Criminal Case: Grimsborough

Chapter 49: All The King's Horses-Part 1

A week later after Grace and Marie solved Abagail Price's murder, Jones was officially finished with filing complaints and he and Marie became partners again. Before long, the two of them plus the chief were invited by the mayor for a friendship speech at one of Maple Heights' country clubs. As soon as the mayor's speech began, Jones leaned in towards Marie and whispered, "It feels really good working with you again Marie! And I'm really glad I could make it to the mayor's speech cause thanks to your fame, I feel like we could crash the fanciest parties in Maple Heights! Did you know that a real king has come to Grimsborough and we're gonna meet him! Isn't that great?!"

Suddenly, Chief King shushed Jones and said, "Jones, how many times do I have to tell you not talk while the mayor is giving his speech."

When they all looked towards the stage, the officers heard Mayor Johnson speak, "My fellow citizens, I am standing before you today humbled and honored to express my friendship with King Khalid Ben Omar Souleyman! May our country preserve the peaceful and long-standing relationship it has towards the sovereign state of Sultanistan!"

Suddenly, Marie and Jones heard a kid in the front call out, "Boring! When will this thing be over?! I want some candy!"

Marie saw the boy was dressed in foreign clothes and she whispered, "That must be the king's son."

Jones nodded in agreement and said, "He's gonna be king himself once his father dies. I heard that he has 45 collectible cars and a live giraffe as a pet!"

Chief King let out a sigh of frustration and said, "Jones, in your position, you should know better than to listen to rumors."

Soon, Mayor Johnson announced, "Now it gives me great pleasure to welcome my friend, King Khalid!" And as he motioned towards the stage to where the king might come and the audience applauded, the mayor realized that he wasn't showing up.

Suddenly, the audience started to murmur with each other wondering where the king might be. Mayor Johnson told them all to stay put and that King Khalid will arrive any minute. Chief King also got suspicious and he looked at Marie and told her, "Marie, you and Jones go and find out what's happening. I remember the king was last seen by the stables of the Horse Riding League."

Jones and Marie agreed to the job and they stood up from their seats and headed towards the stables with the mayor watching. After a while, Jones and Marie looked around outside the stables, but they couldn't find the king anywhere. Just as they were about to turn around and go back, the two officers heard the horses neighing and stomping desperately inside the stables and they ran inside to check it out. As soon as they looked in, Marie saw one of the horses tearing up in its stall and she ran in front of it, grab it by the reins and said, "Whoa! Whoa! Easy girl! Easy!" And a few seconds later the horse calmed down and Marie petted its nose.

Jones also calmed down a couple horses too and as soon as things settled down, Jones looked down at Marie's feet and his eyes went wide with horror. Jones then exclaimed, "Marie look down at where you're standing and don't move!"

Marie looked down and her eyes also went wide when she saw King Khalid's body laying before her. Marie exclaimed, "Oh my god! Someone killed the king!"

Jones started to sweat nervously and he said, "This is horrible! Chief King will have our heads for this when he hears what happened! We need to find out who killed the king Marie!"

Marie looked by the king's head and found a bloody footprint and she took a picture of it with her phone so she can run it through the database. She also found a bloody horseshoe on the horse's stall door and thought that she should send it to the lab to have it checked. Suddenly, Marie found a torn photograph on the floor and she decided that she should put it back together. Just then, Jones and Marie heard the mayor's voice call out, "Inspector Marie! Inspector Jones! Where on earth are you two?"