The Alphabet Theory

Chapter 15

'What? That lesbian couldn't kill all of us!' Evelyn protested quite rudely.

'She didn't kill you, but if you don't shut up and stop being a bigot I will.' I threatened and Detective Miller interrupted our bickering.

'Stop arguing girls. Carry on, Miss Moone.'

' As you know on August 31st, my cousin was murdered and I discovered later that night that it was not food poisoning that had killed her, but Cyanide Poisoning. The symptoms all matched with the ones that I found in the books. The main suspect that I had was Chloé Dunne, she had the motive to kill her which was the fact that Alyssa was going to out her when she caught her making out with Tanya Smith in their dorm room the day that she was killed, she also was around the victim at the time of death so she easily could have slipped in the Cyanide into her chicken wrap without anyone noticing. Alyssa had a note threatening her, in her memorial casket when I went through the vents during her funeral. Then Beatrice Clearmont was killed in her dorm room with the exact same note in her pocket. I was completely convinced that Chloé Dunne was behind the deaths and when I confronted her she denied all of it and was confused as to what I was saying. But of course, it couldn't have been Chloé because w-hen I left the dance I found her lying in my bed with a knife through her stomach and the exact same note on her body. On the other side of the note was a threat that said that if I didn't stop investigating they would kill Vincent. Then I connected the dots of the friend group and realised that there was a pattern. The killer was killing everyone in alphabetical order and then I realised who was next. That brings us to Delilah Eoghans. I thought that I was being quick but the killer was already one step ahead of me. The body wasn't there but the exact same note was lying on her bedside table which made me realise that the killer was taunting me. I spent the whole of that night looking over who could possibly be behind all of this nonsense and that was where Vincent comes into this. With the help of Vincent, we managed to uncover a secret club where people would tell their secrets to the other club members and that was where Alyssa got all of her secrets that she used to blackmail everyone but she didn't go down herself, no, she sent Beatrice Clearmont to collect the information and that was how Tanya Smith was outed and kicked out of the friend group. She killed them all out of spite and hatred of how horrible they were to people like her.'

'Oh.. So that's why she was kicked out.' Vincent muttered.

'Don't interrupt me I am not done yet. Today I was drugged and that was how I got this cut.' I pointed to the cut above my eyebrow. 'I came to realise that I was drugged by Dr Pepper that she gave me because I have taken quite a liking to the drink so Vincent brought me some to keep up my strength and that was when it all clicked into place for me and I remember hearing something about someone selling drugs in the school so that was where Tanya could have gotten the drugs she used to try and possibly kill me but it didn't, instead I just woke up with a cut which is a pain in the ass by the way.'

'That doesn't explain why she would kill off Chloé Dunne if they were in love.' Detective Miller inputted which I did not appreciate.

'Thank you for bringing that up, I was just getting there. Chloé did indeed slip the poisoning into the chicken wrap because Tanya Smith and her were working together. But Chloé was feeling guilty about doing it and tried going to the police to turn her and Tanya in but of course, Tanya didn't want that so she killed her and used it as a warning for me. Which I would like to mention is a massive cliché because all murderers double cross the other one, but obviously, Chloé Dunne wasn't into reading murder mysteries in her life so how would she have known, Tanya did read The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie and that was where she got the sick and twisted idea to kill them all in alphabetical order and not in any old order. No, that would be way too simple and boring. She couldn't just let all of them get away with all of the chaos that they had created. Another motive was that Alyssa had caught Mr Wilson cheating on his wife with Ms Smith who was Tanya's mother. It tore their family apart and she would pay for what she had done. Tanya needed to get another thing out of her way if she wanted to get away with it. Me. So she did everything in her power to stop me. She threatened me with notes but obviously, that didn't work so she had to do something much more risky. She had to become my friend. She offered me sympathy and advice in hopes of me ruling her out as a suspect and I did, but not because she was nice but because of which hand she wrote with. Which was her right hand. This was an important clue for the case because the killer wrote the death threats by hand, which was very immature and silly because there was a smudge that could only have been made by someone who was left-handed and I know this because I have made enough smudges in my time to notice this tiny detail that knocked her off the list. But after she handed me the drugged Dr Pepper I noticed an ink smudge on her left pinky which could only mean one thing. She was ambidextrous. She killed everyone with the help of Chloé Dunne who was one of the victims and she is the one who drugged me. She is the killer. She is the one who you need to arrest.' I panted out of breath from all of the talking.

'Damn, I think that's the longest you have ever spoken.' Vincent said in admiration.

'I think it's the longest I've spoken ever.' I replied and realised what situation we were in.

'You need to arrest her! Like now!' I demanded.

'Alright, we'll confront her in your principal's office and arrest her.' He patted my shoulder in reassurance.

'If you dare leave out the fact that I solved this case with Vincent I swear on my life I will make your life miserable. I did the work, not you and your gardaí.' I threatened and the detective grinned.

'Ná bíodh imn íort Valerie, ní shamh lóinn tú a fhágáil amach tar éis na hoibrear fad a rinne tú agus gach rud a chuir tú i mbaol, len an-áirítear do shaol don chás. Measaim i ndáiríre go bhfaighidh tú Bonn Valour as do chuid crógachta, agus do chara freisin. Stay safe and stay with Vincent. Evelyn Franklin you can come with me.' He told me and head off to the principal's office to make a final arrest.

But even in that moment of triumph, Valerie couldn't shake the lingering fear that something could still go wrong. The thought of leaving out Vincent's crucial role in solving the case gnawed at her, and she was determined to ensure he received the recognition he deserved.

Turning to face Vincent, Valerie took a deep breath, her resolve strengthening. "Vincent," she began, her voice firm, "if they try to downplay your involvement in this, I won't stand for it. You were with me every step of the way, and you deserve to be acknowledged for your part in solving this case."

Vincent's gaze softened, his eyes reflecting gratitude and admiration. "Thank you, Valerie," he said, his voice filled with warmth. "But right now, let's focus on bringing this to a close. We'll deal with the rest later."