"Jake? What are you doing here?"

Jake jumped up from the swivel chair he was sitting on, and looked around him. "I was . . . um, trying to figure out who murdered Sammy. What do you think?" His eyes wandered constantly, not quite meeting Amy's gaze.

Amy frowned. "Are you sure? You look really guilty!" From beside her, Jonah nodded.

Jake shook his head, his dark hair flopping craziliy. "No! I'm not! I think I know who did it."

Amy arched her eyebrows. "Really? Why? What makes you think that?"

Jake cocked his head towards the door. "I'll show you. It just calls for a quick trip to Sinead's room.
He's trying to get us away from the computer. Thought Amy, but she kept quiet, and said, "Sorry, but I think we'll stay here. You stole Jonah's card, and planted a fake one, and we had to crawl through a couple tunnels to get here. I think we need to check something out first."

Jake's face fell. "There's secret tunnels?"

Jonah nodded. "Of course. The rich have luxuries that you, being a peasent, wouldn't know about."

Jake glared at Jonah with eyes of steel. "You don't have to sound like the Cobra."

Amy frowned. "Right now, that doesn't matter. Jake," Her voice was strong commanding, "Go sit in that chair. I've got a couple questions to ask you."

Jake narrowed his eyes. "So that's how we're playing?" He growled. In one swift motion, he spun towards the wall and shut the lights off.

Amy moved towards Jonah, grasping his arms tightly in her own. She could hear Jake breathing in the still darkness, and it was terrifying. Sheer horror ran down her body, and her heart beat a stacatto rhythm that would have made an musician proud.

And then she felt the knife against her throat.

"Get down on your knees." Jake commanded, his breath hot on her ear.

Amy knelt down, the coldness of the floor seeping through her jeans. She felt Jonah kneel down next to her, and then rough hands grasped her wrists, trying them together with some type of cord.

Amy gritted her mouth, determined not to open it, in case Jake tried to shove something in it. In a few seconds she felt Jake's hand running over her face, looking for her mouth in the blackness.

She was determined to keep her mouth shut. But Jake was stronger. He pried her mouth open and stuffed a gag in. Amy bit down hard, trying to bite his fingers, but she couldn't bite anything through the bulky dry cloth. She was so thirsty. The cloth instantly dried up any moisture her mouth produced, and her tongue felt swollen and heavy. She began working her hands, trying to free them of the tight cloths that bound them. The fabric bit into her skin, and it hurt when she pulled at it, trying to loosen it.

She bumped Jonah, and he muttered something that was stopped by the gag in his mouth.

Suddenly Amy had an idea. Moving close to Jonah, she reached with one hand towards his, feeling for the knot that held them together. Maybe she could . . . .
Jonah seemed to get the idea, and stretched his hands closer to hers. After a few anxious minutes, Amy felt the knot slip.

Jonah was free!

She heard him reach up and grab the gag out of his mouth, and then he untied her. With relief, Amy pulled the dry cloth out her mouth and relished the feeling of saliva pooling near her molars.

"Where's the light switch?" She asked.

"Over this way, I think." Jonah mumbled, fumbling around in the dark. Amy stood silently in the dark, hugging herself.

After a few long moments, the lights switched back on, and Jonah was standing by the light switch. Amy ran towards him and wrapped him a hug before she could stop herself.

He was so solid, so warm, so comforting. Jonah hugged her back, and murmured, "I thought we were gonna die. When he put that knife on my neck . . ."

Amy looked up into his eyes, and nodded. "I know."

Then she let her arms fall. "I need to figure this out. I have enough evidence to think that Jake did it, but I need to be sure."

Jonah nodded. "He was acting pretty suspicious, wasn't he?"

Amy nodded. "Let's go." She walked towards the screens, and shook the mouse to get the computer booted up. She looked up at Jonah, and motioned for him to type in the passcode. Jonah leaned over and typed it in.

After it unlocked, Amy bit her lip. "Ok. Get this thing started. We need to look at the security videos of the time the murder happened." Then she stopped, a thought occurring to her. "Who noticed Sammy was dead?"

Jonah frowned. His gaze fell to the floor. "I don't know, I think it was Hamilton, but, Nellie screamed, so I don't know."

Suddenly Jake's accusation about Hamilton popped into Amy's mind. She told Jonah what Jake had said, but he shook his head. "It wasn't Hamilton. He was with me all night. We were watching Sinead. He went to get a drink, and then Nellie screamed. There was no way he could have gone and gotten a sword, and stab Sammy that quickly."

Amy nodded. "Ok. I believe you. Let's look at these videos."

Jonah bit his lip, and scrolled through. "Should we start at eleven-thirty?" At Amy's nod of consent, he pushed play.

They watched silently. It looked like typical Cahill party with all of its drama. Sinead yelling at Jonah. Natalie smacking Dan. Ian standing on the sidelines, looking bored.

Jake talking to Sammy. Nellie talking to Sammy. Jake talking to Sammy and -

Amy gasped. "Jonah! I was right!"

Haha!

Sorry, next chappie will be more . . . interesting. I promise.

This sucks. *cries* I can't believe I even attempted this. I suck at writing mysteries, so for those of you who are reading this, I apologize.

I'm really sorry, Scrittore, for being such a poor entry in this contest.

Bye!