I had just finished the term at school and now it was the summer holidays. My mother and father were going on holiday and I decided to go and spend the summer at my friend Amelie’s house. She lived in a countryside manor and it took a four-hour train journey just to get to her house!
Whilst looking out of the window, I marveled at how the smoke-polluted cities turned into meadows filled with buttercups and daisies. Wild flowers grew in amongst the hedgerows near rows of neat houses and bees flew in swarms wherever I looked.
The train eased to a slow stop at yet another station. It was mine. I got off and looked around. It was the first time I had been somewhere like this. My friend and her Dad were stood waiting for me at the station next to their shiny black Rolls Royce ready to take me home. A rusty van sped past us and once it had gone out of sight I saw two people on the other side of the road. It was Daisy and Hazel from the book I had been reading on the train (Murder most unladylike: Jolly Foul Play!) They were even wearing their Deepdean uniforms! Could my eyes be deceiving me? I thought they were only fictional characters.
It was almost dark when we arrived at Amelie’s house and so I went straight to bed.
I woke up the next morning to a shrill scream! Immediately, I knew it was the maid – Antionette, for she had a very distinctive French accent. The sound of tears followed and I bolted downstairs as fast a jaguar racing for its prey! The sight that greeted me was very unpleasant. Antionette stood sobbing over a laid out body. It was the butler, he was DEAD! His scrawny arm lay over his head, covering his eyes and near him candle wax was sprayed up the wall. Flakes of diamond were scattered on the carpet nearby and a big pane of glass was missing from the large window panels. An empty hessian swag bag lay near the body. Could these be pieces of evidence?
The news of the horrible incident quickly spread and the police were soon called.
Inspector Priestly looked as though he had a lot on his mind; while the tall, thin police constable, Pugh, busied himself taking a statement from the shaken maid.
It was clear from the maid’s account that the butler must have died sometime between 6:30 and 8:30am whilst she was preparing our breakfast because she hadn’t seen the body or anything else out of place when she first came down downstairs. Hadn’t she heard anything? I thought this was very strange.
However, Constable Pugh seemed more interested in the fact that there was a hessian swag bag nearby and I heard him muttering to Inspector Priestly something about the villainous Grandma Swag! She hadn’t been caught after her gang’s last big heist and it seemed the police were now convinced that she was somehow involved in the poor butler’s death!
It was at that moment, my friend Amelie appeared at the front door with Daisy and Hazel. Before I had seen them yesterday, I had thought they were just fictional characters. I was so pleased to meet them! They are my heroes.
They came over to me and we talked about the situation. “We need to find the murder weapon” hissed Daisy so as not to be heard. Hazel, who had now made friends with both me and Amelie, begged her to do something in a whisper. After their secret conversation, Daisy offered us both a place as members of the Detective Society.
I was delighted to be asked and felt honored that they would consider me, and clearly Amelie was too. She nodded her head excitedly and a big smile spread across her face, from cheek to cheek. Hazel was happy that Daisy had even considered letting us join. Arm in arm we all rushed outside to hold our first meeting and discuss the new case. We were determined to solve this mystery before the police did!
