Trampled Crops [MURDER MYSTERY]

Chapter 10: The Uh-Oh

Piper sat boredly at her desk, her chin resting on her arms. She glanced outside through the slits of the blinds to see that the sun had already set. What was taking Emu so long? She looked briefly at the clock to see it was 8:06.

Her stomach filling with the strange sensation that something wasn't quite right, Piper phoned Rop and Preston's house. Contrary to her expectations, Rop was the one to pick up the phone. "Yes, Purps? What is it? Did you find out who the girl is?"

"No, actually. That's exactly why I'm calling you. Would you mind heading over to Emu's house real quick to make sure everything is alright? I don't want her to show up to my office and have me not be here."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. I'll be over there in a sec. Everything okay, Purps?"

"Well, I'm getting worried about Emu. Something is wrong, I can feel it. Call me back as soon as you find her, okay?"

"Alright. Bye for now."

"Bye," Piper clicked the phone back into its place, and rested her head on her desk once again. She wasn't sure how much time went by when Rop called her back.

"Hey, Purps??" His voice sounded urgent.

"Oh, yeah, Rop? What's wrong? You sound--"

"Get over here right now. I'm calling from Emu's place, I--"

"Why, why? What is it?"

His voice was grave. "Emu's dead."

Piper rushed out from her office so fast she forgot to lock the door behind her. She ran over to Emu's house, where she could see Rop through the window. She opened the door to find Emu lying lifelessly, face-down on the ground. A pool of blood had gathered beneath her head, staining the birch floor.

"Ohhhhh, my," Piper gasped. "Uhhhhh... wow. Okay. Uhhhh..."

"I just walked in to find her like this!" Rop cried. "I immediately went over to use her phone and call you. I... poor Emu."

Piper got out her notepad and inspected the body. "There's a big gash here, on her head..." Piper thought aloud. "She was hit with something heavy. And blunt. Maybe a shovel? No, the radius is too small for that."

"What do you think was used, then?"

"Maybe a bat? Or some kind of pole? Do you see anything around the house that looks like it was used to kill someone?"

Rop looked frantically around the house. "No, I'm not seeing anything. Want me to check outside?"

Piper nodded, and Rop searched around outside while Piper continued to inspect the body. Emu must have just gotten home when someone followed her in through the door, struck her in the head, and ran off. She had died within the last two hours, during the time when Piper was awaiting her in her office. She felt a tinge of guilt for not coming after Emu earlier.

Rop returned without success. "Nothing. I couldn't even find any footprints."

"Rop, make sure all the doors and windows are closed. We need to keep this on the down-low for the time being."

Rop did just that. "Why not spread the news to the rest of the town, though? There's no reason to keep this a secret."

"I don't want everybody freaking out. And I don't want anyone to tamper with anything. This place is a crime scene now. It's up to us to solve it." Piper grabbed Emu's pouch and looked inside. She found a few nondescript letters, a tube of eyeliner, several gum wrappers, and a tiny container of tissues. None of the things seemed to hold any significance.