The Locked Room, Part 1

What does LJ need? I wondered. I know! A gripping serial story!

The Locked Room.

Being a thrilling murder mystery in five parts for boys & girls of all ages.

When Jarvis the butler discovered the body of Doctor Peter Black in his study, his throat cut neatly across, he kept his head and rang the local constabulary. Sergeant Wilkins was on the scene shortly later, and took down the particulars of the crime.
“So, what you is sayin’ is, Mister Jarvis, that the body of your h’employer was found in ‘is study with ‘is neck cut h’open like a gutted fish?”
Jarvis blanched at the policemans lack of sensitivity, but nodded assent.
“And, h’in addition, ‘is room was locked from the h’inside, and there was no sign of a struggle, or indeed what might be described as a murder weapon?”
Once again, Jarvis nodded.
Sergeant Wilkins looked at his notebook and mused. “I,” he thought, “am in over my ‘ead. What I needs is a great detective!”
A call to headquarters later, and a squad car containing the famous Inspector Jenks was speeding to Dunnett Hoo (the country pile of Doctor Black).
Jenks quickly took charge.
“A locked room, no sign of a struggle, and a neck cut from ear to ear, eh?” considered Jenks. “Sergeant? Any sign of fingerprints in the room?”
“H’only from the deceased, sir.”
“Interesting, very interesting. Jarvis, who has been in the house today?”
“Sir, only myself, Mrs. White the cook, and Mr. Grey, the mechanic in the garage.”
“And did Doctor Black keep anything that might have been used in his killing in the room?”
“I noticed, sir, that the silver dagger he used for opening his correspondence was missing from his desk when I found him.”
“Quite, quite fascinating. I have a glimmering of an idea. However, first, I shall question all three staff. Starting with you, Jarvis."
The butler turned pale once again.

To be continued….

The locked room, part 2

A gripping Livejournal serial adventure.
If you haven't read part one, you're advised to read that first...scroll down my LJ for it.

The interview took place in Doctor Blacks’ office. Jenks looked at the window sash (locked shut from the inside) and the fireplace (blocked up, so no chance of an escaped Orang-utan hopping down it) before turning his attention to Jarvis. Doctor Blacks’ body was still at his desk, slumped under a blanket where he would stay until the forensic people arrived. Jenks liked to interview people in difficult situations – it kept them on their toes.
“Tell me how you found your employer.”
“Well, sir. I had arrived with his morning cup of tea. There was a chair wedged beneath the door handle, but it gave away with a push. Upon entering the room, I was nonplussed to find my master dead.”
“Nonplussed?”
“I’m a butler sir, we don’t show emotion.”
“Hmnph. Was there anything that might have been used as a weapon?”
“The master had a small knife for opening his mail. He kept it there, on his desk.” Jarvis shuddered as he gestured towards the body. Jenks looked about, but there was no sign of any knife.
“Fascinating. What was Black a doctor of?”
“Physics, sir. He was fascinated by magnetism.”
“What were you doing before you found the body, Jarvis?”
“I was in the kitchen with Mrs. White, sir, helping remove a mouse and acting as an assistant in her efforts to get down from a stool.”
Jenks nodded to himself. “I’ve heard enough for the moment, Jarvis. I’ll chat to Grey, the mechanic, next.”
“He’s in the garage, sir.”

The Locked Room, Part 3

A serial adventure story in five parts.

Scroll down for parts 1 & 2 if you haven't read them.

Grey, the mechanic, would have been better named brown from the oil and grime which covered him. Jenks noted that his boots were heavy and covered in oil as well, and he realised there had been no oil on Doctor Blacks’ carpet. He nodded to himself.
“I’m investigating the death of your employer, Doctor Black.”
Grey pulled himself upright from where he was tinkering with the car engine and wiped his hands on a grubby rag.
“I don’t know nuffink abaht it.”
“Yes, you would say that.”
“Ere! Whatchoo implyin’?”
“Nothing, sir, nothing. Can you simply tell me where you were earlier today when your master was murdered?”
Grey looked about, shiftily for a moment. “I was ‘ere, was’n I? I was playing with the car engine. Cook’d’ve heard me, ‘cos of it backfirin’. Sounded like gunshots, it did.”
Jenks nodded to himself. He would check that.
His attention was drawn to an odd contraption on one wall.
“What the devil is this?”
“Invention of the guv’nor. Metal detector, ‘e calls it.”
Jenks made a decision. “Do you mind if I try it out?”

A short while later, after a little instruction from Grey, Jenks was sweeping the lawns with the metal detector. As he had half expected, he soon turned up a small, but exceedingly sharp, knife in the rose beds. The blade and crosspiece were red with blood. Turning, the inspector looked at the surrounds. Blacks window was on the other side of the house, so the knife could not have been thrown there, and there were no footprints nearby. So how had the knife come to be there?
“I shall talk to Mrs White, the cook”, thought the Inspector. He had suspicions that all was not what it seemed at Dunnett Hoo.

The locked room, part 4

Being a murder mystery in five parts.

Scroll down to read parts 1,2, & 3.

“Oh, Inspector! It’s just too, too terrible!”
Jenks nodded over the cup of tea he’d made. Mrs White sat opposite him, cradling her own cup and sipping periodically. From time to time she would take out a hanky and blow her nose, loudly. “Poor Doctor Black! Dead! Dead!”
Jenks made comforting noises, and then began. “Can you tell me what you were doing this morning? Before Jarvis took up the tea?”
Mrs White wailed again. “Mr Jarvis and I was chasing a mouse! Horrible, filthy creature! I’d hopped on a stool and he had to help me down. We was talking about it when the bell rang for the masters tea.”
Jenks nodded. “And do you have any idea about what Grey was doing all morning?”
“Of course I do, Inspector. He was working no the car. You can hear him from the kitchen door, cursing, and with the car backfiring like that. Like gunshots it was, gunshots!”
“Did he enter the house at any point?”
“Lawks! No, sir. With them filthy boots of his. I take his tea out to him!”
“One last question, Mrs. White. Where is the key to Doctor Blacks room kept?”
Mrs. White thought. “The key to that door? Why, it’s on the hook next to it!”
Jenks nodded. So anyone who had wanted to the door locked would only have had to reach for a key – no difficulty at all. The case was simple – and yet diabolical. Only a genius – or a madman – could have come up with such a scheme. He walked through to the lounge, and tapped Wilkins on the shoulder.
“Wilkins. Summon the servants. I want everyone here.”
“’ave you…?”
“I have, Wilkins. I have solved the murder. And a more devilish case I have never before witnessed.”

To be continued…

The locked room, part 5

A thrilling LJ tale in five parts. You are advised to read parts 1-4 first, by scrolling down to them.

Constable Wilkins and the three servants sat in the lounge. An air of quiet expectation hung over the scene. Inspector Jenks stood by the fireplace, puffing on his pipe. He was thinking, putting the final facts of the case together in his head before relating them.
“This case, from the outset, was obviously no ordinary case. In fact, I hazard to suggest it is unique in my experience. We shall look at the facts, one at a time.
"First: the murder weapon. The knife Doctor Black used to open his mail. Jarvis said it was silver – and yet it was found by a metal detector, which finds ferric metals.”
Jarvis opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the inspector.
“I should say at this point that I see no reason to doubt the testimony of any one of you – Jarvis, you have worked for Doctor Black for many years, and I think that you genuinely believed the knife to be silver. Or rather – the knife was silver…and then it wasn’t.
“Second. The blood on the knife. It was still red – when blood congeals quickly to a muddy brown. How could this be, when the murder had taken place hours previously?
“Third; the fact that the knife was found where it was – how did it come to be there? It wasn’t thrown from the murder room, nor was it carried there. Then how?
“Fourth; the Locked Room. Why was the room described as ‘locked’ when it so obviously wasn’t? A chair behind the door? With a door key to hand? It almost seems as if someone wanted me to the think the door was locked – when it never was!”
There was silence in the room. Nobody could understand what the inspector was saying.
“This is,” continued Jenks, “a case that nearly baffled me. Nearly, but not quite. The killer had to be someone of prodigious intellect, who had, it seems, access to all parts of the house, and could change the arrangement of the clues with seeming impunity. Only one person had that sort of power. The killer is…”

Can you identify who really killed Doctor Black? The answer will be posted here at 5pm today.

The locked room: denouement

I’d like to say I really liked robinblokes‘s version, and I almost changed my version to his…but I have to remain true to my original vision. If you haven’t read the rest of “The Locked Room”, please do so before clicking on the solution. You can find the rest of the tale by scrolling down my LJ, and then guess who you think the killer is before checking.

( Read more... )