Disclaimer: I'll tell ya when I own the rights to HM... heh heh my current bid is $5.00 compared to some other person's $100,000,000... I just don't have that kind of money to spend just to get rid of tedious disclaimers!
Author's Note: It took awhile, but I'm back with another story! I'm actually taking a big risk with it because I'm not really a mystery writer... and I've never written a mystery story, so this is my first time! Oh yeah, when I refer to 'The Masters' (as in what a character is watching on TV) it's a golf tournament... in fact, the most important golf tournament! Anyway, on to the story! Oh yeah, one more thing, it's in Ann's POV. Now, on to the story!
Killer Cliche
Day One
(Friday afternoon)
"Ann! Did you pack your bag?" my father asked me from behind my bedroom door. "We're leaving in just a few hours!"
"Uh... I'm doing it right now!" I answered him, trying to keep my voice even. Truth be told, I hadn't even gotten the suitcase from out of my closet. It wasn't like I wasn't busy though, I was watching The Masters, and my favourite player (Mike Weir) was totally kicking serious ass! I couldn't just stop watching... it'd be wrong to!
Er, you're probably wondering why I need to pack my bag. No, I'm not moving, but we're going on a trip, to Toronto, Canada. Yech. Normally I like to go to new places, but why did they have to make it on the Masters weekend? So instead exploring and visiting places, I'm going to be cooped up in our hotel room, watching television. It might be okay though, because a whole bunch of us are going, my family, Maria's family, Elli, Popuri, Karen, Rick, Jack, Kai, Cliff, Harris, Jeff, Duke and the Pastor. But still, why couldn't they of scheduled it next week instead?
I waited for the commercials when I grabbed my suitcase and hurled it onto my bed, opened it up, grabbed some clothes and tossed them in. I managed to toss in some other necessities before the commercials ended. There, I was done! All with enough time to fit about two more hours of watching golf!
(Saturday morning)
"I'm sorry sir, but all we have is one single bedroom left." The woman who ran the inn said patiently.
Jack, Kai and Cliff looked at each other simultaneously. "But we can't all share one bed!" Kai squealed.
"I'm sorry, but that's all we have left."
"But... we don't want that room!"
Rick stomped his foot. "C'mon! The rest of us have already found our rooms and dumped our stuff there! If you don't hurry up, we're just going to leave without you!" Our group was to be at Eaton's Centre at 10:00am. It was 10:15, and we were still stuck at the inn we were staying in.
"Okay!" Cliff growled, grabbing the key. "But you're going to pay for this!" The three men grabbed their bags and trudged to their rooms. The rest of us, still waiting at the lobby and feeling rather impatient, took a seat on some nearby sofas.
"What's the big deal anyway?" Elli said as she took a seat beside me. "One of them can sleep on the couch while the other two share the bed."
"They're guys," I responded. "They never want to share a bed with anyone unless they're sleeping with them."
"Men," Karen scoffed. "Who needs them?"
"Well, to maintain a human population," Maria quipped quietly.
Popuri giggled. "Well, cute guys are nice to have."
Jack, Cliff and Kai returned shortly, all three with pale expressions.
"What's wrong?" Karen said, smirking.
Jack swallowed hard. "There's no couch."
"Wow, it's so pretty," I gushed when we entered the Eaton's Centre. In my lifetime, I've been to big malls, but nothing ever like this. Four floors, with an airy and bright glass roof, and offices on the sides. The ultimate shopping experience, if you ask me (A/N: It's better in person, so if you get the chance you should go there! Hee hee, maybe you'll even bump into moi!)
"C'mon, don't just stand there, let's go!" Karen squealed, grabbing my arm and running off in a giddy heap.
Our group went on a total spending rampage, even though things were quite expensive (well, expensive to us because the exchange rate on our currency is... not very much!). After that, we went for a late lunch at the foodcourt on the first level. When we had sat down with our food, that's when we all realized something...
"Hey, where are Jack and Cliff?" Jeff pointed out.
We all gasped. None of us noticed that they were gone! And come to think of it, I don't really remember seeing them specifically during our tour of the mall.
"Oh dear," Maria's mother murmured. "I hope they're all right."
"They should be smart enough to take a cab back to our inn," my father said, biting into his Harvey's burger.
I tried not to think too much about it. I decided to focus my energy on eating my thick submarine sandwich. Boy, walking and shopping really gives you an appetite!
Our group made it back to the inn, our hands hurting from the bags we were carrying. I was just about to rush up to our room and flick on the television when one of the members of housecleaning came up to us, a look of remorse on her face.
"Oh my God," Rick said. "Did my mango-papaya conditioner explode in my pack?"
She shook her head sadly. "No... it's something far much worse."
"Tell us sister," the pastor insisted.
"The body of Mrs. Beagle was found lifeless on the ground about an hour ago. The police have come in, and it was found that she was strangled."
We all gasped. I didn't know who Mrs. Beagle was, but if she thought she had to tell us, then there's got to be a reason to be sad.
"Who's Mrs. Beagle?" Harris asked.
"The owner of the inn. You spoke to her while checking in."
"Ah."
I couldn't believe it. A murder in the inn.
"We've questioned a few people who were in the building during the time of the... the misfortune," she continued. "Including two guests you two are staying with... Cliff and Jack I believe?"
Everyone nodded simultaneously, but a flicker of fear rose somewhere inside me. Jack and Cliff were in the group that didn't want that room. And if I may quote Cliff, I do recall him saying, "... You're gonna pay for this!" Oh my God, Jack and Cliff didn't kill Mrs. Beagle, did they? But then why were they here at the inn, while they were supposed to be at the Eaton's Centre with us? There has to be some sort of explanation. Cliff and Jack were not cold-hearted killers... they couldn't be.
"Oh my God," Maria whispered to me. "I bet Cliff killed Mrs. Beagle!"
"What? How could you say that?" I demanded.
"Cliff... he's an odd fellow. He doesn't look like he has a lot of morals. We don't really know his history either. And didn't he get stuck with a room he didn't like?"
"Cliff is not the killer!" I screamed unintentionally. Everyone turned to look at me, then went off to their rooms. I might of just aroused more suspicion, actually. But even inside me, I couldn't deny to myself that Cliff might have killed Mrs. Beagle.
(Saturday afternoon)
I was back in my hotel room, watching television (well, I was still watching the Masters!), feeling pretty sad. Jeff Maggert who out of nowhere started throwing up red numbers in a hurry. GRR! Sure, he hadn't taken over the lead... yet, but he was closing in on the gap that Mike (Weir) had made for a comfortable lead. Oh yeah, the murder... that was sad too. It was, really. There was a killer on the loose, possibly in the very building we were staying in!
Jeff (Maggert) had just finished his last hole and Mike was still out there when all of a sudden, the screen went from lush greens to black and white static.
"Ah!" I shrieked, jumping from my seat. It scared me!
Gray appeared from the other room. "What? What's wrong Ann?"
"The TV the TV!"
Gray picked up the remote and started to flip the channels. "Nothing."
"AHHH!" I shrieked again, jumping from my spot on the bed and galloping around the room. "The cable went out!"
"Calm down!" Gray commanded. "Why don't you go to the lobby and tell them?"
"THIS ISN'T FAIR THIS ISN'T FAIR!" I kept shrieking, jumping out the door and into the lobby. The same woman who told us about the murder looked up from the book she was flipping through when I approached. "THE CABLE WENT OUT!"
She furrowed her brow at me. "Are you sure?"
"YES YES!" I shrieked again. "FIX IT FIX IT NOW! I'M MISSING IMPORTANT PROGAMMING RIGHT NOW!"
"All right all right, I'll send a technician right away," she picked up the phone and began to dial. "Hello... Oh hi Robert! How are you doing? How's that new girlfriend of yours? Uh huh... uh huh... oh, really!"
"Excuse me!" I snapped, finally lowering my voice. "My cable went out!"
She rolled her eyes. "Okay listen, I've got a vag here who's cable went out in her room, and we need you to come over and fix it-"
"ASAP!" I inserted.
"Can you come? Uh huh... okay that's fine. Okay bye!" She hung up the phone. "He'll be here at nine o'clock."
"Nine o'clock?" I screamed, suddenly shouting again. "That's too late! Find someone else!"
"Robert is my brother! No one else will do it for free."
"I don't care! Find somebody else!"
"Sorry miss," she said rudely. "But you're just going to have to wait until nine, unless you're willing to hire a technician with your own money.
Insulted, I stomped back to my room, slamming the door.
"Oh, you're back," Gray said. "I guess it didn't go so well?"
"The woman at the front desk won't get it fixed until nine! I'm gonna miss the rest of the third round today!" I grabbed a nearby couch cushion and began to punch it fiercely. "And she called me a vag!"
"What's a vag?"
"I dunno, but I'm sure it was something mean! I hate that woman!" I tore a small hole in the cushion, which seemed to satisfy my anger. I tossed it aside. "I hope she dies too!"
Gray raised his eyebrows. "Well, I gotta go." He left the room swiftly. I suddenly still felt mad again, so I started to pull out the cotton stuffing from the cushion and dump it into the trash. Take that person-who-owns-the-inn-now!
(Saturday evening)
I was now back, watching the 11 o'clock news, trying to find out what happened in the Master's Tournament today (yes, the Robert fellow came over and fixed up my cable, yeesh). Was my favourite guy still leading? Hopefully YES, but there was a big knot in my stomach that said NO. Well, we'll just have to see won't we?
There was another knot in my stomach too; Gray. He left shortly after my... conversation with the lady downstairs. He hadn't returned, and it's be hours since he left. I didn't really want to leave my room, in fear of the... murderer? And Gray was a big boy, he could take care of himself. Still, I was worried. Hm... I'll check on him after sports... oh oh! Sport's on right now!... oh my gawd Mike's off the lead by two strokes! EW! Okay okay, now onto find my brother...
Slowly, I opened the door and looked from my left to my right. There wasn't anyone in the halls, so I made a dash for the room Jeff, Harris and Rick were staying in. I gave their door a quick rap, but there was no answer. Still feeling paranoid, I bolted down the stairs and into the lobby, where a large group of people were, gathering around a stretcher. The paramedics lifted the body up and placed it in a black body bag.
"Oh my God," I whispered quietly to myself. It was the woman who I had exchanged less than polite words with. Now she was... dead? Two murders in the same day? How... how could this happen?
All the guests watched in horror as the body was wheeled away to the ambulance. I made my way over to Elli. "What happened?"
She turned to me, her eyes tear-stained. "Oh Ann! She was killed! Another murder at this inn!"
The Pastor took a step away from the crowd. "Everyone, I think we should pray for their souls, and the family and friends that are devastated right now."
Suddenly, Gray appeared out of nowhere. "Hi Ann."
"GRAY!" I yelped. "Where the hell have you been!"
"Getting ice," he replied, holding up the ice bucket.
"For seven hours?"
"Oh, well, I went with Jack and Rick to explore the area around the inn."
"Uh huh." I wasn't sure if I believed him, but it's not like I had any proof that he was lying either.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Maria whisper to Popuri, "I think Gray did it, don't you?"
Popuri widened her eyes. "H-how? No, he couldn't have! That would not be something Gray could ever do! Gray is NOT a cold-blooded killer Maria!"
"Think about it," Maria persisted. "I mean, he's an odd character. He never speaks his mind. He's unpredictable. Maybe he's a killer."
I wanted to say something to defend my brother, but all I had were more facts to point the crime to him. But there was absolutely no way that my own brother... someone who shares my blood could not be a murderer! Could he? Why would he kill her, just because she pissed me off? That's not like Gray at all! Some vacation huh? It hasn't even been one day, and already there's been two deaths. This was NOT the kind of trip any of us had in mind.
Dun dun dun dun! Who are the killers? Well, tune in to the final concluding chapter to find out (yes, this fic is going to only be two chapters!). Please review! If you want to give me criticism, do it legitimately and not in a flame! But a review's a review! (PS: Can you tell that I like golf? Don't worry, I'm not an old man or anything like that, I'm just a sophomore girl in high school! Hee hee! PPS: A 'vag' is an acronym for 'very annoying guest'... just some lingo I made up!)