2020-2021 5-Minute Mysteries--1st Per. Purple Group

“A Slip-Up of a Mystery”

By Abigale Strait

 

 Olliver was on the case once again- to his dismay. You solve 1 or 2 murders- accidently at that- and suddenly everyone expects you to be a mastermind sleuth who needs only a coffee and ten minutes and then you know exactly where Mrs. Abernath’s teenage daughter disappeared to at 10a.m on a Saturday! Who wouldn’t

        And that was all the information he had. This whole detective business was just meant to be a joke, someone like Olliver would never be able to “deduct” anything from information as sparse as that. Of course he could always come clean- but to think of what would happen to his reputation. Not to mention Mrs. Abernath, she came to him with tears in her eyes, homemade chocolate muffins, and all her hope placed in the wrong man. 

        So now he was investigating her home while she ran errands, surely that would help, surely. Stepping into the house, Olliver could feel something was off- or perhaps he had indigestion. He moved slowly, trying to take in all the details that he could. The decor was really lovely, he noticed that much. Nothing looked out of place, the house was spotless. No books were left lying on tables or couches, there were no cups abandoned on the kitchen table, certainly no clues…

        Oh! In the corner of his eye- yes, it must be! There was a note hidden in the shadow of a chair, underneath the dining table, possibly even from the missing Abernath. Olliver picked it up, giddy with excitement. A clue! He brought it to his face and… was met with crushing disappointment. The note was nothing more than a receipt, one from today, in which the only thing bought was a box of chocolate muffins. Olliver sighed, everyone had something to hide. Surely he could connect this to the mystery, surely there was someway.

        Met with the realization that he would garner nothing from this investigation, Olliver proceeded to waste his time looking at the books that the Abernaths had collected. They truly had a taste for literature, many of these books had such interesting titles. Ah well, Olliver needed to be leaving anyhow, He turned to leave- then immediately fell as the carpet slipped out from under him. Today was truly not his day. Or was it? Because he didn’t often find trapdoors hidden under rugs. It was even more unusual to find, once opened, his clients missing daughters hidden within them.

 

“The Pawn Shop”

By Zane Lassiter

       It was another morning in the pawn shop owned by John Sitka. It’s only him and his worker Timmy Grimstin that work in the shop. It was a small shop in a small town so they didn’t have many people come in during the day. It was usually only the same people that would come in and see if they had anything new in stock. 

     Sitka had been noticing something weird every time he came in. There would be different things missing everyday but he didn’t know who it could be. There was one person that Sitka noticed that was a little suspicious. It was a teenage guy that didn’t look like he had any business being in the store. 

     Sitka wanted to figure out who was doing this so he went to one of the well known detectives in the town. “I’ve had things going missing in my shop lately. I want to figure out who it is,” Sitka told the detective.

     “Okay we need clues and possible people that it could be,” replied detective Johnny Cook. Sitka told him all about the teenage boy that he thinks it is. He also told the detective that there was a possibility that it could be his worker. Cook told Sitka to keep an eye out at work and to call him whenever he sees the teenage boy.

Sitka walked into the shop to open everything up and noticed that his worker Timmy was already in the shop. “Why are you in here already?” asked Sitka.

      “Oh no reason, just wanted to get in here early today,” he replied. Sitka thought this was weird and sent a text to Cook and told him. Sitka went along and got everything turned on. It wasn’t a very busy day but he noticed something else about Timmy. He was going to his truck a lot during the day. He thought it had to be him so he gave Cook a call.”My worker was in here earlier than normal today. He is never here this early. He also has been to his truck more than once today,” Sitka said.

     “Okay those are big clues I will ride over there and sit outside and watch,” he replied. Sitka had no clue who it could be. Then he looked up and saw the teenager so he texted Cook to be on the lookout. He told him he has red hair and is wearing a blue jacket with black pants. He walked around just looking. Sitka didn’t see him grab anything. He walked back out of the store and Cook saw his every move. As soon as Cook saw him open the door, the teenage boy took off. Cook jumped out of the truck and cut him off. Cook grabbed him and put him on the ground. “I had a good feeling that it was you. You won’t be doing it anymore though.”Cook said.

 

“Bob Gone”

By John Lynch

            It was early monday morning, when nobody wanted to go to school, while Steven was getting on the bus he heard a mysterious meow then hiss. He thought it was nothing and went to school as normal. When he gets home he hears his mother crying and rushes to her. He says “ What is wrong mom ? ” 

“Nothing.” She replies. She did not want to tell him about the missing cat. She took shallow breaths, and slowly said “Bob has gone…”

“Missing!! I knew it. I heard a weird meow this morning and nobody else on this street has a cat and if anyone saw a cat they would have reported it and taken it to the shelter.” “ I know Ms.Norris loves cats.”

“Who?” She asked.

“You know that sweet little old lady two houses down the left. One time I heard that she is allergic to cats but loves them like a person.”

“I did not know that.” declared momma.

“Well if the cat went that way then it definitely would not get past her. Ohh and Mr. Bill just lost his daughter and almost every picture he has of her has her old cat in it. Yeah that’s right, so if the cat went that way he would want to report it because his daughter loved cats sooo much.” 

Momma seemed cheered up by this and mustered what looked like a small smile. Then she said

“ Well if Bob can’t go right to leave and can’t go left then it's either at the shelter or still in this neighborhood. Right?” 

“Yeah.” I said. Dad came home that evening and asked if we had found Bob yet. He never liked that cat. Some of us might think that he would want to get rid of it, one time the cat mistook his work briefcase as a litter box and caused him three Saturdays at the office just to catch up. Grace, my sister, always loved the soft and fluffy cat. Every time it went into her room she would go in there and just read a book while petting the cat. We, mom; Grace; and me, spent all day searching for Bob. We even searched into the night we went to our neighbors houses and asked if they had seen our cat. Most replied no but Ms.Norris said that just a few days ago she saw the cat around our house in the backyard. It was too late to go and search in the jungle of a backyard. We didn’t have much time to get back there and cut the grass. So we went to bed and would search tomorrow after school and mom's work. School was so hard to go to that day all I could think about was Bob, he had been my cat since I was 5 maybe the cat died, I thought , we’ve had it for 7 years now. When the teacher called on me to answer what is the capital of Ireland I said “ Bob” I didn’t notice it but everyone started laughing like it was an intentional joke. When school was over and I got on the bus my best friend ,Sam, had said that he saw a yellow cat , like mine, around Greenforest Park. I said “ Well  after searching in the backyard we will go and look there.” When I got off the bus I tried to open the door, it was locked, so I got my keys and went inside. Mom wasen’t home yet. Grace and I went to the backyard after we finished our homework. She went and looked under everything I tried to look for suspicious things. I saw little cat prints all around the house. Grace then says

“ Come here.” I came hopefully, there are scratch marks all on the bottom of the tree and on other trees. I said 

“ Those aren't his, the bark is too hard for his little cat claws to make marks that big. It could be a stray dog, beaver, or bear at most. I mean there is a dam a mile or so from here.” I asked her to look at the prints around the house. We went and she said that there was a hole in the wall around the front of the house. We went and the hole was just big enough for her to squeeze through. I went and got her a flashlight. About ten minutes later she came out holding the biggest yellow fluff ball we had ever seen. She said there were so many rats down there both dead and alive. When mom got home we told her about the mice and she called an exterminator and he said that it was good that we called him because if they had called any later than the house would have not been their home anymore. Then mom said 

“ Well I guess dad would have to stay at the office if the rats took our house.”

 

“Wrong Place Wrong Time”

By Ethan Parks

 

Dawson Young was scrolling through his phone when he came across a news article about a bomb explosion during a Tampa Bay Buccaneers victory parade. “Wow!” he exclaimed, of course, he had seen the multiple and often fatal attacks on players but none so public and deadly to bystanders. Of the many wounded were starting Quarterback Tom Braddy and head coach Bruce Arians, the most badly wounded was backup QB Blaine Gabbert. This was very interesting and was related to his job of sports journalism so he was obligated to investigate. Grabbing his backpack and laptop he headed out the door for his car to travel to the stadium. 

            Walking through the large entrance to James stadium he showed security his press badge and was let through to the player areas of the facility normally restricted to the public. 

“What’s up,” said the starting center Ryan Jensen. 

“Not much, just looking around after that crazy bombing a few weeks ago,” Dawson replied. 

“Speaking of that, have you seen Blaine anywhere I know he got hurt but haven’t seen him since,” Ryan said. 

“He got some bomb fragments in his chest but should be into recovery by now,” Dawson said.

Ryan added with a wave, “just give me a holler if you find anything.”

“Sure thing man,” Dawson said as they parted ways. 

            While walking through the large stadium, he passed many players and staff who regarded him with friendly conversation and waves. Dawson had been through the stadium a few months before to interview Tom Braddy on his new contract with the Buccaneers. Tom would be a prime target of the recent bombing, “Maybe some Patriot fans weren’t happy about Tom’s transfer and wanted to take it out on him,” Dawson thought. But maybe it was the head coach a very important person to the buccaneer’s franchise and their winning potential, far fetched even for the NFL nevertheless a possibility.  

            He passed by the coaches’ offices on his way to the player areas to get some information. Dawson was stopped by some offices when he overheard 2 staff members conversing.

            “Ya bill I don’t know about this request from Blaine,” said the first.

            The second apparently Bill said, “well you know he was in a freaking bombing just a few weeks ago, maybe you should cut the man some slack.” 

“I understand that, it’s just not the injury he instead wants to  “find himself” sounds like bull.”

 “You may be right but give him at least a few days to himself and away from practice,” Bill replied

“Ok I agree with you,” the first man said as he wrote on a piece of paper. 

            “Huh, that’s odd,” pondered Dawson as he continued his journey through the stadium. 

            He finally made it to the player locker room and was able to interview many players and staff about their experience of the attack. There was only damage around the VIP car which included the important figures of the franchise like the owners, coaches, and QB’s. Most interesting was many players noticed people following Blaine as he fled the scene. 

            “Mr. Dawson, Blaine Gabbert has requested a private interview with you,” a team manager who introduced himself as Jacob. 

            “Sure thing man lets go,” Dawson responded while being led to a backroom. 

            The Room had a table and chairs with a door on the other end Dawson was led in and the door was shut behind him. 

            “How you holding up man,” Dawson said. 

            “Pretty good,” Blaine said distractedly, “did anyone follow you?” 

“No of course not man just us two, Jacob let me in”

“Well I got something big for you and you never gonna believe me,” Blaine uttered. 

“Blaine you're kinda freaking me out I know that you were attacked but chill out it's over no ones gonna hurt you.”

“You have no idea do you?”

“No just get to the point,” Dawson said.

“I was the reason for the bombing, all that death and destruction was because of me,” Blaine whispered to Dawson, “Should have just minded my own business never gotten tangled up with the mob.”

The Mob, Blaine what are you going on about,” just then three gun carrying men rushed through the opposite door into the room.

 

“The Desperate Pawn Shop”

By Joshua Hendrix

As Louis got out of the cab his nose was filled with horrible fumes. When he looked around he saw smoke coming from one of the buildings near the hit shop. When he arrived at the shop he came to realize that it was in fact his own shop that was smoking. Not only was it smoking but all the windows were shattered.

When he walked in the shop there were already some people with water buckets trying to stop the smoke. When the smoke finally started to come to a haul he noticed there were police officers looking around and taking notes. When he asked what was going on they said someone through a smoke bomb with this terrible smell and ran inside and took a couple of items. But when Louis looked around he noticed that the only thing that was broken into was the clearance section of jewelry.

He asked the police what they were going to do but they said they are writing a report and just gonna hope someone has any information because there is no evidence. Mr.Louis was shocked. He thought it was rude how they weren't going to help anymore, so he took matters into his own hands.

Mr.Louis went down the street to the office of Mr.Wood private investigator service. When he told him what happened they went straight back to his shop to look around. As they got to talking Louis was telling Wood about the smell and saying he thing that was part of the incident. When Wood turned that into confederation he knew exactly where to go. Julia's Fine Scents. So Mr.Wood put some gum in his mouth and took off with Louis.

When they got there they were about 10 miles away from town. When they got to her store they told him about the accident. The only information she gave was that someone just moved into the abandoned factory down the road and they've been in here a couple times a week. So with that information they went to the factory.

 When they got to the factory they started to look around and noticed no one was there so they welcomed themselves in. When they walked inside the factory they noticed that it was making candles. Since that was probably the reason why they went to Julias they just stopped. Wood went to find a trash can to put his gum out. When he found one it was right outside in a dumpster between Julias and the factory. When he went to put his gum in there he noticed a receipt from Julia’s.

When he looked closer there was something purchased called DRAGON WASTE so they went back to Julias shop to ask about it. She said that her brother came in and bought that a week or two ago saying it was for a prank on his friends. When they asked where they could find him she said at his Pawn Shop in town called Ollies Pawn Shop. 

So they decided to go back into town to see Ollie. When they arrived his shop was booming. A lot of people were there. When Wood asked one of them what was going on they said nothing. They said that all of the local pawn shops are closed due to robberies so this is the only one open. Then right then the mystery was solved. Wood and Louis walked down to the police station and told them everything that happened. Later that night on the news they say that Ollie was arrested and the shop was closed for good.

“The Gold Leaf Brooch”

By Marli Jones         

Ryan could not believe this. He had left for one week on a vacation, and his house had burned down. The police had settled on arson; they were looking for clues on who though.

            Whilst they searched for clues, Margaret Lorone, and her twin sister Fae, invited their neighbor for tea to soothe his nerves.

            After meaningless small talk, Ryan got to the question he had possessed since he was 4. “I’ve been meaning to ask,” he began, “how did you 2 come in possession of those brooches? The ones you wore in Sunday school when I was little,” he noticed the lack of their appearance.

            “Fae and I bestowed them to each other. She gave me the gold leaf with the pearl; I gave her the gold leaf with the amethyst. Mine is in my room; Fae claims her’s is under repair, yet I know she is lying and lost it,” Margaret joked about the situation.

            “They’re the birthstones of our late husbands. Reminding us, from the grave, to keep pushing,” Fae continued as Ryan became uncomfortable under her strong, yet nervous, gaze.

            Soon there was a knock rapping at the door, where a policeman informed him that they had found something on the scene. He said his goodbyes to the ladies before moving to the door.

            “Well run along now dear, but don’t hope for clues. Officers come up with dead ends all the time,” Fae’s voice was almost threatening as he stepped outside.

            Making his way to Chief Gunner Stoles, he noticed a small glimmering object in his right palm. “Whatcha got for me Mr. Stoles?” he implored.

            “Ryan Jacobs I presume. Now this here is one mighty fine piece of jewelry here. Let us know if it’s a clue or not. If not, I suggest you get this back to your lady-folk. I know my wife would have a cow if she lost this,” with a nod and a wink he turned over the benign item to Ryan, patted him on the back, and walked off.

            In his hand, lay a compact golden leaf brooch with an emerald set where there should have either been a pearl or an amethyst. Gazing back at the quaint alabaster house, he noticed there were no lights on and no cars home.

   

 

“The Photo Flipper”

By Katie Thompson

 

            Reading the paper, Kevin wonders when he will get his first big case. When Aaron came in with the phone saying there was a Barbara on the phone, Kevin jumped, blinking his eyes and shaking his head. Grabbing the phone he heard a blaring lady rambling on about how her dog was gone, and all she could find was his collar. 

“Not really what I thought about for a first real case, but it will have to do,” stated Kevin.

Listening to the woman he found out that while she was away getting her haircut the dog had run away. Intrigued by why she was calling him for a missing dog he asked, “ If it was just your dog that was taken why are you calling me?”

“My house looked suspicious when I opened the door, like some of the pictures were turned and my dog’s name was scratched off of his bowl,” she replied 

“Couldn’t the scratches be from the dog? Or that the picture frames had simply fallen over,” Kevin asked.

“I always pick his bowl up when he is finished and he never scratches anything. I also hate it when my pictures fall so I glued them to the shelf,” said the woman.

Pondering the woman's case and her interesting lifestyle, Kevin sat down and grabbed a pen and some paper. Writing down the clues, his eyes glittered at the realization that this was not just simply a dog running away. He needed to leave right away and investigate Barbara’s house to find the true crime shown before him. 

When he reached the house there was a woman pacing and shouting to the sky, that could only be Barbara. When he approached her, her face was glittering and her eyes were red, trying not to be rash he asked if she was ok. Obviously not happy about that question she began shouting again, Kevin was barely able to keep her from running straight off the porch. When the Barbara had calmed down she showed Kevin the house , acknowledging  that there were no signs of forced entry he strolled into the house. Upon entry the doors were all closed, and  the furniture was in a simple design towards the television. The only suspicious thing was that some of the pictures were tipped over and all of the things with the dog's name on them were scratched out. 

Asking the neighbors if they had seen anything, he saw that one of the neighbors was sweating profusely, and he did not really answer the questions. Putting him into consideration Kevin went back to the house examining the pictures he saw that all of the pictures had a thing in common, they all showed Barbara and an unknown man and woman.

“ Who are these people Barbara, if I may ask,” said Kevin.

“Oh that is my sister Mary. And that man, his name is Chris, he is the love of my life,” said Barbara with a dreamy tone. “If you wanted to know my sister lives right down the road,” Barbara added while giving me an address. 

When Kevin gets to the house he sees that there is a car in the driveway so he goes to knock on the door. The surprise is that Chris is the one who answers the door.

“I am looking for Mary,” stated Kevin.

“My wife should be home soon. She went to get some groceries,” Chris acknowledged.

“ May I ask when she left?” said Kevin.

“She left a couple hours ago. Now may I ask why you want to know these things,” Chris asked.

“I am just conducting an investigation for your sister in- law Barbara,” Kevin countered. 

“ Is she ok,” said Chris worriedly.

“She is fine, but her dog is missing. Does Mary have a key to Barbara’s house?” asked Kevin. 

“Yeah Barbara gave her the key for emergencies,” Chris admitted.

“Well then, I think I know who has Barbara’s dog.” ended Kevin. 

 

“Out Foxed”

By Maddy Land

 

    Detective Fox lives an interesting life. He has it all. The looks, money, education, and even a dollop of fame. But as Sir Isaac Newton once said, all actions shall have an equal and opposite reaction. With all these things there comes responsibility. Enemies. Hard work. Even if it is difficult to deal with occasionally.

    So here he sits, dealing with one of the most emotionally riveting cases he has ever had to solve. Mrs. Johnson, a newly grieving widow,  just wants to know why. Why would he do this?

Why would such a happy man end his whole life? He always told her he would live until each and every single one of his goals were fulfilled.

     “I know you didn’t get along well all the time. I know that you two had your ups and downs. But I need answers. You used to be best friends, Hank.” Apparently they are now on a first-name basis, to Detective Fox’s utter surprise.

    “I’m going to be honest with you. He was a very unpredictable man, Lucy. He did some things you probably wouldn’t like to know, and that’s the difference between us, Roy and I. I knew I needed to grow up. He was mentally trapped in the same mind he had when we were in junior high. And I learned how to be an adult.” 

    Lucy nods.

    She knows Fox is correct.

    “That’s why I’m here. He wasn’t depressed. He loved life. All he wanted to do was live, every hour of the day! His lab results came in from the coroner. They said he poisoned himself with antifreeze. We didn’t even own antifreeze, Hank.” Tears poured down her big brown eyes and her cheeks turned a plump, rosy color.

    Detective Hank Fox feels stumped. And sad for some reason. Not even sad for the loss of his old pal, Roy Johnson, but for the impact it has had on sweet Lucy.

    “I have a question, Lucy. Why are their bruises on your arms in the shape of fingerprints? And why have you already removed your wedding ring?” Her face freezes. Detective Fox can practically smell the fear emanating from her.

    “I fell into a man at the train station. His hand grabbed my arm very firmly so I wouldn’t hurt myself. Why do you ask?” Fox takes immediate notice that she avoids the latter question.

    He doesn’t tell her that he got Roy’s lab results too. He doesn’t let her know that her DNA was found under his fingernails, indicating that he put up a fight for his life, and that he lost.

   “Do you have the ticket stub?” She puts up a look of defeat.

   “No, Fox. I do not. What are you implying here?” He smirks. He knows what happened. Mr. Johnson didn’t kill himself. He had bad blood with someone. And that someone decided they didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

    So the police were called. Mrs. Johnson was taken into custody. They found a bottle of unlabeled antifreeze in her purse.

    Little do they know who actually put it there. 

 

“Muddy Willow Tree”

By Sarah Kuhrt

 

            The ride to Alkins library was normally easy but today it was rough. The road was muddy from last night's downpour. There was only one road going from Wilson to Alkins and it was an old dirt road that got muddy when it rained, so there was no other way. Today it was foggy and the sky was a dreary gray color. When Skyler had gotten to the library there had been no sign of his day getting any better. His friend Nick who he had come to meet had seemed upset about something. When he got out of his car Nick ran over to get his attention.

“Someone from Wilson graffitied the library.”, Nick was definitely upset.

“How do you know it was Wilson it could have been anyone. Could be an Alkins student.”, Skyler had wanted to find what Nick knew.

“It was a willow tree!”

“Sounds like Wilson, that is our emblem anyway.”

            When Nick and Skyler had started to ask the librarian what she found that morning all they got was some muddy footprints and the willow tree. Nick had the brilliant idea to go across the street to borrow the shoe sizer to see the shoe size of the footprints. When they got to the store they saw Lucas get out of his muddy truck. They ignored him. When they went inside and asked one of the workers if they could borrow one of the shoe sizers and explained everything the worker said they could see if anything was on the camera that pointed at the parking lot since it showed part of the library. All they were able to find was a figure and a muddy truck but they couldnt see much detail like the color of the truck or the face since it was a fuzzy camera and it was raining. 

While Skyler went to size the mudprints Nick stayed at the store. Lucas had come in laughing and talking to a friend and Nick had noticed that Lucas’ jacket had some paint on it in the same color as the grafite. When Skyler got back and told Nick the shoe size Nick had heard him and exclaimed very loudly ,”Hey that's the shoe size I wear!”. 

Nick and Skyler looked at each other then went outside to talk. When they went outside Nick jumped in the back of Lucas’ truck and found what he thought he would, paint cans. The cans were from the Wilson highschool art room. 

Skyler called his school and asked if they would look at the cameras around the art room. They called back and told him that someone had stolen saomepaint can and even had a description of the truck they were in. The truck looked like Lucas’.

They told the librarian and she confronted Lucas. He admitted after she showed how she knew that he had done it. He said he was trying to frame Wilson in hope that they would get in trouble and the football team wouldnt be able to play this year. She decided he wouldnt get in trouble as long as he cleaned the graffiti off the library and didnt do it again.

The librarian thanked Nick and Skyler. They then went about their long day of studying for exams.

 

“The Walmart Robbery”

By Abby Wiegert

           

One cool morning, when the leaves were falling and the roads were icy, Pete Wilder went to Walmart to just browse the store. Pete had not gotten his paycheck yet, so he did not want to spend any money until he had gotten his monthly paycheck. As Pete arrived at Walmart he already had a strange feeling. Not that he would buy something, but that someone was watching him. 

While walking into the store, Pete looked around continuously, but saw no one watching him. He finally gave the thought up, but when Pete was on the electronic aisle, he turned around and noticed an employee watching him. Pete quickly turned back around and decided to walk past him and look at his nametag. Walking by the employee, Pete saw his name. The man's name was Drew Harper. 

That name sounded familiar to Pete, but he couldn't quite place where he had heard it from. Pete quickly left after seeing his name and went straight to his old friend Benjamin Allaster. Mr. Allaster was a detective so Pete knew to go to talk to him. Wilder did not care if he sounded crazy because he knew something was up. Driving along the highway, Pete got pulled over and arrested for robbery. Wilder kept fidgeting with his hands while at the police station. He knew that he could call someone so he called Benjamin. Mr. Allaster arrived as quickly as possible. Pete explained everything that had happened to Benjamin. He knew that Pete did not commit the crime and that Drew Harper had framed him. Mr. Allaster remembered from a few years before, Drew had framed two people of robbery. Since getting out of jail,he changed his name to Drew and managed to get a new job at Walmart. 

Before the court session was supposed to take place, Drew was trying to convince the officers that court wasn't needed. Drew continued to beg and say that since they had caught him to just let him get the electronics from him and he can be on his way, but the officers insisted court was needed. While in court Petes old friend, and detective, explained the situation of Drew and framing two other people years before. Detective Allaster also made the point that the officers had no proof of the “robbery” Pete had committed and that Drew was very nervous for court. The officers then realized the detective was right, they had just taken a 24 year olds word for it and remembered how Drew never wanted this court session to happen at all. The judge said that Pete Wilder was innocent and asked for Drew Harper to be arrested.

 

“Mystery Crack”

By Timothy Lawson

 

            Zane Badsider was moaning in his room, trying to finish his work at around ten at night. “Why is this one problem so hard! I just want to finish this question so I don’t get a zero in the grade book.” Zane groaned loud enough to a point where I had to step in. 

“Hey Zane, you got three reports nearly the same.”

“Bonk, can’t you see i’m working on a question,” filled with annoyance, he forced a smile.

“The answer is sixty-nine thousand four hundred twenty. You shouldn’t have looked at half-naked fourteen year old girls for hours straight.” As I nearly closed the door, I heard a faint thanks and closed the door shut.

            Zane looked at the three reports, surprised at how similar they are. “The reports are about factory leveled mass production of crack cocaine which is only ran by one man, and he goes by the name of Ack McCrack. He had the height of a building, dull shoes the color of blood, a dark black coat, and a plain black hat. He was seen and heard of sometimes a couple of weeks ago, making small trails of red rubber, most of them trailing to an abandoned factory, near a forest,” he said as he yawned, “I think I know where that factory is.”

            It really did not take long before we found an abandoned factory which has been covered by red rubber, which became soggy from the rain. “This has to be the place where Stink McStank lies in.” Zane said with arrogance. Me being me, I just stood in the car, waiting for his conclusion.

            About an hour later, he came back with no information about Ack McCrack hiding in there, but he did say there was heavy amounts of cocaine in there, even though he never looked directly at it much. We noted the place to come there tomorrow and drove off, leaving the door open. Just right after we were about a mile away from the factory, a tall man in black and with new red shoes and a plain black hat appeared and closed the door, which made a screaming screech when closed.

            Things started to go for the worse for me when we got home. Zane easily got stressed out, since that was the third time he could not find the person behind the crime. He got to a point where he started kicking on random doors. Once he kicked a hidden door, crack cocaine began to pour out. “What the heck?” He said, backing away while looking towards me. “Is that yours?” He started to question me.

“Yes,” I said.

“Is that powder crack cocaine?”
“Yes.”

“Why do you have it?”

“It’s good trust me.” I tried to put on a warm smile.

Zane released a sigh as a plane flew over them. None of them knew that the real Ack McCrack,  notorious for selling his crack cocaine, was on the plane above them. Since De Bonk bought enough cocaine he was able to afford a plane ticket and leave the country.

 

“Homicide?”

By Marley Jarrell

 

The bell rang and snapped Sharon back into reality. She has been distracted in class ever since she started having relations with a boy online. She stepped out into the hallway to find a group of her classmates in what looked like a huddle. It reminded her of how people would always talk about her at school. She quickly made her way to the group to see what the commotion was about. As people finally started to shift Sharon recognized a familiar face. She gasped,“Natasha! I can’t believe you’re finally back.”

“I know, two weeks go by so slow when you’re by yourself. Come over after school and fill me in on what’s been happening.’’

            Natasha has been Sharon’s best friend ever since she moved four months ago. It surprised everyone to know that Sharon and Natasha were friends. While Natasha has been in the popular group since she first stepped foot in the school, Sharon has always been shy, an introvert, and even picked on by her peers. Natasha was Sharon’s best and only friend. They hung out as much as Natasha wanted to. If they were not hanging out, Sharon was online chatting with her boyfriend. 

            The last bell of the day finally rang. Sharon hurried home to ask for permission to go over to Natasha’s house. She threw her bags on her bed and grabbed a bite to eat before heading out the door. She knocked on the door of her best friend’s house and was welcomed by Natasha’s father. She noticed he was wearing his chef’s uniform,“Good afternoon Mr. Smith.”

            “Good afternoon Sharon, Natasha is upstairs. I’m off to work, but I hope to see you later.” 

            Gabriel Smith was a well known chef and a loving father to his only child Natasha. He liked to drink when he was not working, but sometimes he would take it a little overboard. Natasha came home and found him passed out on the floor just last night. 

            Natasha and Sharon took a few minutes to catch up. Sharon finally built up enough courage to tell Natasha about her online boyfriend. Sharon hesitantly said,“I figured we could go meet up with him later tonight.” 

      Natasha laughed,“That's such a good idea.” 

            It finally got dark enough for them to sneak out. They quietly walked downstairs to find Gabriel passed out on the couch. Before walking out the door, Natasha grabbed one of her dad’s  chef knives for protection.  It was dark and gloomy as they entered the woods, the wind howled all night long. They made their way into the woods where Sharon told her boyfriend to meet her. They waited on him for hours. Sharon finally decided he was not coming. “Let’s just go, he’s not coming.” 

            Natasha busted out with laughter,“Of course he’s not coming. I’ve been messing with you this whole time, how stupid can you be?” 

            Sharon cried,“How could you? I thought we were friends.”

            “Calm down Sharon, it was just a harmless joke.”

            “It won’t be so harmless when the police find out what you did to me.” 

                        The next morning Detective Danyle Darling arrived at the crime scene. She put her rubber gloves on and examined the area. Every now and then she would tell someone to put something in an evidence bag. Other than that, there was no evidence of anyone else being there. She got the name of the lifeless girl and went to talk to her parents.

            Danyle stepped on the parent’s front porch, took a deep breath, then knocked on their door. “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I regret to inform you that your daughter, Sharon, was murdered last night around 11:00. I have a few questions if you don’t mind answering them.”

Mrs. Johnson cried,“Sharon? No, it can’t be. What happened?” 

“Well that’s what I’m trying to figure out, where was Sharon last night?”

“She was at her friend’s house, Natasha Smith.” 

“Thank you Mrs. Johnson, I’m truly sorry for your loss. I’ll get back to you when I know more about what happened.” 

Danyle walked over to the Smith’s house. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. A teenage girl opened the door and her face immediately fell. “Are you Natasha Smith?” 

Natasha hesitantly said,“Yes.”

“Where were you last night? Was Sharon Johnson with you?”

“We were in my room.” 

“Where is your father?” 

Natasha pointed to the man stretched out on the couch. Danyle walked over to him and gave him a nudge. He shook as he woke up. “Hello Mr. Smith, can you confirm that your daughter and Sharon were in Natasha’s room all night last night?”

Before Gabriel could answer, Danyle got a call saying the murder weapon was some type of kife. Gabriel sighed as he scratched his head,“Well I wasn’t able to be here with them, you can check our security cameras though.” 

Danyle flipped through the footage from last night. She noticed Sharon walk out of the house, but Natasha was not with her. She watched the footage of the next few minutes and finally saw Natasha walk out holding what looks like a chef’s knife. “That’s all, thank you. I’ll stay in touch.” 

Danyle was exhausted by the time she got to the police station. Danyle and the other investigators talked about what information they gathered. They all suspected Natasha Smith as the main suspect. 

“The security footage shows Natasha coming home at 9. There is no way she could’ve killed her if she died at 11 last night.”

The other investigators agreed and decided to go home and sleep on it. Danyle stayed and worked all night trying to figure out exactly what happened. She remembered that the phone records showed Natasha pretending to be Sharon’s boyfriend. She finally cracked the case. Danyle got in her car and drove to the Johnson's house. She knocked on the door and said to Mrs. Johnson,“I know what happened to your daughter. Sharon and her friend Natasha snuck out to see Sharon's boyfriend. Natasha finally admitted that she was pranking Sharon and that she was the one pretending to be her boyfriend. Sharon got so mad that Natasha decided she should just go home and leave Sharon to calm down. She felt betrayed so when she was finally alone, she picked up the knife Natasha brought and stabbed herself. I talked to her psychiatrist; she said that Sharon had underlying mental issues, but she never thought she was suicidal. I’m sorry for your loss.” 

 

¨The Neighborhood Thief¨

By Ella Johnson

 

            I crept around the corner of my house and started mapping in my head all the major creaks in the floor. I was near midnight, and I knew better than to wake mother unless absolutely necessary. She had just gotten back from her shift at the diner about an hour ago. I stepped around the creak beside the table and finally made it to the front door. I had already checked Enoch’s room when I first heard the creak of the front door only a few minutes ago. 

            “Enoch?” I had whispered into his empty room. My mind was thrown into panic when no reply came. 

“Jenny, stop worrying so much. He probably just stepped out for some fresh air.” I said aloud to make the lump in my throat go away. I stepped onto our doormat and heard a hollow echo below me. Our house was made in the nineteen hundreds and everything creaked or broke all the time it seemed like. I twisted our old embellished doorknob and stepped outside into the cool night air. I turned to shut the door. Just as it was about to click shut, it let out a piercing shriek. I whipped my head around to face the yard to see if any one had heard. I spotted the back of Enoch’s head over the bushes. It seemed he had not heard, so I closed the door the rest of the way and stood on the porch to see what he was doing. 

Little piles of dirt flying near Enoch’s head led me to believe he was digging. 

“What is it with twelve year olds and digging?” I thought with a small smile, then turned to open the door and go inside because nothing seemed to be astray. The door had creaked because Enoch had gone outside to dig and that was all. I was sleepily trudging to the fridge to get some water before going back to bed when an ad in the paper caught my eye. “BREAKING NEWS: There is a neighborhood criminal on the loose! Many neighbors have noticed their packages, or items from their cars going missing. Please be cautious of your belongings.” 

“No way!” I said a little too loudly. I stood in the kitchen wondering who the criminal could be when it struck me. What if my brother, Enoch Williams, was the criminal. I had not thought to find out why Enoch was digging so late at night but now it made sense. He was burying the stolen items so no-one would find them, and then he could dig them up later. I had seen this in the many criminal movies mom and I had watched just the other night. I grabbed the paper as well as my glass of water and rushed upstairs to my room before Enoch could walk in. 

The next day I went downstairs for breakfast around noon, because I had stayed up so late trying to figure out why Enoch would do such a thing. Mom had written us each a note and left it on the counter, like she did every morning. Mine read, “Please watch after Enoch and I will bring dinner home around eleven. Love you Jen, Mom.” I looked around for Enoch, but his jacket was gone from the coat rack, which meant he had already gone outside for the day. I prepared some eggs and toast and sat down to eat. I peeked out the window to see if I could see Enoch. I saw the very top of his hair around where he had been digging yesterday and in a blink it was gone. I shrugged it off and went back to eating my eggs.

“Can I have some Jen? I’m starving.” Enoch said behind me, seemingly popping up out of nowhere. I almost fell out of my seat in surprise. 

“Where did you come from?” I said with my hand on my heart. 

“The yard.” he said like nothing out of the ordinary happened. 

“Sure I guess you can have some, just wash your hands please they are filthy.” I replied. His pants and shirt were covered in dirt and his hands were too. He dried off his hands as I pushed my plate towards him. 

“Enoch, can I ask you a question?” I said before I could think to stop myself.

“Sure,” he said, paying my eggs more attention than me.

“Have you been stealing from the neighbors and burying the items you take?” I said in one quick rush of breath. Enoch sat there with his mouth open in shock. I realised I probably should have asked some less accusing questions rather than just spitting it out.

“Of course not Jenny,” he said, “Why would you even think that?”

“I heard you sneak out the other night and noticed you were digging,” I started, “and I saw an ad in the paper saying there was a neighborhood criminal on the loose.” 

“No Jenny I am not the neighborhood criminal” he said with a chuckle, “But if you do  not believe me, I will show you what I have been up to.” Enoch rose from his chair and put on his jacket. I followed suit and ran after him out the front door. 

We walked across the yard to where Enoch had been digging for the past few days. There was nothing there except for an old tarp that mom had used to cover our firewood for this past winter. He lifted up the tarp, and revealed a large hole that went straight down about six feet, then turned into a tunnel going in the direction of our house. 

“What are we looking at Enoch?” I asked while still staring at the tunnel. 

“A tunnel system that runs throughout the house and our yard.” he said, trying to hide his smile of pride. 

“Woah,” I said stupidly because I could not manage to get anything else out, “Enoch this is amazing.”

“I know right.” he said then jumped down into his tunnel and motioned for me to follow.

"The Canton Case"

By Josh Morris

Dwight Henderson, a Private investigator that lived in England and now lives in a small town called Canton, Ga. He works mostly with the C.C.P.D to solve crimes. Although, this one time struck him as almost unbelievable. This murder was unofficially called the “Canton Case". It had reached a variety of counties around this little town. It started when Dwight was at his house just putting a pie in the oven and then sitting down to read a book. When he was finishing with his book, someone knocked at the door. He opened the door, and Miss Conway was standing there looking distressed and out of breath.

            Dwight said, “What is ever the matter my good lady.”

            She said, “A murder has been committed.”

            Dwight looked at her in shock, and they both went to the Police department to report it in. Miss Conway told Chief Police Officer Kenton where it was, and they sent Miss Conway back home. When the police department arrived at the crime scene, they got to work to try to figure out what had happened there, but they could not figure out anything about it. 

            Kenton said, “Well, we did not even have to get you this time Dwight.”

            Dwight solemnly said, "Yeah, unfortunately, we had to come here."

            Kenton said, "Yeah, but this is our job, so tell me what happened because I know that no one else can figure out what happened here."

            Dwight looks a the body and how it looks and said, "It looks like the murder weapon was a knife because the wound does not have a jaggedness in it. Also, there is a kitchen knife in the garbage can."

            Kenton said, "How did you know...?"

            Dwight cut him off and responded, "I looked everywhere when I came in, and I saw a glint of it there. Does this woman have a husband?"

            Kenton said, "Yeah, why?"

            Dwight said, "Because there is no ring on her and I do not think this was a robbery gone wrong. Who was all here when the murder happened?"

            Kenton said, "Fred Hughes (Her husband), Po (The pawnshop owner), Charlotte (The maid), John Nicholas (The victim's brother)."

            Dwight said, "Well, let us round them up and meet them in the Den (Living room)."

            They met in the Den and Dwight came in and said, "If you have not heard already, Miss Hughes was murdered, and we are working on who killed her." I think that the one who killed her is in this room right now."

            Po almost yelling at Dwight, "That is outrageous!"

            Dwight then quickly said, "Is it now? I checked the rooms, and there was no indication of someone coming in this house and stabbing her with a knife."

            John said, "How did you even know about the body if none of us left?"

            Dwight said, "Someone else reported it in."

            John said, "Then why are they not here also?"

             Dwight said, "As I said, there was no indication that anyone came in and killed miss Hughes."

            Dwight said, "I need to talk to the husband of Miss Hughes."

            Dwight took Fred over and asked Fred a couple of questions like, "Have you and Miss Hughes argued recently."

            Fred responds in a depressed tone, "Yes, we had one last night about if we were in a good relationship."

            Dwight said to him, "That will be all, and also I offer my condolences." And Dwight told one of the police to take him in there and get the brother.

            Dwight asked the brother why he was here, and the brother said that his sister had told him to come down here because there was a proposition she wanted to make him. He said that he did not know anything else of it though. 

            Dwight came into the Den with the brother and said, " I know who killed Miss Hughes."

            Everyone looked at him, and he studied all of the suspects' faces and smirked. 

            Kenton said, "Who?"

            Dwight said, "Mr John, you know that you were very close to killing your sister for money, but your better judgement got to you, fortunately. There was no ring on her finger, and we all know that she was married, or did we? Mr Po, you were her secret lover, and you wanted to marry her, but she did not tell you she was already married, but you did not kill her, because Mr Po loved her too much to do so. The murder is Mr Fred. He was mad at her for having a relationship with someone else. He came up to her, going to apologize to her, and stabbed her.