It Started with Four Calls, Eight People, One Killer, and Ended with One Death

Trick-Or-Treat

By Connor Shepherd

Chapter 1- The Calls

It started with four calls, eight people, one killer, and ended with one death. The museum owner, Zach, was first to receive a phone call. “Can you bring some bones to the WesternMansion?” Then the decorator, Phil. “Can you decorate the WesternMansion?” Next was the Chick-Fil-A owner, Rascall. “Can you bring your talents to the WesternMansion?” Finally were the party planners, Andre, Rein, Griffy, and Nica. “I need your party planning skills. Do you mind coming to the WesternMansion?”

All the answers were the same… yes.

Chapter 2- The Meet

“I am so glad you all came,” said Lucardio the one who had gathered everyone. “Make your self at home.” The WesternMansion was huge and luxurious. It looked like anyone’s dream house. The size was at least two times the size of anyone’s back yard. The glass was all different colors. There were even two giant pumpkins by the fireplace. The four party planners sat down with Lucardio to talk about the party. “So, what is this all about?” asked Rascall. “Oh I want to have a birthday party for my little girl Katrena,” replied Lucardio. As Nica, Rein, Griffy, and Andre discussed the party with Lucardio, Phil started to get out all the decorations. “How did those four get into the party planning business? They are a little young,” thought Zach as he got out the bones. Of course they were only tiny like fish bones. “Where do you want me to put these on display?” he asked. “Oh in those cases over there,” replied Lucardio. Zach was shocked at how well Lucardio had planned the party. “The man must be very smart,” he thought to himself. As Zach started to shut the case displays it started to get dark. At that very moment a strong wind shut the doors.

Chapter 3- No Escape

Lucardio tried to turn the knob but it wouldn’t budge. “You have the keys, right?” asked always confident Nica. “No as a matter of fact Mr. Western never gave me the keys,” said Lucardio. Mr. Western sold the mansion to Lucardio. He said it cost 5 million dollars.

“You can spend the night here,” said Lucardio. “Try to call the police.” Everyone tried to dial 911. “There’s no internet!” shouted Rascall. “It won’t work for me either,” said Zach. “Are you sure?” said Nica. Andre could see the confidence draining from her face. She checked her phone. “You’re right. We’re doomed!” Andredecided not to waste his time checking for internet. He trusted Nica. “The party is cancelled,” announced Lucardio.Andre looked over and saw Rein holding back tears. He wasn’t crying because he was scared, he was crying because he was going to miss out on all the candy. After all tonight was Halloween.

Chapter 4- The Scream of Murder

Andre, Nica, Griffy, and Rein headed up to their room. They were sharing a room because there weren’t enough bedrooms for everyone.By the time they got up to theirroom Rein was bursting out tears. “All I wanted to do was fill my stomach with candy!” he sobbed. Rein was obsessed with food. He couldn’t stop eating. Anyone with eyes could see he ate too much. He was a little on the chubby side. He weighed about 130 pounds while Andre was only 110. Rein was always lazy and never exercises.

“You’re too old for Trick-Or-Treating,” said Nica. She thought Trick-Or-Treating was for little kids, but nobody at school agreed with her. “You’ll get over it in the morning,” she said.

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“When does that kid think of something other than chicken?” murmured Phil. He could hear the screeching of Rein. The walls were very thin and their rooms were right next to each others so he could hear their every move. He looked at his watch. It read 12:30 a.m.Everyone had been panicking for 3 hours. After a while the screeching stopped and all was quiet. “Everyone must be asleep,” he thought. Phil crawled in bed. Then he thought about the spot he was decorating and didn’t finish. Even though the party was cancelled he still itched to decorate. He had a passion for it. After a long while he decided it wouldn’t hurt to decorate the place. He got up and headed for the fireplace.

************

“There,” said Phil as he tied the last ribbon on the nail. He sat down in the chair admiring his work. It was relaxing. The only light was coming from the fire. At that moment he heard a clang like the sound of a knife being dropped on the floor. Phil’s heart jumped. He looked around, nothing. He calmed down thinking it was just his imagination. He shut his eyes. As he opened them all he saw was a knife coming at his heart.

************

Nica shot up out of bed looking around. “Andre!” she hissed. “Are you serious?” She had rolled over and laid her hand in an ice cold glass of water. She knew Andre had set it there. “How did you know it was me?” he asked. “I don’t know. I just think that because of the confetti cannon that was in my birthday present and the whoopee cushion I sat on in the cafeteria gives me a pretty good idea who did it!” she replied. “Wait, did you hear that scream?” Andre nodded. He also could hear a faint HELP! “Let’s go check it out,” said Nica.

Chapter 5- The Body Found

Everybody else must have heard the scream too because everybody was out by the fire place. They were all staring at the dead body of Phil. But to the right there was a note hung up by a knife with blood dripping down it. It read:

There is a killer upon you all. There will be more deaths unless you can find the killer. Your dear friend Phil was first to die. He is probably lonely up there, but all of you will join him soon. I know what you’re thinking, who is the killer and why am I writing this and letting you know there’s a murderer?You know me by a fake name and you will soon find out who I am but you won’t have the chance to tell any one.

Sincerely, Doboone Scarth.

“Who the heck is Doboone Scarth!” bellowed Rascall, but instead of a reply everyone just stared at him. Everybody knew he had knives that matched the one that hung up the note. “I didn’t do it!” he shouted. “Don’t just stand there!” shouted Lucardio. “We’ve got us some research to do!” Everybody ran up to their rooms except Zach. He kneeled beside the lifeless body of Phil. “Good bye old friend,” he whispered. Then quietly he headed up to his room.

Chapter 6- The Handwriting Hoax

It was the day after the murder and Andre was doing research with Nica, Griffy, and Rein. “Search for Doboone Scarth,” suggested Griffy. He was the smartest in the group. “We don’t have internet,” said Andre. “I got it!” said Griffy. “Let’s have a writing survey because the writing on the note was different. We could have everyone copy a sentence on a piece of paper and see if any of the handwriting styles match the note.” “Good idea,” commented Rein. “Let’s gather everyone in the library.”

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Rascall had just given his sheet to Andre. “What are the brats getting at?” he murmured as he sat down. He watched as Lucardio turned his in. It was like school but instead the kids were the teachers. He felt bad for Phil. He should have treated him better. He wondered what Lucardio had done with the body. He said he would take it but nobody knew where. His eyes followed Zach as he got up to turn in his paper. He believed Zach was the criminal. He had done no research but it was a guess. As he looked closer at Zach he saw that Zach was watching him. In fact everybody was watching him. It was true that he had knives that matched the one used to kill Phil, but he also had one knife missing. The killer must also be a burglar. His thought was interrupted when Andre spoke up.” The killer is…” he announced. “Wait a minute, none of the handwritings match the note.” So that was it. Rascall had to admit that was pretty smart. “Somebody must have two handwriting styles,” said Andre, butwho had two handwriting styles?

Chapter 7- The Keys

“How are we going to do this?” asked Griffy. “We can’t do anything,” replied Andre. “We can just hit them with facts until they run out of lies,” said Rein. “They will never cough it up,” said Nica. “I’m going to sit down by the fireplace,” sighed Andre. “Too much stress.” As he walked out he saw Lucardio locking the trophy room. He put the keys in his pocket but they fell through a hole. Lucardio didn’t notice. Andre reached down to pick up the keys. “I could use these keys to unlock the bedroom doors and search for clues,” he thought to himself. It had all the keys to every room in the mansion including bedrooms. Andre smiled.

He paced down the hallway. First was Rascall’s room. He was his main suspect. He unlocked the door and turned the knob. He opened the door and saw a king sized bed. It was a small room. There was a closet door,he opened it and saw clothes two times his size. He dug through the clothes until he found a tape. He grabbed it and put all the clothes back neatly. He didn’t want to leave any trace. He walked out and shut the door behind him.

Second was Zach. He found the key and unlocked the door. The room was a smidge bigger than Rascall’s. He looked in the closet. He dug through the clothes and found nothing. He checked under the bed and found an old newspaper. Museum opening was what it read. Andre took it. He headed down the hallway to Lucardio’s room. He finally found the right key and put it in the keyhole. He twisted the key but wouldn’t budge. He took out the key and found out it was made of wax. In other words the key was a fake.

Chapter 8- Andre’s Investigation

Andre paced to his room anxious to share the news with his friends. “Hey guys you won’t believe what I found,” he said. Andre explained what had happened. His friend’s jaws dropped. “For real?” asked Nica. “Yep,” replied Andre.”We’ve got us some research to do.”

First was the video tape. It showed a light blue sky with few clouds. There was a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in the middle. It had banners all over it. “This is the grand opening of the Charles Ville Chick-Fil-A,” a voice said. Andre noticed it was Rascall’s voice. “I give a special thanks to Phil, the decorator,” the voice said. The camera focused on Phil. He looked about 27. He had a smile on his face and he was all dressed up. At that very moment all the banners fell down. “Are you kidding me!” shouted the voice. “Sorry,” said Phil. “Sorry!? Sorry doesn’t cut it! You’re fired! Scram!” shouted the angry voice. Phil ran to his car and took off. The crowed was gasping and children were crying. One mother left with her child because of the shouting. “Anybody want some chicken?” asked the voice now a lot softer. Everybody went home. Then, the video ended. “Okay,” said Griffy. “I think we know are main suspect.” “Right,” said Andre. “it could be Rascall because he and Phil don’t seem to have a good past together.”

“Next we read the newspaper,” said Andre The newspaper read:

ArtifactMuseum opening! Owner, Zach Burningham fired employeefordestroying Tyrannosaurus skeleton. Decorator Phil hung up a sign for the exhibit. The sign was not hung up securely and fell on the skeleton, it collapsed. Zach fired Phil later on in the day. Zach said he should not have been so harsh with Phil.

“Thatwas the shortest article ever,” said Griffy. “So, where is the thing you found in Lucardio’s room?” “Oh I forgot to tell you. Lucardio’s room key was a fake.” said Andre. “It was what!” shouted Nica. “Sorry,” said Andre. “Okay guys,” said Griffy. “Let’s make a list of our top suspects. Okay we’ve got Rascall and Zach.” Don’t forget Lucardio,” added Rein. “So we got three suspects and they’re all of the adults here which are all we can suspect,” said Rein sadly. “This mystery is like a circle, it leads us back to the beginning. We can’t suspect each other, were friends.” Andre patted Rein on the back. “We can get through this guys,” he said. “I’ll just search their rooms again.” Andre went to go grab the keys, but instead of finding keys he found a note.

Chapter 9- It’s All Over

The note read:

Ah, ah, ah, no cheating. I see your dear friend Lucardio has dropped his keys. What a silly man. For cheating one of you will die. Let me guess, you have two questions. Who will die and how did this note here? I have not decided who will die yet and you will figure out how this note got here. Ta ta.

Sincerely, Doboone Scarth

“Oh my gosh!” screamed Nica “I don’t want to die!” Andre noticed that Rein and Griffy were terrified too. ‘How d-did th-that note get th-there?” stammered Griffy. Andre looked up. There was a hole in the ceiling. “The killer must have traveled through the air vent” he said. “C’mon guys” said Andre. “We’ve got to find the killer before one of us dies.” “We can’t,” said Nica. “It’s impossible.” “I’ll prepare for my funeral,” said Rein. “Don’t give up guys,” said Andre. “Sorry Andre,” said Griffy. “It’s over.” He shut the door. Andre sadly walked over to his bed, he turned on his phone. He started to type a text. It read:

Sorry mom, sorry dad, sorry everyone. I have led myself to a trap. By the time you come to get me I will probably already be dead. Once again, sorry.

He hit send even though he knew it wouldn’t go through because the internet was down. Right after he hit send it started loading. He knew what was coming, but right at that moment a message appeared:

Message Sent

Chapter 10- 4G

Once Andre realized he could send messages, he had to inform his parents.

Hi mom! Can you come and get me? I’m at the place where I was supposed to plan a party. Love ya! 

Andre hit send He was able to send messages because he downloaded 4G last month. The words showed up. It read:

Message Sent

“Oh darn it,” he thought. “My family is at a party with no wi-fi. They’ll never get the message.” Andre tried to dial 991 but his parents blocked that number. They were afraid he would do prank calls and get himself in trouble. So there was absolutely nothing he could do, but he thought of something. He got on the internet and searched for Doboone Scarth. A picture showed up. It looked exactly like Lucardio! Under the picture was a sentence. “Has two hand writing styles” was all it said. To prove it was Lucardio He searched for Lucardio Gregson. When it was loading it read:

No search results.

Chapter 11- Mr. Western, Dead or Alive?

Andre paced down the hallway hoping to find the keys Doboone Scarth had stolen. Finally, he found them but now there was one extra key then before. “Doboone Scarth must have dropped his keys. “What a silly man,” he murmured. He paced down the hallway to Lucardio’s room. Andre hoped it worked. He found the key and put it in the keyhole, he twisted it. He took the key out and turned the knob, he pushed the door, it opened. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He looked around. He searched every nook and cranny and found no evidence. He looked in the closet and found nothing. He checked under the bed. Do you know what he found? Absolutely nothing! All hope was lost. Andre was so close. Maybe there was something wrong with the internet. Maybe it was a coincidence that Doboone Scarth looked like Lucardio and had two handwriting styles. He walked toward the back of the room, he looked to his left. There was a closet door with a lock on it. He got out the keys. He tried and he tried. He kept trying until there was one key left. He prayed as he put the key in the keyhole. He twisted it, suddenly there was pressure on the door. Andre let go of the door, as soon as he did twoobjects fell out. Andre stared in awe at them. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was staring at the dead body of Mr. Western and Phil.

Chapter 12- The Letters

That sealed the deal. Andre knew the killer was Lucardio but he wouldn’t go tell him he was the murder head on. He couldn’t risk being killed because he wanted to live and he was the only one who knew who the murder was. Andre got to his room door and opened it. Rein, Nica, and Griffy weren’t there. He started making letters. Each letter said: