bobby hair."
George was ready to smack his partner, but he decided to play with him a bit. "And how do you figure that?"
"I figure that, cus what you told me 'bout the rabbits George. She say something about how the Aztec god whatchamacallit was gunna take the lizards back if no one gived them back, so since that god is a rabbit, I figure that she's the theif George."
"You know what Bob, you deserve a prize for figuring that out. C'mere." George motioned with his fingers and Bob walked up to him. Then George smacked Bob with all he could and said "Duh! Of course it was her, I figured that out before the thought entered your head. And all you could think about was that rabbit suit she was wearing! Now go out with Greta or something and let me take care of this case Newton!" George then ran out to the warehouse to meet up with their suspect.

Chapter Three: Confrontation with a Big Bunny.

George reached the warehouse and found Margret as she was sitting in her makeshift cell, or rather a piece of wood in front of a corner in the wall, smoking her cigerette. George took her out and asked "Did you steal the lizards of the Aztec person of unknown rank Ayotastetherainbowa?"
She looked at him hurt "No, I wouldn't consider it."

"Then why is it that you walked out of your cell with great difficulty?"
"My shoes are heavy and my legs hurt."
"Heavy eh? How about we see what they have in them?" He looked down at her shoes and saw a mild glitter in them. "All that glitters is Gold" he said as he pulled out the first lizard from her tall shoes with a small door on them.

"They do not belong in a museum!" She shouted "They are valuable artifacts that belong with someone who truly cares about Aztec history."
"Lady, I don't care who they belong to or where they should stay, but these people have hired me so I put you under arrest for theivery and lying to a liscenced investigator."

She almost seemed blank for a momment, but it seemed that a lightbulb had gone off in her head. She talked much smoother "But how could you put little me in jail? I'd simply die in there." She started to play around with his tie "Couldn't you just blame one of the mob men?" With that she grabbed the back of his head and went up to kiss him.

Just before that happened though, a Tommy Gun went off and hit Margret several times before she collapsed to the floor. George whirled around, withdrawing his revolver, and he saw Bob there with the weapon that just killed the woman he was about to kiss.
With a look of triumph Bob said "I saved you George, now you owe me one!"

George walked up to him "You're right, I do owe you one. Here it is" with that he smacked Bob hard in the cheek. "You idiot!" He yelled "You not only gunned down the convict in her tall shoed glory, but you also shot down a person who was about to kiss me, and you murdered someone in cold blood. How do you justify that moron?"

Bob said with some hurt in his voice "Lookit the body George! Look at it!"
George decided to humor his idiotic friend and soon figured it out. She was holding a knife in the hand she didn't have wrapped around his head. She was preparing to kill him so she could escape, as no guards were present due to a lack of funds.

"Bob, I can't believe this..." George let his voice trail off as the only police officer in the town walked in and said "I know this woman! She is an internationally known terrorist, spy, and all around troublemaker for governments. Whoever shot her will be famous for a lifetime!"
"Bob, I can't believe you almost let that woman kill you" George said firmly "Thank goodness I came in here with my Tommy gun and mowed her down, otherwise we'd have a terrorist running around."
"George..." Bob said with some confusion before being cut off.
"My good sir, I shot this woman and if you're looking for a couple of other meatheads to prosecute, there are two in those cells. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to walk out of here and leave the rest to you police. Good day."
The two men walked out of there as the police officer looked on at them. "Those were two of the greatest, most honest men I've ever met." He said with a look that showed great respect. Then he looked down to collect the lizards from the womans shoes, and noticed that they were gone. He realized what happened "Ay! Come back here you swine! Come back with the lizards! You aren't investigators, but you're theives yourself!"
As soon as George and Bob heard that they ran away as fast as they could in to the sunset.