Murder Mystery

Chapter Five

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My whole body was shivering. That voice belonged to Cassie, the owner of the haunted house. Although she seemed harmless, I wasn't to take any risks.

Nitro remained still next to me, neither of us daring to breathe. Cassie knew somebody was here, and she was going to find us eventually.

I pressed my body against the ground, keeping my tail in midair. I used it as a signal to keep Nitro silent, although she seemed to already know.

"Hello?" Cassie called out again, her voice filled with confusion. "Please, I know you're here. Don't kill me."

Kill her? I mouthed to Nitro. Did she know about the murderer, too?

She's obviously not the murderer, if she's afraid we're going to come out and kill her, Nitro mouthed back.

I nodded, and nudged the closet door open.

Cassie's gaze fluttered over to me and Nitro, and she screeched. Instantly she made a run for the ladder.

Nitro ran ahead of me and stood in her way.

"You're Cassie, right?" Nitro asked curiously.

"What's it to you?" Cassie tried pushing past her, but Nitro stepped to the side, blocking her once again.

"How do you know about the murderer?" Nitro tilted her head to the side. I bounced up to her, hissing in Cassie's direction.

"I was upstairs when I saw someone, dead. I was astonished and frightened at the same time. So I went to hide in the vents-" she beckoned to the room around her- "and I found this."

"Is this some sort of basement? Underground prison?" Nitro pressed.

"How would I know? This is my Great-Great-Great-Great-This-Is-Getting-Boring-Great-Grandmother's mansion!"

"I don't think TV's resisted back then," I muttered.

"Well, someone must've installed some down here," Cassie shrugged.

I glanced at Nitro. "She seems innocent."

"Well, I'm not judging too kindly on you right now," Cassie muttered, "seeing as you won't let me escape."

"Nothings wrong with a quick interrogation," Nitro grumbled.

"Feel free to stay down here, but I'm leaving," Cassie sighed. "I need to find some sort of hiding spot where two clumsy girls won't find me."

"Good luck with that," I chirped, my face a mischievous mess.

Cassie climbed back up the ladder, leaving me and Nitro in silence.

"Should we follow her?" Nitro squeaked.

"I guess Adam and Nicole must be waiting. It's probably scary, standing underneath a vent waiting for your friends. Especially when a murderer is on the loose and could come up behind you and stab you with a knife!"

"Okay," Nitro agreed, and we climbed back through the vent.

When I emerged through the small hole, I expected to see Adam and Nicole patiently waiting, their expressions angry with me. Instead, I saw Adam and Nicole pressed up against the wall, fear washing over their faces.

"What happened?" I questioned them, turning back into a human.

"Me and Nicole were waiting here for you, when she said she needed to use the bathroom. So she ran around the corner, and I waited by the door to make sure nobody would slice it open and kill her. But she came running out, and told me there was a dead body lying on the floor, and the mirror was smeared with blood."

I shuddered. "Did you know who it was?"

"Thankfully, no," Adam shook his head. "But then Cassie came by, and she was horrified. But the way she came by so suddenly and casually... I got nervous..."

"Cassie was just down here in he vents, with us," Nitro pointed out. "She couldn't have murdered them."

"That's good," Adam nodded. "But Nicole here is paralyzed in fear."

He beckoned towards Nicole, who was still trying to flatten herself up against the wall. She looked terrified, and the tips of her boots were covered in blood.

"Poor Nicole," Nitro murmured. "That sight must've scared her."

I tilted my head. "Can we go check it out?"

"Judging on how horrified Nicole is, I don't think you'd want to."

"I think I can handle it," I shrugged, climbing to my feet. "Which way to the bathroom?"

Adam lead us down a hallway, and stopped in front of a door. "You girls better be careful. The murderer may be hiding in there."

I nodded to Adam, and inhaled a deep breath. With a jolt of fright, I poked my head through the door.

Blood. Lots and lots of blood. It stained the tile red, and was even spattered across the lightbulb to illuminate the room red. I gagged.

I took a step forwards on a clean tile, and glanced at the sink. The water was pure red. Above it was a mirror, also darkened with blood. I peered closer.

A few white spaces were arranged within the blood. As my eyes adjusted, I seemed to notice more. Eventually, I looked close enough to see the words "eid tsum mada."

"Is this another language?" Nitro tilted her head. "I've never heard of this before."

"Maybe it's a code," I shrugged, stepping back into the hallway carpet. It was exhausting to stay on my tippy toes. "But what kind?"

"I don't think it's a code. No person here would be that smart to memorize it."

"Maggie would," I scoffed.

"Maybe it's just simple logic. Maybe 'eid' rhymes with 'payed'."

I kept staring at the words. There was a slight chance Nitro was correct, but I ignored it. Why did this seem so obvious?

Maybe it was. Maybe we were overthinking. We just had to think outside the box.

I looked at the letters. What if they weren't lined up properly? There was a chance that it was like one of those games where they would re-arrange a word's  letters. Maybe that's what they did here?

My mind spun. I was never really good at those games. I would always ask Maggie if she could help me solve it, and then credit the whole puzzle to myself.

So, I had to start off with the basics. What would the sentence look like backwards? Would it make sense?

I looked at the last words and switched them around. My heart thudded a million miles an hour. I eventually worked out the second word, then the third. I turned to Nitro.

"Whoever the murderer is," I whispered shakily, "wants revenge."

"Why?" Nitro asked.

"Because backwards, this spells out 'Adam must die'."