ᗪᵉᵃᵈ ᑭᵘᶰˢ

FOUR

The ugly sight of two dead bodies being flopped down on the floor overwhelms everyone. Sue figures that this may only get worse. A rotting stench fills the living room as they all sit down with more space.

"Well, looks like the 'living room' forgot it's purpose," joked Adeline.

There was another awkward silence for a moment.

"Speaking of which, we should probably continue on this full-on murder mystery, hmm? Let's take a look at this 'ere clue. See if it explains anything." Detective Doku picked up the paper from Tom's hand.

"What's that supposed to mean? Any ideas, guys?"

Marie immediately sprang into thinking. "You gotta admit, that is pretty cryptic."

"Oooooohh... SPOOPY," pipes up Annabelle.

"Ugh, seriously? Enough with the memes, Annie!"

Marsha chimes in; "Waaaiiiiit... fashionable? Could the note possibly mean something like... fashionably late? It does make sense... Late, not with everyone else, you know?"

"Aaaaahhh, yes, that ma-" the Detective is interrupted by a sharp knocking at the front door.

A muffled voice enters the living room: "Uh, hello? I got a call about two casualties of a murder?" The voice pauses for a moment before muttering, "I doubt I'm even at the right place, nobody here once again!"

Marie calls out to the man, "yes! Do come in!"

A tall-ish man with short, shaved off hair walks in. "Oh, good. Glad I've finally got the right place. Three times lucky after all!"

Sue wipes her face with her hand in relief. "Aaah, the ambulance has arrived! Yes, I think we're done examining the bodies for clues. Take these two to the Hospital please, sir."

"Ugh, yes puh-lease! I really don't think I could enjoy the smell of two dead bodies for too much longer." Everyone gives dirty looks to Marsha, clearly not appreciating her rudeness.

"Alright then, I'll be back in a moment to take the other one away." The paramedic drags Anita out of the room. Her eyes, still open, stare blankly at the ceiling.

Sue resumes the crime solving. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, the murderer is most likely the last one to arrive. So that rules out me, duh. I'm always the first to arrive. So you guys here are all suspects of this terrible crime. I'm thinking tha-"

The paramedic comes back in, trying to apologize for the interruption. "Sorry to interrupt, I did tell you I would come back for this one, in my defense."

Everyone watches as Tom's eyes stare blankly as well. But then they blink.

-----

"As you were saying, Detective?"

"Weeeeeeeell... I just lost my train of thought, so... yeah. Dammit."

Marie remembers; "Weren't you saying that it was one of us here? What if someone snuck in and took out Anita and Tom?"

Adeline shoots a reasonable argument. "That would be a bit hard to do though, wouldn't it? I don't think anybody, no matter how stealthy or speedy, would be able to get in and out without anyone noticing."

"She does have a point there, Marie." Marsha agrees.

"That's it then, it was one of you four. But which one?" Sue questions.

"WE NEEDZ MOAR CLOOZ," calls out Annabelle.

The other twin suggests, "she does have a point. We probably should take a look around."

Detective Doku came up with an idea. "Let's split up, so we go a bit quicker," she explained. "Marie, Marsha, you stay with me and look through the house, girls, you can go outside and see Anita and Tom at the cemetery."

"Wouldn't they need some adult supervision, though?" Marie pointed out. "I'll go with them, just in case."

"Good point, Marie. Go on ahead, you three! Just come running back if you find something, or if anything goes wrong, okay?"

"You got it!" Adeline gave Sue a thumbs-up. "See ya soon!"

Marsha and the Detective waited for the others to leave. A few seconds after the door had slammed shut, Sue Doku clapped her hands together.

"Sooo... Marsha. Before we get onto this clue searching business, it'll be good for you to know that I've had suspicions about you, and I think it's time I began the interrogations. I'm gonna need to ask you a few questions..."