It All Started At Four Corners by Robi Crusoe (life changing books .TXT) 📕

            “Follow me, ladies.” he said. They walked down the maze of hallways, finally stopping in front of two gilded doors, one with a rose on the door, the other with a lily.

            “Ms. Stutter, your room is on the right.” Niles explained. “Ms. Carter, yours is on the left. Enjoy your stay, ladies.” As soon as he disappeared around the corner, the two girls proceeded to check out their new quarters.

            As Addison stepped into her room, she scanned her surroundings, checking anything that could conceal a hidden microphone, or a camera. She had grown up learning from Drake that you should always make sure that there is no chance of you being monitored secretly, even in your own house.

“If someone can watch your every move,” he had said. “Then that takes away your privacy, and any time you would have had to plan your next heist.”

Addison sighed. Even though he had abandoned her, and gotten her into this whole mess, she still missed Drake. She missed his long lectures about crime and robbery; his laughter that rang out into the night when she would tell him a joke. Addison pushed the wave of memories back.

“It’s better to leave the past in the past, and to tackle the present as it comes.” she whispered to herself.

Leaving her past behind her, Addison resumed her thorough examination of the room she supposedly was to stay in for the rest of her apprenticeship. The walls were painted an iridescent green, with arches of white here and there. Up on the ceiling, some artist had portrayed a swirl of vines, all coming together in the center, where a bright silver chandelier was hanging. Addison inspected the closet, and found a wide assortment of clothing, all strangely close to her size.

“This man must have really looked into me.” she said with a grimace. Still, despite the strangeness of it, she took out an army green jacket and placed it over her shoulders.

When Addison looked in the trunk at the foot of her four-poster bed, she found a large collection of odd items. There was a large notebook and pen, an old pocket watch, and many different sized magnifying glasses. Among these she found a very large one attached to a string. Cautiously, she slipped the cord over her head, and let the device rest against her hip.

“Perfect, this may come in handy someday.” she whispered. Thinking about it, she placed a smaller looking glass into the breast pocket of her coat, and then, closing the trunk, she walked out into the hallway, heading towards the dining room.

After having settled down to a warm supper of russet potatoes and smoked ham, Addison, Dari, and Detective Doyle began discussing what would happen in the days to come.

“Ms. Carter, the reason that I have called you here is because I have been monitoring you for some time now, and I feel that you have the skills to be a very qualified detective.” Detective Doyle explained. “All you need is a little bit of professional training.”

“I knew you were stalking me,” Addison thought, a hint of a smile crossing her otherwise expressionless face.

“So, for the first part of your training, you will learn all of the basic subjects from Mrs. Porter, the teacher I hired for you.” Connor continued. “She will teach you arithmetic, geometry, and of course, problem solving.” He paused when he caught a glimpse of Addison fingering her newly found magnifying glass.

“I see you were exploring your room.” he said cheerily. “This is very good, Ms. Carter, very good indeed!”

“Thank you.” replied Addison, blushing, and placing her looking glass back down at her side.

“Now, to continue on, the second part of your training-.” Detective Doyle began saying, but at that very moment, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, sir!” called Niles. It was a few minutes before the butler returned to the dining room, a stranger tagging along behind him.

“Sir, this woman’s name is Rita Whittington, and she wishes to speak with you.” Niles explained.

“Ah yes, Ms. Whittington,” Detective Doyle cried, standing up to shake the young lady’s hand. “It is a great honor to meet you.”

“It is an honor to meet you as well, Detective Doyle.” replied Rita. “But please, could we go into your study? I have a few matters that I wish to discuss with you in private.”

“As you command, Ms. Whittington.” said Connor with a nod. The two of them walked into the study, not returning until almost twenty minutes later.

“I guess I will see you tomorrow morning, Mr. Doyle.” Rita said as she walked out the door.

“I guess so.” called the detective. “Goodnight, Ms. Whittington!” After she left, Connor walked back into the dining room and sat down. Addison and Dari stared at him, silently pressuring him for details. When Connor saw what they were doing, he laughed.

“Fine, I’ll tell you everything.” he sighed. “Let’s just say this tale involves a hanging, supposed murder, and two very jealous suitors.”  Addison gasped.

“That sounds almost exactly like one of the case files I read at the prison!”

“You mean, stole from the prison.” added Dari. Addison gave her a pointed look, quickly quieting Dari’s tongue.

“You are both right.” replied Connor. “Don’t worry, Addison, I won’t report you for your past crimes.” Addison breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Doyle.” she said.

“You’re very welcome. Now then, let’s return to the case.” proposed Connor. “The date was October thirteenth, just about a week ago. Ms. Whittington walked into her house on Shillington Square, only to find a corpse hanging from the chandelier in her living room. The murdered man’s name was Fredrick Muldoon. Ms. Whittington told me that he had been one of three suitors that had been trying to win her hand in marriage for the past few months. She thinks that one of the remaining suitors, Mason Parker or Johnny Hartwell, may, in fact, have murdered Mr. Muldoon.”

“I wouldn’t put it past someone,” accused Addison. “Especially, I wouldn’t put it past someone who has the motive to commit a crime like that. Now, when are we going to go and thoroughly investigate the scene of the crime?”

“Tomorrow morning, so you’d better get some sleep.” Connor said, ushering Addison and Dari into the hall. “So, I now say goodnight to you both!”

After a fairly peaceful night of rest, Conner and his two apprentices loaded up into his car and began the forty-five minute journey to Whittington Manor. On the way there, Addison thought through what Detective Doyle had told them about the crime last night. Who murdered Mr. Muldoon, and more importantly, why did he do it?

“The criminal mind is dark and strange, murderous, and cold.” she whispered to herself. “But in the end, even it is fooled. No matter how smart any villain thinks he or she is, he will always leave behind something; some clue that can incriminate him and put him in his place. The good side will always prevail.”

They arrived at the manor in due time. As Conner approached the door, it was answered promptly by Ms. Whittington.

“Ah yes, Detective Doyle, I’m so glad you could come!” she exclaimed. “But, why did you bring those two along?”

“We are Mr. Doyle’s apprentices.” announced Addison. “So wherever he goes, we go too!”

“Fine, I guess you can all come in.” Ms. Whittington said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She led them through the door and into the living room, where within sat two gentlemen in pristine suits.

“The one on the right is Mr. Parker, and the one on the left is Mr. Hartwell.” Addison told Dari. Dari looked back at her, eyes wide.

“How do you know?” she asked. Addison grinned.

“It’s simple really,” she replied. “I remember reading that Mr. Hartwell was a victim of a burglary once. There was a struggle, and Mr. Hartwell ended up with a nasty scar on his hand. I saw the scar when I came in.”

“Oh, now I get it!” Dari exclaimed.

“Of course you do.” Addison laughed, placing a hand against her forehead. Just then, Ms. Whittington glared at them, so the two girls stopped their shenanigans and proceeded to follow Rita and Detective Doyle to the scene of the murder.

As they entered the room, Addison gasped. Hanging at the dead center was a man’s body suspended by a rope. The ground under him was covered in blood. Addison took in every visible detail, and then started hunting around for the non-visible ones. She used her large magnifying glass that hung by her side to hunt for evidence. It was not like she needed to look though. She already knew who had killed Mr. Muldoon. Now all that was required was for her to prove her theories. With Dari’s help, the whole investigation would take only an hour. Then the murderer would be revealed, and Addison could go home and rest. But until then, she would let Conner have his fun, doing his thing and going over all the steps that she had done instantly when she had first encountered the murder scene. So slowly, Addison sat down in one of the many armchairs situated around the room, and began her long wait.

Meanwhile, Connor was trying tirelessly to solve the case. He knew that if he let Ms. Whittington down, that he would never get his paycheck. And if he didn’t get paid, then he would never find out just how smart Addison really was. So, he pushed on, trying in vain to solve a crime that just refused to lend him any hints.

“I need to go get a drink.” announced Ms. Whittington. “Johnny, Mason, will you boys come and help me?”

“Of course, my lady.” replied Mason with a smile.

“Just follow us.” said Johnny. The threesome exited into the kitchen. They had been gone for some time when suddenly a loud scream rang out. The three detectives rushed to the scene. In front of them, Ms. Whittington laid soaking in a pool of her own blood, a large kitchen knife shoved into her back. The two young men were pushed back against the kitchen counter. Behind them, the large glass doors were swinging on their hinges.

“There was a break in!” cried Mr. Hartwell. “The killer was dressed all in black, so we couldn’t see his face. He sprang through the glass doors, grabbed a knife, and stabbed dear Rita in the back!”

“I don’t think that’s exactly true.” said Addison. She stepped up to the front where everyone could see her. “In fact, I am now certain that you two have been lying to us all along!” She turned towards Conner with a mischievous smile.

“My dear Detective Doyle, you probably don’t believe me, but I know who the murderer is.” Everyone looked over at her in shock.

“How could you possibly know that?” questioned Johnny. “It has only been a couple of minutes since this murder happened!”

“I wasn’t just talking about this most recent murder.” explained Addison. “I was talking about the murder of Mr. Muldoon as well. Now let me explain my reasoning.” She led the group back into the living room, where she sat down in a chair and folded her arms in her lap.

“The murderer, or more precisely, the murderers, are you two fiends!” she said, pointing at Mr. Parker and Mr. Hartwell.

“But why would we want to murder Ms. Whittington? One of us was supposed to marry her!”

“That may be true, but you two are still the killers. I can prove it.” Addison replied. “You see, on the night of October thirteenth, at precisely two-thirty in the morning, you, Mr. Parker, led the unsuspecting Fredrick Muldoon into the study. There your accomplice, Mr. Hartwell, had rigged a noose that you two used to hang Mr. Muldoon and hence, eliminate him from your competition for Ms. Whittington’s hand in marriage. But your evil plot didn’t end there. Even after Ms. Whittington recruited us, you still decided to continue on with your evil scheme. To you, we were just