Murder Mystery

Chapter 2- A Clue?

Walking down the driveway, Christian began to play out different scenarios. What if he did die while in the house? What if he never saw his best friends again?
Chris, keys in hand, started his car,of course fate had other plans. "Where you headin' Chrissy-Chris?" A voice said in a sing-song tone.
"Ah, what the hell Lawrence?" Christian yelled, trying to regain his composure. "Mate ya gotta stop doing that. Anyways, to answer your question, I get to finally solve a case!" He responded with confidence.
"Cool, wheres the place-"
Suddenly, Lawrence was interrupted by a bunch of "no's" coming from his acquaintance.
"You're not coming, you're gonna stay here, and wait! Capiche?"
"What, seriously? Ugh, arguing is going to get me anywhere," Lawrence rolled his pale, glassy eyes. "Fine."
"Thanks for understanding."
And with that, Christian drove off. After a long two hour drive, he finally made it to his destination, the giant manor.
He stood frozen in place and looked up in complete awe. Christian shook his head and proceeded to unlock the the door with key given to him by Mary. He took one giant step and immediately went to go look for
the body.
The inside was even better than the outside, luxurious furniture everywhere you walked and a giant chandelier in the middle of the room. He continued walking when suddenly he felt a gush of wind brush his arm. He turned around and saw no one, which he shrugged off.
"Hey dude."
"Christ!" Christian exclaimed as he turned to face the lovely spirit by the name of Lawrence.
"What did I tell you, Lawrence?" Christian asked in a furious tone. Lawrence shrugged and walked over to a chair, which of course he couldn't really sit on.
Christian sighed and continued on his search for anything left behind by the murderer. Fortunately there was no family here or else he'd be in big trouble if he got caught.
"Yo, check this out!" Lawrence said as he pointed down to a piece of a paper with scribbles on it.
Christian stared in disbelief. How could Lawrence find a potential clue in less than a minute of being here? He wasn't even supposed to be here.
Christian walked over and picked up the piece of paper with horrible handwriting.
"God this person can't write," Lawrence noted as he looked over Christian shoulder.
"Or they could be covering up their regular handwriting with this garbage."
Lawrence shrugged and read the note aloud, "Your time is up. Au revoir, mon chéri."
Christian stared at the note in confusion. He looked around for any other potential clue but found nothing. The note led him to believe this person was of French origin due to the use of the language[c], but that's all he could make out.
"Head back home, now. I sense something around here," Lawrence whispered suddenly. Christian looked back at his ghostly friend who was gone as the wind.
Not questioning Lawrence's words, Christian fled the house with the note in hand. As he turned the corner he could make out bright yellowish orange flames coming from the kitchen window.
His legs carried him all the way to his house where Francis and Mary were already waiting for him at the door.
"The house is on fire, we saw the news. God, we're glad you're safe," Francis said. "You have no idea how lucky you are."
"Guys," Christian began. "I think I found a clue."
Mary's eyes widened as she looked down to see the note in Christian's hand, "No way, that was at the scene? How come we didn't see it?"
Christian shrugged and handed it over to Mary who gingerly folded it and placed it in her pocket.
"I believe the person is of French origin due to the language used in the note," Christian mentioned as he saw the frown forming on Mary's face. She nodded and looked back at Francis, "Should we tell him now?"
Francis hesitated before answering, "Okay, I'm French as you two know. My family is good friends with a family of a high end company called Chegg. The owner's daughter is taking over and they're having a masquerade themed ball to celebrate her taking over. My family and I were invited and I can bring at most two other people. Do you want to go?"
Christian looked over at Mary who seemed a bit anxious for his answer. He knew about her love for masquerades and France in general,[d] so for him denying them would be upsetting. But this trip would interfere with the case and much work still needed to be done.
Friendships come first.
"Okay, I'll go," He said as he noted Mary's change in expression. Her brown, almost black eyes gleamed as soon as he said this, "Great."
"When is the trip? And do you already have the tickets to take us from RaisinVille to France?" Christian asked as him while Mary turned to face Francis.
Francis laughed nervously and responded in a quiet voice, "I have the tickets but the flight is on Wednesday."
"What!" Both Christian and Mary yelled as their eyes widened. The trip was the day after tomorrow and they weren't prepared. Francis looked down at his feet and cringed slightly.
"We need to pack. Goodnight and meet me on Wednesday at-" Christian looked at Francis who responded with "Three a.m."
"Bye," Mary said as she grabbed Francis and dragged him out of Christian's house. Christian closed the door and looked over at the clock. "Goodnight," He said to no one in particular and laid down on the couch. "Oh, God," Christian covered his face in defeat. "What have I gotten myself into?" Lawrence creeped out of the shadows and plopped himself down next to Christian, "Man, sucks to be you."
Christian removed his hands from his face and attempted to punch Lawrence, but failed miserably. "Just go and get some sleep Chris. I'll help you pack tomorrow." And with that, Christian begrudgingly got up, taking the spirit's advice, and went to bed.