Foreword: This chapter describes the trick, the second killer, and the ultimate evidence. You might be surprised to read what the rust that led from the bed to the door and then back inside actually stood for. The trick itself is simple, but it's hard to think of because of the human psychology. Also, there will be two more chapters before this story concludes. Now that you know who the killers are, there is only one mystery left: why they committed two murders. Find out the tragic reason behind the killers' motive in the next chapter. And don't forget to review, please!

Chapter 17

Disclosure 2: Hide and Seek

The detective had a broad grin on his face as he stood in front of the suspects.

Frank first said, "I solved the entire mystery concerning how the first murder was done. But first, let's go upstairs to the scene of the first crime. It'll be easier to explain if we reenact what we did that night." He then led the group to the hallway right before Room 13. When he got there, Frank turned around and faced everyone.

"Now, we saw that the window closest to this room was shattered, and we then noticed that the footprints led from the window into Room 13. So Edna went downstairs to get the key, since the key was returned earlier by someone. When she came back she immediately opened the door, and Frank searched the room. However, nobody was in there, so he got out. When he did so, Derek noticed that the footprints led to the window that was right around the corner. Everybody went there. Then, someone remembered that Nancy wasn't in the group." Frank looked at Nancy.

"Of course, Norma planned everything so Nancy would get all the blame. She first made her sleep by sending sleeping gas into the room through a tube which she slid through the small space beneath the door. When she was sure Nancy was asleep, Norma then went to June's room and killed her. The second murder happened just like that. The killer knocked on Nancy's door to make her come out and then knocked her out." Frank opened the door.

"And as we went to Nancy's room to wake her up, we noticed that the door was locked as well. Edna then went to retrieve the master key and opened the door using it. Finding Nancy there, we went back to Room 13 and found June's body."

Frank paused the narration. "Am I correct so far?" he asked. Everyone nodded.

"But how do you explain the reason June appeared in the room?" asked Norma. "If we were to trust your statement that nobody was inside, then how did the killer enter the room after door was locked?"

The detective grinned. "It was unnecessary," he replied. "The murderer didn't have to walk through walls; she was hiding in the room all along. In other words, she hid in the room when I was searching it."

Derek shouted, "Th-that's impossible! How could she have stayed unnoticed? I thought you searched the place thoroughly. There was no way a person could hide in a room without being noticed. You said that you searched behind the doors, under the bed, and even in the bathroom. If she were the killer, then how did she stay unnoticed?"

Frank grinned. "I can explain the trick, but first I must get ready. Could you please go downstairs until I tell you to come up? In order to do this magic trick, I must first prepare for it."

While murmuring complaints, the suspects and the rest of the detectives went downstairs. In less than a minute, Frank called them to come back. When they went upstairs again, he was standing in front of the room with a broad grin on his face. He said to them, "Okay, I'm ready. Now, I'll go into the room and stay hidden the entire time. Go ahead and search, but I'm sure it will be hard for you to find me."

Then, closing the door, the detective then called them to open it a few seconds later. When they opened the door, the detectives and the others were surprised to see that Frank was gone.

Nancy searched behind the door and in the bathroom, but Frank was nowhere to be seen. Ned checked the window, but it was locked from inside.

"He…he disappeared!" muttered Callie.

"No, I didn't," came Frank's voice. Everyone looked around and finally stared at the place where his voice was coming from—the bed.

The detective then crawled out of the bed, and stood up looking at everyone's astounded expressions.

"How did you get in there?" asked Edna, surprised. Frank grinned.

"It's a simple trick. When everybody came, the killer simply hid the victim's body in the storage room and hid herself in the bed. However, this bed isn't what you think." Frank took the end of the mattress and easily lifted it up. To their surprise, the guests found that the mattress wasn't a mattress at all. It was the cardboard box in which the mattress was put and carried.

"Now do you understand the trick?" asked Frank. "I searched under the bed but found nothing, but I didn't even bother to search literally in the bed because I knew that nobody could hide there. Simply put, the killer used human psychology to make herself invisible!"

Everybody now nodded as they understood how simple the trick was. Norma alone stood with a look of sheer horror on her face.

Nancy still had questions. "But Frank, how did Norma put the real mattress back in here?"

"It's simple. Norma knew that we'll notice that you weren't with us, Nancy. When we did notice that you were gone, we went to your room, and Edna went downstairs to get the master key. While everybody was gone, the killer came out of the cardboard box and pushed the entire bed out of the room. This was possible because the bed had rollers, and it could even take a woman to do this simple trick. Anyway, after the killer rolled the bed into the storage room, she put the real mattress back onto the bed frame and rolled the bed back inside. That was why the rust was leading from the room to the storage room and then back inside Room 13. The killer then needed to get out and join the crowd."

"Wow," murmured Nancy. "That's a really unique trick! So that was how the killer made the crime look impossible when it was actually quite possible!"

Norma then grinned. "Oh, come on, you guys!" she said with a smile. "You can't possibly say that I was the one who used that trick. Even Henri over there could have done it!" she then said, staring at Henri. "It's also impossible for me to kill somebody when I was in the dining room during the second murder. Imagine that! Nobody could have done such a thing because everybody but Nancy had at least one solid alibi."

"That's true," said Ned. "I remember seeing her at breakfast. How do you explain the second murder?"

Callie said, "I can explain that." She then looked at the remaining guests. "The reason she had a solid alibi for the second murder was because she had an accomplice to do the work for her."

"An accomplice!" Everybody was surprised.

"You mean, there is one more killer in this room?" asked Edna.

Callie nodded. "And according to what I saw, Edna, Xavier, and Amy didn't show up for breakfast during the second killing. That narrowed the list of suspects. But that wasn't the only thing.

"I noticed something very peculiar as we searched the scene of the second murder. We found that there was a trace of blood on Gary's fingertips. By looking at the blood, we found that it was quite new. But we didn't find a single scratch on the victim himself. That can only mean one thing."

"So that means…" started Ned.

"Yes. The victim scratched the killer when he was attacked. Also, the victim had blood on his left hand. That also indicates that the killer was scratched on his right arm."

"What!" murmured Amy. "But the only person who has a wound on his or her right arm is…"

The eyes of the guests all turned toward one person in the crowd.

"That's right," Callie said with a grin. "The Second Magician is you, Derek Ogden!"

Derek showed a surprised expression on his face. He then noticed his bandaged right arm and backed away immediately.

"Me…? Do you think that I'm the killer?" he asked with an astounded tone. "That can't be possible! You mentioned the fact that Edna, Xavier, and Amy were the only people who didn't show up for breakfast! I was in the kitchen the entire time!"

Callie nodded. "I remember seeing you get in and out of the kitchen. But do you know what else is in the kitchen?"

Edna gasped. "That's right! The secret passageway!"

"Correct," said Callie. She turned to Derek. "You used the passageway to get upstairs and created two perfect alibis for yourself! You thought that having two alibis would get your name taken off the list of suspects, but I didn't fall for that trick. A person with the tightest alibi can still be a murderer."

Derek still didn't budge.

"And don't deny it, Derek," said Callie. "When the police do a test on the blood found on the fingers of the victim, they'd notice that your blood is a perfect match. You won't get away with this crime, and neither will your accomplice!"

Norma then shouted, "This is pathetic! Sure, he might have left evidence behind, but there's no evidence that proves that I'm a killer! The evidence that you said earlier was only circumstantial evidence. It's hardly solid enough to put me behind bars."

Frank knew that she was right; having blood on her sweater didn't mean that she was the killer. Callie bit her lip and stayed quiet. Frank then grinned as he remembered something that he found. "If you want an evidence, then I've got one for you," he said. Callie immediately turned to Frank with a surprised expression.

Frank went upstairs and came back down a few seconds later. He was holding the box which the killer used for the first murder. He then turned it upside down. A strand of hair fell from inside the box. Norma looked at it with astonishment.

"The hair in this box will prove that someone had been crawling inside it. The DNA of this hair will surely match yours, Norma. And I'm sure you won't be able to say anything to get yourself out of this marsh. Admit it—there's no such thing as a perfect crime."

Even though they were surprised at the evidence, the two still didn't budge. Nancy knew that it was still not enough to make the two confess. "I'm not sure why you two committed two murders, but I'm sure the motive has to do with your parents."

Norma and Derek looked at Nancy with shock.

"Parents?" asked Ned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that they are siblings, Ned. Brother and sister."

Postscript: The fact that Derek and Norma were siblings might have surprised some of you. I'm sure most of you know what the motive might be, but you might be surprised at other mysteries surrounding the characters who weren't killers, like Amy and Henri. Why did they seem so strange when they weren't even connected to the murders? Find out in the next two chapters of this mystery! Again, please review after reading this chapter; I'd like to hear from you!