An Evening with Mr. Boddy

chapter 6

Wadsworth was explaining, then seemed to be wasting everyone's time with this. He came to the last part with Mr. Boddy dead on the floor after turning off the lights and turning them back on.

"He was dead, I examined him!" Plum called out.

Wadsworth then continued and made up possible suggestions about the death of the cook for being stabbed in the back, then showed them the secret passage that Scarlet and Mustard had discovered when they all split up. He then revealed he always knew about it because of friends.

"Then you could've been the murderer!" Lavender accused him.

"Don't be ridiculous, young lady," Wadsworth smirked at her. "If I was the murderer, why would I reveal to you how I did it?"

Peach both scowled and look scared of him.

"Well, who else know about the secret passage?" Green wondered.

Scarlet and Mustard then revealed that they had found it. Peach stood in front of Lavender. She was subtly protecting her friend. Lavender looked up to Peach and stood close with her as well.

Wadsworth took them to another room for more explaining. "You all had a motive."

"But where and when was Mr. Boddy killed?" Lavender asked.

"Don't you see?" Wadsworth grabbed Mr. Green against his will.

Peach looked worried for Mr. Green. Lavender didn't know Wadsworth's true side as she cupped her mouth with slight laughter as Mr. Green was going through literal slapstick due to the butler.

"The cook!" the others then dashed to the kitchen.

Peach followed, making sure she was between Wadsworth and Lavender. Wadsworth was gone too, he might have disappeared from the crowd.

Mr. Green came first, then got confused. "Well, where is he?"

The door opened to reveal Wadsworth, looking like a zombie as he fell into the man's arms, making Lavender and Scarlet scream out. Mr. Green caught him, then glared at the man, dropping him on the floor. Peach moved her friend safely aside as they were kind of in the way of Wadsworth. Miss White looked at him. 

"Again?" Mrs. Peacock sounded annoyed with the passage way.

"Of course, back to the study!" Wadsworth took them all back there.

Lavender groaned in exhaustion, then followed again. Peach was ready to grab Wadsworth to stop him running about. Mrs. White was following. Wadsworth continued to abuse Mr. Green and even chased after him when he ran off, but hit him on the back, making him fall to the floor.

"Will you STOP THAT!?" Green demanded, pulling off his glasses.

"No." Wadsworth replied, dragging him off and throwing him into the bathroom with the door shut, not caring how much he was torturing him.

Peach grabbed his arm. She had had enough of his cruelty. 

"So who wasn't there the entire time in the kitchen?" Lavender asked.

"Whoever he was, he's the murderer!" Wadsworth tried to get away, but saw he was grabbed. "Miss Peach, let go."

Peach glared at him. She wouldn't until he stopped. Mustard looked surprised as Mr. Green came out, drying his hands.

"Let go!" Wadsworth sounded very cross with her. 

"Don't yell at my friend." Lavender glared at him.

"I'm sorry, dear... Why don't you just run along...?" Wadsworth patted her head, making her weak in the knees like a school girl with a precious crush on her teacher.

Peach scowled at him, both anger and fear of him on her face.

Wadsworth glared back at her. "What're you going to do? As long as that little friend of yours is under my charm, she won't believe you. She's a foolish little girl who needs to grow up and would be better off with a paper bag on her head."

Peach got angrier than she ever had. She clenched her fist and punched him.

The man let out a painful groan, putting his hand to his face, removing it, then glaring down at her. "You rotten little girl!"

"I'm an adult, I'm 21 years old." Peach glares. She was still mad about his cruelty.

"I don't care how old you are," Wadsworth nearly twisted her arm, bringing it sharply behind her back, enjoying her pain to see how she likes it. "You don't hit me! You and your buck-toothed friend are in as much trouble and misery as all these other guests are! It wasn't chance for the motorist to come by unexpectedly, I had invited him."

Katie yelped in pain. She whimpered and struggled, trying to get free. Her eyes screwed shut in pain.

Wadsworth felt very victorious at the moment. "If you value your life, you'll tell me your fiance's secrets..." He whispered sharply into her ear, as he held her hostage. "I hate to make another murder happen tonight..."

"I-If you kill m-me, you'll never kn-know." she stutters out in pain.

"You have a point..." Wadsworth had to admit as he stroked her hair, much to her disgust. "I guess I'll have to break in somehow... After all, your little friend wasted a perfectly good opportunity of taking the factory, Wonka has no heir..."

As she didn't believe in sex before marriage, he was right, but Katie would give him an heir. She moved her head as best she could but couldn't move much. Any more pressure on her arm and it could break. Wadsworth tightened his grip on her, then heard footsteps. He then quietly cursed under his breath and released the woman quickly and try to look like the professional butler he said he was. 

The other guests came in, trying to gather evidence of who the murderer is or could be, even though he was right now, under their noses. Peach held her sore arm to her chest. She hoped he hadn't broken it.

"Wadsworth, where is that envelope now?" Mrs. White asked him.

"Gone, destroyed," Wadsworth replied nonchalantly. "Perhaps in the fire..."

Lavender seemed to be the only one to notice Miss Peach in pain and looked to the dashing man again, she then concluded it was likely he had hurt her since she was in pain now and he was the only one with her. She was now angry with this man. Peach was still close by Wadsworth, yet to move. 

Wadsworth told his story and right as he mentioned the doorbell rang, the doorbell literally rang right then. This made everyone freeze in slight terror.

"Oh, whoever it is, they got to go away or they'll be killed!" Mrs. Peacock grunted as she went to answer the door.

Peach looked at him a little, biting her lip.

It wasn't the police, it was an evangelist who was visiting to introduce everybody to his new life about the kingdom of heaven and the others shooed him away, having been through enough trouble for one evening. 

"The cop arrived next," Wadsworth went on, seeming to just stretch everybody's time. "We locked him in the library. We forgot the cupboard with the weapons was now unlocked, then we split up again and the murderer switched off the electricity!" He then did so, making everything blacked out.

Peach whimpered and reached out a little.