Detective Stories, Volume 1/2013

Detective stories

By CLASS 8A of 2013

INTERMEDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE Tg.-MureÈ™

SUPERVISING EDITOR, G. Șandru, Teacher of English

Detective Stories Copyright © Ms. Sandru’s class 2013 Limited Edition 2

The Heist Investigators

Brian Turner Ethan Holmes

CĂŠline Marquis

Witnesses

Gracie Paxton

Georgia Sullivan 3

Suspects

Terrance Turner

John Rodriguez

Nathan Doyle

Victims

Billy Heath

Nicholas and Aimee Hewitt

Connections Aimee Hewitt is Ethan Holmes’ younger sister and Nicholas Hewitt’s wife. Terrance Turner is Brian Turner’s son.

4

CHAPTER 1 Brian Turner is a retired American CIA agent. He’s 59 and is considered to be the best in the business of solving crime cases. He’s a medium-height, average-weight person.

He’s got grey, short hair and blue eyes He is capable of total mental domination, being able to get everything out of someone in the interrogatory room. He likes to be part of a team but can sometimes be a little bit bossy. He enjoys playing golf, watching baseball games and doing yoga. As of now, he leads the CIA in most cases solved and is highly skilled in every aspect of the job.

Ethan Holmes is one of the best soldiers in the world.

He was part of the FBI, CIA and is now currently working for the SAS. He’s only 29 years of age so he’s got some years before he quits. He’s short with an extreme amount of muscular mass. His strong points are stealth and physicality.

His motto is “Going stealthy is healthy”. He’s the kind of guy that sees only one way and that’s his way. He likes scubadiving, basketball and going to the gym. The most heroic deed in his career so far was when he stood up to a guy which had a handgun pointing at someone’s face in an airport in Los Angeles, hand-cuffed him and helped save the injured people.

Céline Marquis is a young 24-year-old French agent working for the CIA. She’s got curly blonde, hair, green eyes and long arms and legs. She usually likes to stay away from action and just chill at HQ, hacking the criminals’ computer.

She likes swimming and watching SF movies. She’s actually got a prize named “People’s Choice for Best Hacker in the CIA”.

5

CHAPTER 2 When they received the call from the general, Brian was in Rio de Janeiro going to his yoga class, Ethan was running in the Desert of Sahara, making sure he stays in shape for God knows what, while Céline was giving a programming course in one of England’s most famous universities, Oxford University.

All three of them were told the same thing. That The Diamond Store in London, the best and most successful jewelry store in the whole Europe was robbed by three unknown individuals and that their presence was required.

Brian could barely be convinced but he thought his son could be involved.

So before each of them would take off to London, they had had a conversation on Skype.

“Hi there, I’m Brian. I suppose you already know who I am.”

“Indeed, I’m your biggest fan”, says Ethan, “I’m Ethan Holmes.”

“Are you a fan of Sherlock Holmes as well?”

“Hello, my name is Céline Marquis and I hope we will be able to cooperate successfully and catch those bastards.”

“Yeah, I hope so” said Brian.

“Not much else to be said… I guess we’ll talk more in London.”

“Very well then. See you there!”

6

CHAPTER 3 ---- 1 day later in London ---“Who’s in charge here?” asked Brian.

“I am. Who are you?”

“CIA… We’re taking over, here’s permission”, Brian said with a deep voice.

“Oh, well, you heard him, he’s the boss now,” said the police officer.

“Ok. I want you to take me to the crime scene” “Very well!” *** ---- 30 minutes later at The Diamond Store ---“So this is the place…”

“Wow, it’s huge; I wonder how they pulled it off.”

“So, who are the victims?”

“Billy Heath, owner of the company, he was just passing by to collect some money when the robbers came in. We also have a couple, Nicholas and Aimee Hewitt, both English.”

“Did you just say Aimee Hewitt? Where is she?” asked Ethan with a precipitated voice.

They went to see the corpses.

7

“Oh my God, I’m going to kill those pricks.”

“Calm Down for Christ’s Sake. And were there any witnesses?”

“Yes, Gracie Paxton, an old English lady who lives just a few blocks away from here and Georgia Sullivan the store’s sales assistant.”

“OK. Let’s spread out and collect some evidence and then talk to the witnesses.” *** After an hour of searching, they found a photo of Brian and his son, a possible suspect, and also a sharp knife. They sent the knife to a fingerprint check.

But something was weird; none of the exposed jewels were stolen, so they decided to check the Vault (that’s where they kept all the money and the reserve jewels). The funny thing was that nothing was missing from there either.

8

CHAPTER 4

After talking to the witnesses and the owner’s wife, they narrowed their list of suspects to three: Terrance Turner, Brian’s son, mid-age, black hair and big blue eyes, John Rodriguez, Terrance’s best friend since their childhood, black hair and green eyes who always wears a hat and Nathan Doyle, a very tall black guy. *** Brian was obviously stunned but he did what he had to do. He interrogated all of the suspects and got to the conclusion that Rodriguez wasn’t involved.

9

CHAPTER 5

One of the witnesses said the photo that they found fell from one of the robber’s pockets and she also gave a description which matches Terrance’s.

After the fingerprint check on the knife, they were informed that the knife was used by Nathan. *** ---- In the interrogation room ---“Hello again, Nathan, let’s get straight to the point. You were proven guilty. There’s either one choice or the other: make our job harder or just tell us that Terrance was in it as well.

What’s it going to be?”

“Ok, fine. I admit. Terrance was involved. It was his plan.”

“But you didn’t steal anything! What happened?”

“The plan was to get Billy Heath’s signature on a contact so that he agrees to give us 50% of his business income. He didn’t accept at the beginning obviously so we tortured him.”

“Oh, I see… and what about Rodriguez?”

“He’s shouldn’t have been there. When we saw him we let him go around the back.”

“Very well, thanks and see you tomorrow at the court.”

10

CHAPTER 6 ---- The following day at the court ---“Terrance Turner, son of Brian Turner, is this photo belonging to you?” asked the prosecutor.

“No, it is not mine, it may be my father’s.” *** “Nathan Doyle, can you tell the jury if you used this knife to torture and kill Billy Heath?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Do you plead guilty?”

“Yes, I do, your Honor.”

“Oh, I see. Is Terrance Turner also involved in the killing?”

“Yes, he is. He killed a couple.”

“Could you state their names for the record?” added the prosecutor.

“Nicholas Hewitt and Aimee Hewitt”, answered Nathan.

“What was the purpose of this “robbery” if you didn’t steal anything?”

“The plan was to get the owner’s signature.”

“Did you get it? And what was it for?”

“We got it for a contract which represents Mr. Heath giving us 50% of his business income.”

“You bastard!!!” says Terrance looking at him with evil eyes.

“SILENCE in the court!!!”

11

CHAPTER 7 The defendants were found guilty by the jury in the criminal trial. They were convicted ed for murder and faced punishment for their actions: Terrance – prison for life, while Nathan – 30 years of imprisonment with no right for parole. *** THE END

By: Bogdan Blaga Ovidiu Moldovan Iulia Alexandru Paul Tulbure

12

Killing Love Chapter 1 - JOSH & MARY Josh and Mary were some nice people from Boston.

They got married in 2007 and they were both working for BND (Boston National Detectives). Josh was 32 years old and Mary was 30. Mary was tall and slim with brown wavy hair, brown eyes and she liked to play tennis in her free time. She always wore dresses. She was a very ambitious person, besides being very smart - she graduated Harvard University. It was here that she met Josh.

He was a tall handsome and elegant man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He always wore suits and a black tie.

In weekends Josh played American football with his colleagues from BND. They were both very calm and calculated people, always smiling‌ They had a three-years-old daughter, Maya. She had her father’s very beautiful eyes and was very friendly. They were a happy family. Josh & Mary wanted Maya to be a wellknown detective.

13

Chapter 2 - A NEW CASE TO INVESTIGATE They were at home… Mary was watching TV and Josh was reading a book when the phone rang. Josh answered it. It was their boss, Jake: “Hi, Josh! Jake speaking.”

“Hi, Jake! What’s up?”

“We have a new case. A 19 years old teenager, Ally, was found hanged in her bathroom.”

“Can you tell me her address?”

“135 Morrissey Blvd.”

“Ok, Jake. We’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

***

14

Chapter 3 – THE CRIME SCENE A short time after they got there Josh found some evidence that led them to believe that Ally’s death was not another suicide case. On the bathroom tile they found a red hair, but Ally was blonde so another person must have been in her apartment. On the right there was a broken mirror. Ally had a scratched elbow. They assumed that perhaps Ally had struggled to break free hitting her elbow in the fight. In the living room they found some glasses of wine and an empty box of pizza. Mary thought that there was a party a day before. Josh took the glasses and the hair to the laboratory. Probably there were two or more killers.

Bob, Ally’s next door neighbor, heard a scream that night and knocked at the door to check if she was ok. But nobody answered… The next morning he tried again but again, nobody opened the door. Bob called her parents to see if she was there but their answer was “No”. So, they decided to call the police.

That was Bob’s statement.

“We haven’t seen her for 3 days. She didn’t have any reasons to commit suicide”, her parents told Josh.

15

Tom, Steve and Emmy were Ally’s best friends. They said that they were at the party but they left early. Josh observed that Emmy’s hair was red. He thought it was interesting…

Mark, Ally’s boyfriend, was taken to BND. “Hi, Mark!”

“Hello!”

“When have you last seen Ally?”

“Last time I saw her was at the party. Steve, Emmy and Steve’s girlfriend stayed longer but I and Tom left at 8 p.m.”

“Argh! So they lied.” ***

16

Chapter 4 - THE SUSPECTS The suspects were Emmy, Steve and Amber, Steve’s girlfriend.

“My father picked me up from Ally’s place at 9 but Emmy and Steve stayed longer. Emmy was a little bit drunk” declared Emma.

“My parents came to take me home at 9:30 p.m.” stated Steve.

When the police interrogated Steve’s parents, they said: “Yes, we took Steve home at 1 a.m. We were worried but everything was all right up there.”

“Emma, stop it. I know you are the criminal. The hair we found in the bathroom is yours. You’ve been lying. Admit it!” yelled Mary with a fierce voice.

“Ok, Steve and I did it.”

17

Chapter 5 - THE CRIMINALS “Josh, I was so sure that Steve and Emmy were the criminals…”

“Yes, Mary, I know! They have just admitted their crime.”

Then Mary and Josh talked to Steve and Emmy: “So, you are the criminals. How did it all happen?”

“It was 11 p.m. I can’t remember all. We were all drunk. I was so jealous because I loved Mark. She said something that made me angry and then you know the story, said Emmy.”

“So, that’s all.”

“Yes, we are so sorry…”, said Steve.

***

18

CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSIONS Josh and Mary were promoted for solving the case case. It took them two weeks to solve the case. Steve and Emmy were sentenced to 20 years in jail with no right for parole.

Ally’s parents are still grieving for their lost daughter.. daughter...

THE END By: Anda Tenie Alex Todea Mara Dan Andreea Strete Ciprian iprian Todea Bogdan ogdan Bakos

19

Miami Vice CHAPTER 1 The Miami PD had a great year so far. With detective Dexter, there was no doubt about that. Surprisingly, Dexter was an ex-criminal. He once killed a guy for sleeping with his wife. After 10 years of prison for murder and illegal weapon possession he decided he wanted to do some good. So, he became a cop. After just 5 years he became the best detective of the state.

He was a tall guy with red hair. He had a serious face with a scar from childhood but he joked all the time. Dexter was a very smart guy: he graduated Harvard University, and – as an ex-criminal - he knew very well how the criminals worked. He had a wife and two kids, so he was very happy. He liked to play basketball and he always went to his hometown team games: The Miami Heat. He liked donuts - as every cop does - but he also kept himself fit. He went jogging every week.

When he became a detective he recruited his partner: a young police-woman named Kate. She had three older brothers so she had always been "daddy's little girl". Kate tried very hard to impress her father and became a cop, following 20

on her father’s steps. She was dark-haired with brown eyes.

Kate was very beautiful and also very smart. She came from a rich family so she had access to the best education. She wore a smile on her face at all times. Her dream was to be a detective and she knew Dexter could help her. She liked to watch movies, especially comedies. She could sing very well but she did not follow a career in the music business – she made her choice at a young age when she chose the cop life over anything else.

Kate and Dexter made a very good team. They had solved five important cases so far, although Miami was a dangerous place to live in. Everybody had a gun and at every corner there was a gang. You couldn’t trust anyone there. Life expectancy for a cop was short.

***

21

CHAPTER 2 It was Monday. Dexter and Kate were at work. They were drinking their morning coffee and talking about the last crime. Kate was so confused.

“How could she kill her husband and leave no fingerprints?” she asked.

“I’ve got no idea. But we managed to...”

Bringg! the phone interrupted Dexter. He picked up the phone: “Miami P.D. Detective Dexter speaking.”

“Hi there”, a voice said hesitating.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“My name is Nate Collins and… I found three people dead in a container.”

“Can you describe them?”

“Yeah. They are two males and one female. The female has black curly hair and she’s tall. Something like 5 feet 10 inches.

One male has red curly hair and he has rag clothes. The other guy is very tall and his eyes are red and open. I think that he’s high, but he had lost his arm. It must have been cut with a chainsaw.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m between some abandoned buildings. The streets number is 458. I heard that most of the drug-dealers sell their weed here, on this street.”

“Can you describe the street?”

22

“Is a dark, narrow street near Queen’s Avenue. There are lots of abandoned dogs and garbage containers here. The strange part is that there is a lot of garbage on the ground here, and the container where I had found the victims was empty, I mean that there was no trash.”

“Ok. Now I know where you are. I’ll be there in 2 minutes.

Wait for us there. Do not leave!” ***

23

CHAPTER 3 Kate and Dexter arrived at the crime scene. There was blood all over the place.

“So you’re the cops, I guess” Nate said while greeting the detectives.

“Yeah. You guessed right.”

“Please, detective! Talk to those kids over there first. They are crying so hard. I couldn’t comfort them. I think they lost their parents.”

“Oh, poor kids!” Kate exclaimed before rushing to the corner of the street where the kids were standing, tears running down their pale cheeks. It was a 13-year-old girl, and a 8-yearold boy. Kate was horrified.

“What happened to you? Are you witnesses of the crime?” wondered Dexter.

“Yes, we are. We’re their children.”

“Oh, I understand now. What are your names? And tell me what happened.”

“My name is Michelle and I am 13. My brother’s name is Michael and he’s only 8. The victims over there … They were our mom and dad… and our uncle, my father’s brother. They were killed with a chainsaw… we were buying some icecream…. we were ready to go to the fun-park... But then this happened…. I just don’t know what to do! I’m so desperate!” cried the little girl.

“Calm down! It’s not the end of the world!”

24

“Dexter! They are just kids! Can’t you be a little more sensitive?! Don’t worry kids; everything is going to be ok” promised Kate, putting her arms around the kids as if trying to protect them.

“Take the kids away. This is not the kind of stuff they need to see”. Kate called for reinforcements and ordered a young female cop to take the kids and Nate to the section. *** Dexter and Kate investigated the place. They found some body parts in a trash bag, presumably from the victims’ bodies. They also found a chainsaw near there, and they thought that it had to be the crime weapon.

There were some fingerprints – most likely the criminals’ – and a piece of black leather - maybe tore from a jacket. There was a bag full of drugs with a gang name on it.

This was an important clue for them! *** After investigating the place, they decided to take the dead bodies in for further investigations and autopsy. Indeed, a new clue was found! In the girl’s hair, there was a contact lent!

25

CHAPTER 4 “Look what I’ve found out about the suspects!” Dexter called Kate and handed her a file.

“Let me see!”

The file contained some information about the drug dealers, part of a gang! The first suspect was a short bald guy, full of tattoos. He had something on his eye, like a patch; maybe he had lost his eye. His name was James Clifton.

The second suspect was James’ older brother. He was a very tall guy, about 6 feet, with a beard and long, black hair, tied up in a ponytail. He was shortsighted but he didn’t wear glasses! Kate thought that was odd. His name was Mike Clifton.

The third suspect was a tall, blonde girl with big, blue eyes, very attractive, who spent her nights in different clubs in Miami. Her name was Stefanie Lopez. She had nothing in common with the other suspects, except for the fact that she was also a gang member.

“Oh, my God! These are the biggest drug dealers in Miami.

Why aren't they already in jail?” wondered Kate.

“It is all very promising but we don't have much evidence yet.

We can't accuse them right now.”

“Well, I know they are guilty.”

The suspects were apprehended and brought to the police for interrogation. *** 26

CHAPTER 5 Kate returned to the crime scene again to have a better look, when she suddenly noticed a camera on the street.

There was a red light on the side, which meant the camera was on. It was above an ATM, so Kate assumed it belonged to the Federal Bank of Miami. She ran to the bank manager and demanded the cassette.

Then she returned to the station.

“Hey everyone, guess what! There are some cameras filming on that street and everything has been caught on!”

“Great news! Let’s watch the cassette!”

*** On the cassette there were two long haired guys and a short bald one.

“That is James. Look at his tattoo.”

“You're right. But who are the other two guys?”

“Well, one of them is Mike. And the other one is the girl!

Stefanie!”

“You are right. I forgot about her.”

“We got them! Bring them in!”

27

CHAPTER 6 The place where they lived was a nightmare: cops smoked weed with the teens, kids had guns and tattoos, at each corner there was a drug dealer. The team didn't find the gang at the address provided but they found clothes stained with blood.

After two days of searching they finally caught them in an abandoned house, hiding from the police.

“What do you want from us?” asked the gang leader in an irritated voice.

“Calm down! Take this one to the other room” ordered Dexter, pointing to Mike.

“So?”... James pretended to be puzzled.

“Where were you yesterday morning?”

“I was at home, sleeping!”

“And you were with your brother, right?”

“Umm... yeah.”

“What was your brother doing?”

“He was sleeping, too!!!” James yelled and frowned. He was beginning to sweat.

“Calm down! If not, you’re going to spend tonight in jail for obstructing the investigation!”

“Ok, ok...” ***

28

Meanwhile, Kate was talking to the other guy, Mike: “What were you doing yesterday morning at 9 a.m.?”

“I was with my brother. We were driving around in town.”

“Really? Do you remember where exactly you were?”

“I couldn’t read the street names. I had lost my contact lens. I didn’t have my glasses, either!”

“Have you noticed anything suspicious?”

“No, I haven’t. At one point, I heard something like a chainsaw… I couldn’t realize where the sound was coming from.”

“Thank you! This is all for now!” *** Kate and Dexter corroborated the stories. They didn't match, which meant the suspects had been telling lies. The computer matched their profile to the faces caught on the street camera. The blood found on the clothes matches the victims' blood. That was enough evidence to convict them.

Moreover, the results from the lab showed that he contact lens found in the victim’s hair had Mike’s DNA. “We got them!” exclaimed Kate with great satisfaction.

“Yeah, we did!” answered Dexter with a sigh of relief.

“Come on! Be happy! Let's celebrate!”

“Ok, this time the drinks are on me.” ***

29

CHAPTER 7 So the Miami PD has solved one more case. The Calvin brothers got 30 years of prison. They were sentenced with murder and illegal drug trafficking. The lady got 10 years in prison for being an assistant. The orphan kids were adopted

by Nate and his wife.

Dexter and Kate continued to keep Miami a safe place!

THE END! By: AndradaPetrar Ionuț Mailat Renata Bălan Raluca Târnăvean Flaviu Mureșan Alex Comes

30

Lebron Dykes His name was Lebron Dykes, and many of his coworkers said he was the next Sherlock Holmes, but that is for you to decide.

He was a tall, very muscular guy who only wore old fashion detective’s suits at work. He visited the café outside the police department every morning. He always bought the same type of coffee and a warm sandwich, a type of behavior that for many people might seem odd if not insane. *** One morning, he was called in the captain’s office who informed Dykes about a hit and run that just happened the night before. As he got there, a police officer told him exactly what happened.

“Morning, detective, my name is Lewis Kowalsky. I was first to get here. So, as you can see, this man was fatally hit by a car which drove away. I spoke to some people who claimed that they heard something. You should ask them a few questions.

Ok, that’s all. If you need anything, I’m going to be watching the perimeter.”

“Thanks, officer.” *** 31

After he talked to the officer, Dykes went to investigate the scene. The victim’s body was at about 10 meters from the brakes lines, with a hole in his chest. The ID in his right chest pocket was also stained with blood but Dykes could read the name: Joshua Jack More, 24. Born in Los Angeles.

Dykes realized that the guy must have been shot before he got hit by the car. After talking to some witnesses who claimed that they had heard a gunshot and a car suddenly braking, Dykes founds a 20 revolver in the bin and a bullet right next to it. Another witness told him that he had seen the car’s license number. Dykes asked the officer to trace the number.

The forensic expert came. He told Dykes that he would call him after he does the autopsy of the body. *** A few hours later, Lebron was called by Officer Lewis: “Detective, I have traced the car’s license number and I’m giving you the address of the car’s owner.”

“Ok, officer, I’m on my way.”

After the arrest at the police station, Dykes interrogated the car owner: “Mr. Jones, am I right?”

“Yes, that’s my name.”

“Did you run over this person at precisely 4 a.m. in the morning?”

32

“I did, but I couldn’t do anything. I was going at 100 Km/h and I saw him standing there and right before I passed him he fell in front of my car.”

“Ok, that’s all I needed for now.”

The next place he went to was at the morgue. There, he met the forensic specialist: “How is the autopsy?”

“As a matter of fact I have just finished it.”

“And?” “I found out that he was actually shot right in the heart, which killed him instantly.”

“Thanks, Bob! By the way, how’s that pretty wife of yours?”

“She’s doing great, thanks for asking.” *** After this pleasant talk with his friend Bob, Dykes remembered the gun he had found. He took a closer look at it and he saw the name of the store. He then went to that store and asked the cashier about that gun: “Welcome to Lock’ and Load’ It. How can I help you?”

“L.A.P.D, detective Dykes. I’m here to ask you some questions about this gun” said Dykes, slowly taking the gun out of the evidence plastic bag.

“This revolver is a deluxe edition, an expensive one. But I keep a record of the names of everybody who had bought a gun here, in this book” said the shop assistant while going down the pages with his finger in the big register. “And… here it is!

George Ramirez, San Marino St., number 2, apartment 4.”

33

“OK, that’s all I needed, thank you very much.”

When he arrived at George’s apartment with Officer Lewis, they knocked on the door. There was no answer, so they broke in the flat. There was no one inside. The only thing that was left was a note to George’s former wife in which he told her that he had left town.

Then they returned to the station upset and dissatisfied, and they would almost drop the case, if it weren’t for Dykes to realize something: they had never checked George’s ex-wife’s house.

When they rushed to Natalie’s house, they found George right there, watching TV. At the interrogation, they asked him why he did what he did. He said that he had to kill Jack because he didn’t pay his debts.

After this very hard and exhausting case, Dykes was quite happy of a well deserved holiday. With little expectations from anybody else, he was looking forward to solving another crime.

THE END By: Șerban Cioba Laurențiu Seica Tudor Bichiș Alexandru Martinovici Luminița Șai

34

Happy Birthday, Mary!

CHAPTER 1 “Bob, a guy just called. He said that his daughter was killed at her birthday party” Kim said in a deep voice.

“Hello to you too, Kim! Where to?”

“A mansion on Strawberry Street. Number 29. Hard to miss.”

“See you there!”

And so a new case began. But first we need to meet our detectives, don't we? Bob is pretty tall, blonde haired and with blue eyes. He likes watching TV, going fishing and dancing. He was dressed in blue jeans, a plain T-shirt and a jacket.

Kim on the other hand, she has red long hair, greenish blue eyes and she's kind of short. She was dressed in a grey suit. In her free time she likes to cook and play the guitar. Bob and Kim are the total opposites; Kim is very serious while Bob is easygoing. *** 35

CHAPTER 2

At a certain office in London, a phone rang. Kim answered the call. It was a new case for our detectives. Their office wasn't very big, but it was good enough for them. There were two rooms, one for each of them, a kitchen and a bathroom. They actually bought a flat and made it into an office.

Only Kim was there, Bob was at home. After Kim filled Bob in with the details of their new case, they decided to meet in front of the mansion.

“You're late”, Kim said in a venomous voice. “Also, the man doesn't want the police involved so you can touch nothing.”

“Yeah yeah, let's just go in.”

They entered the big mansion and the landlady greeted them.

“You must be the detectives. I am the landlady. I'll take you to the crime scene.”

36

They followed her to the second floor. There was a big lounge, and some stairs that lead to a hallway. In the lounge were presents and drinks left from the party. They went at the end of the hallway. There were three people there: two men and a woman. Then the landlady left.

There was a blood trail and thin a pool of blood. Also it seemed that the body was dragged to another room. There were some fingerprints on a window and it was broken. Also, there was the crime weapon, a gun.

They went to see the corpse. The girl had been shot three times: in the shoulder, in the leg and in the head, all three shots from a close range. There were four witnesses: the victim's father, her uncle, the babysitter and the boyfriend of the victim's sister. ***

37

CHAPTER 3 Kim and Bob started questioning the witnesses.

“Good day, sir. We are the detectives. Could you tell us what happened?”

“Hi! I'm Ken. I called you. I, Jennifer and Jake were in the lounge with the other guests. Jennifer had just taken the girls to go to sleep and after quarter an hour my little girl's scream was heard along with three gun shots. My poor Mary! And also Jane, she disappeared as well.”

“Do you know whose gun is this?” Bob asked while taking the gun out of the plastic bag he had placed it in.

“That's... that's my gun... Oh, I should've left it home! I can't believe this! My daughter was killed with my own gun” cried the old man. Tears were flooding his already read, swollen eyes.

“Thank you for the information, sir.”

Next, they went to Mary's uncle.

“Could you tell us what happened?”

“Well, I was in my room. I had a terrible headache and I decided to take a nap. When I heard the shots I went in the hallway but Mary was already dead. Also, Jane was missing.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Then they went to their babysitter, Jennifer.

“Hello ma'am. Would you tell us what happened?”

“After I took Mary and Jane to their room, I went in the lounge with Ken, Jake and the other guests and then I heard Mary

38

scream and three gunshots. After that poor Mary was dead. It was my entire fault!”

“Calm down ma'am. Who is Jake?”

“He's Jane's boyfriend. He should be in the lounge.”

“Thank you,” Kim said before they headed towards the lounge. There they found a boy around the age of 15.

“Might you be Jake?” Kim asked him.

“Yeah. What do you want?” he asked throwing Kim an arrogant look.

“Do you know why would anyone kill Mary?”

“How would I know? She was always loved by everyone, while Jane was ignored. Everyone was like: Mary, Mary, Mary, but no Jane. Actually, it's better like this. Now, Jane can get some attention, too.”

“Bob, let's move on,” Kim added in a harsh voice, not being able to completely hide her utter disgust. They left the boy there and went to further investigate the rooms. *** First they started with the girl's room. The room was intact, except for some books on the floor.

“Isn't it weird how the beds are made? Which child would make their beds if they left their room?”

“Maybe they didn't even sleep.”

“Probably!”

They left the room and headed to the uncle's room.

The room was pretty big, nothing peculiar there, except for a mask. They took it with them.

39

Next, there was Jennifer's room. On the drawer was a pair of bloody gloves. They also took the gloves with them.

The next room was an unoccupied room. There was some blood under the bed, so they took a look and found a pair of boots stained with blood.

One more room was left. There were the gifts that Mary had got from her guests. On a table, there was a letter.

It was a suspicious threatening letter. *** After gathering all the evidence the detectives went to talk to Ken. “Do you know whose these are?”asked Kim showing Ken the gloves and the stained boots.

“The gloves are Jennifer's and the boots are my brother's” answered Ken while looking perplexed.

40

CHAPTER 4 “Also, two rooms are locked. Do you have a spare key?”

“Here!” Ken gave Kim a key. They went in one of those rooms and they found Jane crying. Also, there were some blood drops on the floor.

“Are you Jane? We are the detectives investigating your sister’s murder. Did you see who killed her?”

“Only his face, but he was wearing a mask.”

“Might the mask be this one?” Bob showed her the mask they found in Felix's room.

“That's it!”

“Jane, where did you get that scratch?” asked Kim, pointing to a little cut on the girl’s hand.

“Oh, that...First, the killer was holding Mary and he said that if I got closer, he would kill her. I managed to save her but he attacked me… Thankfully, he missed me. After that, he shot Mary and I ran to the bathroom.”

“Anyway, you should go see your father. He's really worried.”

With that, they left for the other room. It was a kitchen. There was a document on the table.

“Certificate of inheritance... Bob, this is on Mary's name!”

“Let me see that..... Kim, I think I know who the killer is.”

“For once, you use that brain of yours. Spit it out.”

“Well, it's either Jane or Felix.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious! But we don't have enough evidence to prove either's guilt.”

“Kim, give me the gloves!”

41

CHAPTER 5 “This scratch on the glove matches Jane’s scratch. It is in the same spot, isn’t it?”

“It looks like we have the killer!” said Bob frowning.

“Let's go and tell Ken what we have found out. It’s going to get really nasty… Poor guy! He has lost two daughters” The detectives filled in Ken with the details. The old guy was devastated. Kim tried to comfort him before they went to see Jane. She was in the lounge.

“Jane, I can't believe it! You killed Mary over the stupid inheritance!”

“What? I didn't kill her!” replied Jane in a calm voice.

“Well, the evidence proves the contrary.”

42

CHAPTER 6 “Were you really trying to save Mary or rather you scratched yourself while breaking the window?” inquired Bob. “How can you imply that I killed my own sister?”

“Well, it seems that you actually envied her for gaining the inheritance and more attention than you!”

“Yes, but, I loved her anyway...”

“And you could've made up that the killer wore the mask.

Also, the blood on the window, the boots and gloves poorly hidden, they are all beginner's mistakes.”

“That does not prove anything!” yelled the girl.

“Oh, yes, it does! Here's my theory: you placed the mask in Felix's room when he was sleeping and you also took his boots. You took Jennifer's gloves and your father's gun and hid them somewhere before the crime. Also, before that, you drugged Felix so he couldn't hear the gunshots. When Jennifer took you to your rooms, you told Mary to go to the bathroom with you. Then, you took the gun, shot her using a pillow to block the noise but you missed twice because of that. Finally, you killed her with a third shot and took your uncle's boots to put blood on them. You hid them in the room. After that, you had to get rid of the pillow so you decided to toss it out of the window. The window didn't open, so you smashed it. That's when you got scratched. You didn't notice that one glove also got ripped in the process and put the gloves in Jennifer's room. After that you ran into the bathroom, but when you closed the door, you noticed your wound so you washed your hands.”

43

CHAPTER 7

Jane was speechless. She kept nodding her head and saying ‘No. No. No. Not me!’ but nobody was listening to her anymore. In next to no time, the police came and took her to the juvie.

And so, our detectives solved another case.

THE END! By: Noemi Valics - 5 Sabin Pop - 5 Claudia Raț - 4 Paul Câmpean - 3 Darius Milășan - 3

44

The Evil Siblings CHAPTER 1

Daniel and Nicole were investigators at the Police Department in Texas. They were both in their twenties.

Although they were both at the beginning of their career, their wish was to become professional detectives.

Nicole was short and slim. She was very beautiful, with big blue eyes and long black hair. Daniel was tall and handsome. He had blond hair and green eyes. Daniel was in love with Nicole. They didn't have an official relationship but they were more than friends.

Nicole and Daniel knew each other since childhood.

They grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools. They were both very intelligent but stubborn so they fought a lot. Nicole was very impulsive and spoiled.

45

Daniel believed that he was the leader. Consequently, they argued about everything most of the time.

They both liked to solve mysteries and in their free time, they liked to travel to other countries. Daniel was dreaming about taking Nicole to United States of America to visit The Statue of Liberty.

Daniel preferred comfortable clothes, so he usually wore

jeans

and

a

jacket. He always had a

clean

shirt

underneath and was clean shaven.

He

usually bought clothes from Takko.

Nicole, on the other hand, liked tight dresses and high-heels. She was very sophisticated and she had a refined taste. Her favorite perfume was Passion.

***

46

CHAPTER 2

The two investigators were at the office, where they were fighting as always when, suddenly, the phone rang.

There was a woman’s voice was on the phone. She cried frantically: “Help! My friend died! Help me!”

“Ok, calm down! What is your name? And what happened?”

The woman paused. Then, a sigh was heard before she started talking.

“My name is Jennifer Lope. I wanted to see Laura, my best friend, so I went to her house earlier today. When I entered Laura’s room, I couldn’t find her. Then I started calling for her… I was so terrified. I thought I saw something in the wardrobe so I got closer to take a better look. And there she was, dead… with a knife stabbed into her heart. (She starts

crying).

I

was

so 47

terrified, my knees felt soft and I fell on the floor… and… and …

there was Laura’s mother, Victoria, under the bed…

beheaded…”

***

“You did the best calling us! Can you tell us the address of Victoria’s house?”

“Of course! Elm’s Street, Number 13.”

“We’ll arrive in a few minutes!”

“Thank you so much!”

***

48

CHAPTER 3

When the investigator arrived ed at the address, they saw a big old house which had small windows and a huge gate.

They inspected the bodies and found a strand of hair on the floor and a black glove behind the door in the garbage.

Nicole told Jennifer: “Jennifer, I’m sorry for what happened… ppened… It seems that you are the only witness. We finished investigating the house. We need you to come with us at the office. You need to give a statement.” ***

49

CHAPTER 4

When they arrived at the office, Daniel asked her: “So, Jennifer, who do you think the suspect could be?”

“I don’t know… it might have been I that neighbor. His name is Jack and he lives next door. He always hated Victoria because he knew that she was rich and he wanted to steal her fortune.

Or… it could be Laura’s cousins, Stephan and Edward… Yes, they might be the killers! They were big drunkards and gamblers and they needed money to pay off their debts.”

“Thanks. You are free to go now, but make sure you won’t leave town.”

“Why? Am I a suspect?”

“No, not yet. We need to do some more research.”

“Daniel, we have to send the hair and the glove to the laboratory”, said Nicole while studying the glove with great curiosity. ***

50

CHAPTER 5

The lab results showed that the blond hair had Stephan’s DNA and the black glove had Edward’s prints all over, which meant the siblings were the killers.

The investigators called Jennifer and told her that they had discovered the killers.

“Do you know where the siblings live?” asked Nicole.

“Oh! I think I know! I was with Laura at their place one time”, answered Jennifer.

“Ok,

let’s

go

then!”

They arrived at the

brothers’

house with the police. They broke the door and started searching the house.

They found the brothers hiding in the attic in a secret room.

When the detectives opened the door of the room, the brothers jumped out of the window, into the lake behind the house. Everybody ran there but it was too late: the brothers didn’t know how to swim, so they drowned.

51

CHAPTER 6

Then they went back into the secret room and searched it carefully. Finally, they found Victoria’s fortune hidden in a huge oak chest: there was a lot of money, gold, valuable jewelries and antiques. And that was the sure proof that the evil siblings were the ones who stole the money.

Since Laura and Victoria were dead, the judge ruled that the fortune be divided equally among the rest of the relatives. Most of the fortune was to be given to John, the oldest family member who was suffering from cancer and whose treatment almost ruined his wife and kids.

And of course a part of money was given to the young investigators, Nicole and Daniel for their job well. *** 52

There was no other unfortunate incident in Victoria’s family. Jennifer got over Laura’s death with great difficulty but in the end everything was ok.

*** Nicole and Daniel got married a year later.

THE END By: Beatrix Osvath Dan Pop Miruna Negrea Laura Kovacs Alex Cojoc Adriana Fodor

53

Disclaimer This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Detective Stories Copyright © Ms. Sandru’s class 2013 Limited Edition 54

CONTENTS

THE HEIST

3

KILLING LOVE

13

MIAMI VICE

20

LEBRON DYKES

31

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!

35

THE EVIL SIBLINGS

45

55

Special THANKS to Anda, Andrada, Bogdan Blaga, Č˜erban, Sabin Pop, and Dan Pop for giving a helping hand with the typing typing.

Thank you f or reading!

56

This book is a collection of detective tive stories written in groups at the beginning off th the school year 2013/2014 by 8th grade studen dents from ‘Tudor Vladimirescu’ Secondary School hool in Tg.Mures, Romania. There was a lot off ha hard work from the part of the students but itt wa was worth the effort: the result has just surpas rpassed my expectations.

G. San Sandru, Teacher er o of English