Mystery Story

At a new year's party, a rich man, Eric Victor, is found dead. The party guests are now the suspects. Was it his cold, distant, and jealous wife? His ex-girlfriend, who actually cared for him? Was it his estranged younger brother? Or was it his alcoholic, senile grandfather? We will soon find out.

Characters:

Eric Victor: Male, 25. The victim, death via fork to the throat. He was very successful through his endeavors; aka investing in adult entertainment. He and his wife were married for 5 years, but in the last 3 years, things have gotten cold, and they slept in separate beds. He even started having an affair and planned on divorcing Terryl. Eric was also having arguments with his brother about their grandfather, among other things, and they were not on friendly terms leading up to
his death.

Terryl Victor: Female, 24. Looking at this woman she can only be described as cold. Her straight blonde hair flows down to her hips, and her eyes are a calm, icy, blue. She's usually a calm and collected woman, definably accustomed to the great wealth her husband acquired. There are rumors about her being more explosive now that she has discovered her husband's affair, whereas before she had a quiet icy
rage, her temper is now more fiery than before.

Colton Victor: Male, 24. Colton is considered odd among the family. His shaggy brown hair and steel-blue eyes mark him as out-of-place in a well-groomed family. After a car accident, he suddenly started talking with a Russian accent. Later it was discovered that he had Foreign Accent Syndrome due to a minor brain injury, other than his accent, he is fine. He owns a coffee shop, a cute yet snazzy cafe, and has two apartments over it, one is his, the other is for his Grandfather. It was Colton who introduced Eric and Laura to each other.

Pappy Victor: Male, ???. Real name: ???!? Pappy is the old, alcoholic, and slowly turning senile patriarch of the family.  He doesn't do much, other than complain, drink, or yell stories about Vietnam and WWII. In the family, it seems like only Colton really cares about him, paying for Pappy's expenses, although when Laura was dating Eric, and even before then, she had shown that she cared for the old man too.

Laura Derringer: Female, 20.  Laura was Eric's secret lover, but if you asked anyone to describe their affair, it was anything but malicious. She and Eric were actually in love, something that infuriated Colton, who inadvertently brought them together, and later, Eric's wife.  She's a sweet girl, with slightly tanned skin from outdoor activities, gray-blue eyes, and medium brown hair that falls around her shoulders. She's very nice and cooperative, although she gets riled whenever she's near Terryl, due to Terryl's constant barrage of insults.

David Sullivan: Male, 35. Mr. Sullivan is the main investigator in this case, and it's up to him to find the murderer by interviewing all the suspects, even old Pappy. He gets headaches from loud noises, and tends to dislike loud, noisy, and interrupting people. He is rather chivalrous and fancies himself as a gentleman, even carrying around up to two handkerchiefs, one for him, one for anyone who needs it.

-*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*-
New Years Day, 2011, minutes after midnight, Eric Victor is found dead by his younger brother and his ex-girlfriend. The police are called, and Inspector David Sullivan is put on the case. He has to interview all of the guests at the party, surprisingly only four other people besides the deceased. I would have thought that such a rich man might have had a bigger party… and almost all of them are related to him. Must not have been too social, eh Eric? He glances over the scant paperwork about the party guests. Terryl V., the wife. Colton V., younger brother. Pappy V., oddly named grandfather of the deceased and Colton. Laura Derringer… Eric's ex-girlfriend, the only guest not related to him. Eric's will hasn't been brought in yet, but all the party guests have been rounded up into the large plush living room in the Victor Mansion. Looking in, Sullivan looks in and sees the four characters. Guess it's time to go in and talk to them. I'll try talking to them all at once, then talk to them one at a time if necessary. The Inspector walks in and flashes them his badge.

"Investigator David Sullivan, nice to meet you all." The long-haired blonde woman jumps up, wearing a lavish, glimmering, silvery dress made of an unknown material.

"This is an outrage! MY husband is dead we're stuffed in here like animals!"

"Ma'am, please sit down, it's been a long night, I'd rather not argue with you… Mrs. Victor, correct?" She nods curtly as she sits, throwing daggers with her eyes. David turns his attention to the brunette sitting on the other side of the couch, legs curled under her as she sips at some… wine? Or sparkling grape juice. Whatever. The brown-haired girl reminds him of a child almost, with those large eyes and the way she sits. "Miss. Derringer?" She nods without saying a word. Terryl glares at Laura venomously and huffs.

"Vill this take long, sir?" Sullivan looks at another couch, looking for the owner of the Russian-accented voice. Colton Victor, younger brother of the victim, with his arms around a slightly swaying old man, looks at the instructor. "Grandfather is not feeling very… vell. He drank too much again." The old man hiccups.

"Oi! I did not! There's never too much to drink! Why, when I was in 'Nam I could drink an entire bottle of whiskey before going to fight! Didn't feel a thing when I got shot I'll tell ya that! Them's how I got my bum leg!"

"Grandfather, your legs are fine!" Colton chastises in that strange accent.

"Whatever." The old man mumbles before going back to sitting quietly, swaying back and forth drunkenly.

"I will be as fast of possible Mr. Victor."

"Thank you."

Now addressing the whole group, Sullivan announces "I am going to talk to each one of you, one at a time, so no disruptions, please." Laura nods and Terryl glares at her, almost ignoring the inspector. Colton simply stares at Sullivan, and his grandfather just sways, staring at the floor.

Turning to Terryl first, David grabs a chair and sits on it in front of her. "Mrs. Victor, what happened that night?"

"Well, I was getting ready for the party, and my dearly departed husband was still alive, of course, and I started to receive guests, and let them in. I thought it was only going to be Eric, his brother, granddaddy, and I, but imagine my surprise when this… hussy shows up! I tried to turn her away of course but then Eric comes over and invites her in! I was furious." She gives a glance to Laura, but then turns back to Sullivan.

"When did you find out about the affair?"

Terryl's eyes narrow. "I would never forget! About a month or so I came home early from a lady's night with some of my friends, and I found them both here! It was… it was…!"

"It's ok, I get it ma'am." He notices Laura squirming in the corner, but the girl is staying quiet, thank goodness. He doesn't need an enraged heiress cat-fighting with her husband's ex-lover. "I'll be back to talk to you ma'am." He picks up the chair by the seat and moves it over to in front of Laura. "Miss. Derringer…"

"Please, you can call me just Laura, it'd make me more comfortable." "Alright, Laura. I know it was you and Mr. Victor who found Eric. What happened to you that night?"

Laura puts down the wine glass of juice on the side table by her. "I got an invitation to come to small get-together from Eric, since we broke up, he didn't want there to be any hard feelings, and still be friends, like before. So, since I didn't have anything else planned, I figured I would, just to smooth things over." Sullivan nods, she continues "Upon my arrival, Terryl got all hot and bothered, ranting and raving about how I shouldn't be here and she thought this was all over and on and on and on. Well, Eric heard the commotion and came over to the door, told Terryl to shut her trap and just let me in. She got mad and decided to hole up in her room that night, only coming down now and then, to socialize a little and glare at me." Looking over at Terryl, David and Laura can see Terryl's face getting more and more red, and her glare gets piercingly cold, and he can feel a chill go racing up his spine. "So I sat down here, chatted with Eric, Colton, and Pappy, but then Eric left to his study, said he was going to grab a book to show Colton, and maybe use the restroom, so not to expect him back anytime soon. He laughed and walked away, the last time I saw him alive." Little tears threaten to fall from Laura's eyes, but she wipes them away. "We continued on with the party, Terryl coming down sometimes, but if Eric wasn't there for her to drape herself over she'd head straight back up. Colton eventually had to use the restroom, so he left, then came back all wet, said the bathroom faucet broke." Sullivan remembered that one thing that had been noted was the washroom faucet's handle was broken clean off, and that it had been turned off by someone going and turning a valve under it that stopped the flow. He made a mental note to have someone check that valve for fingerprints. Laura was still talking, calmly continuing her narrative.  "Then Pappy had to use the restroom an hour or so later, so Colton left with him to help him out. When I was alone, Terryl came down, and seeing me alone cursed at me, going so far as to even threaten me."

Terryl leaps up again. "I did no such thing you insolent, ill-breed, little bi-"

"Mrs. Victor!" Inspector Sullivan yells. "Will you please sit down!" Terryl sits down begrudgingly and huffs again, finally just turning away from Laura.

Laura tilts her head with a "See what I have to deal with?" expression written clearly across her face. "Finally, Colton and Pappy came back, and we turned on the TV to watch the ball drop, and I wondered where Eric was. I asked Colton if he had seen him in the bathroom and he said no. So I went to go look for him, and Colton tagged along, saying he didn't want a lady wandering around alone or something, and we found Eric…." Her voice trembles and she looks at her feet with a tiny hiccup.

Sullivan touches her shoulder gently. "Do you have anything to say about your affair with Mr. Victor?" He hears a small dejected sigh from the other couch, but Laura doesn't seem to hear it.

"Well, first off, that night that Terryl came back early-"

Terryl cuts off Laura with a sneer. "Don't call by my name like you're a frien-"

"Mrs. Victor!" Sullivan yells at the icy woman, cutting her off in exchange. "Please, silence! Laura?"

"She came back early and saw me and him sitting on the couch talking, like normal people. Yes he was touching my leg, close to the hemline of my skirt even, but nothing so 'horrible' and 'disturbing' as she puts it. I left right away, and he told me that he confessed to her that he was having an affair, and that he wanted a divorce. Apparently she didn't take it well, but you've seen how she is. We continued to secretly meet now and then, prolonging the affair, but suddenly one day, he wants to break up! Maybe he wanted to save the small scraps of what was called a 'marriage' but I really don't know. He had the paperwork and everything, so why didn't he go through with it? But now… now he's dead." She looks down and tears start to fall down her cheeks.

Sullivan hands her his clean handkerchief and she nods a thank you and wipes the tears off. "I'll be moving on now." She nods. Sullivan moves the chair in the same way as before and is sitting in front of Pappy, waving around less than before, but there's still that hint of alcohol left in him. "Pappy?"

The old man jerks up. "Hmmm! What do you want!? Are you a commie!?"

Sullivan shakes his head. "No sir, I'm Investigator Sullivan, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember lots 'o things! Like one time while I was fighting in 'Nam, I found this beautiful girl, arm cut open, tears streaking her dirty face, but her beauty could be seen shining through! So of course I saved 'er and…" Colton gently pats Pappy's back.

Terryl rushes over, her concern visibly fake. "Oh Granddaddy! Please do be coherent!"

Colton snarls at her. "Voman, git avay from 'im. You do not care for 'im at all. You pretend and pretend but never really care!"

Terryl acts shocked and starts to squabble with Colton loudly.

Sullivan massages his temples. This woman… she's so annoying… and loud! He gives a sigh. "Mrs. Victor! Mr. Victor! Both of you! Calm down!" Colton shuts his mouth quickly, and Terryl skulks back to her couch.

Pappy sighs. "Hmmm… you don't want me to talk about mah war stories, huh? Well lemme tell you about tonight then! My grandson was murdered!" Sullivan weakly smiles and nods. "Well tonight his horrible wife was throwing a big hissy fit over this nice girl coming over, but he let the nice girl in anyway, I was glad! I like her better anyway. Well, the wife locks herself in her room and we all hung around in this here room, right here, for a good 'n long time. Eric left to get a book and take a leak, and neveeerrr came back! He had been kill't!" Pappy slams his fist on the side table surprisingly hard for such a frail old man. Then he hiccups and looks like he's going to fall asleep, eyes closed and a faint snoring noise.

Asleep…? Alright. He looks over to Colton and raises an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, he does dis sometimes. I vill gladly talk to you, if you wish."

Sullivan nods. "Sure, why not?"

Colton smiles. "Vell, vat Laura said vas all true, all of the events, but I do have some things to add."

"Vell, are you avare that my brother and I vere not… nice to each other, arguing about things."

"Like what?" Sullivan asks.

"His choice of business. You did know that he invested in… for a lack of better vording, adult entertainment." Colton's face flushes lightly. "Even Pappy did not approve when he could still think for himself. Besides that, we also argued about his affair."

Terryl gasps, and Sullivan observes Colton gazing at Laura while the girl stares at Terryl. Colton's eyes are filled with the pain of someone who harbors one-sided feelings. Turning back to Colton, Sullivan asks "So what did you talk about regarding the affair?"

"At first, it vasn't talking, ve didn't get to talking until after things cooled down. I introduced Laura to Eric you see, she vas one of my best friends, and I saw no harm in letting her mingle with my brother until I found out that they had feelings for each other. Then I heard that they started to meet sometimes, and then I heard that they were officially dating, even though Eric was still married to Terryl. I heard all this through the grapevine, never directly from those two. A few veeks ago I came over and talked to him about her. I knew he vas planning on getting a divorce, but I had to tell him, try at least, see what vent vrong with your marriage and try to save it. If he had to get a divorce, I said, be an honest man vhile doing it."

Laura looks at Colton for the first time since Sullivan has entered the room. "It was your fault that he wanted to break it off?" She looks even more upset than before, and is obviously pained by what she sees as a betrayal.

"I…I had to. My brother, besides investing in porn, also had a girlfriend on the side? It does not look good! How did you know he was honestly going to leave Terryl for you anyvay?" Colton doesn't raise his voice, but talks to her plainly and simply, trying his best to get his point across to her.

Laura looks away from Colton, holding Sullivan's handkerchief in her face.

"I can see this is a delicate subject… I'll be right back, I hope you all act civil." He glances at Colton and Terryl but both of them are preoccupied and don't notice. Sullivan leaves the room before anyone can say anything, and he shuts the door behind him. I can think of some motives… Terryl, enraged again by Laura showing up, kills him. Or Laura, being left for him to go back to the wife must have been painful, she obviously loved him. Pappy might have accidently killed Eric while thinking he was in Veitnam or something. Colton even admitted that he and his brother were arguing, not to mention it seems like he has a thing for Laura. I'll have more thinking to do when I read Eric's will. Sullivan starts heading toward the study, where Eric was found dead, and where his body still lays. On his way there, he's stopped by an officer who thrusts some paperwork into Sullivan's hands.

"The deceased's will." The cop tips his hat and goes off somewhere else.

Sullivan rustles the papers and starts to read Eric's last will and testament, standing right there, in the hall. He barely budges until he is done, and then he continues onto the study, thinking about the information that the will departed.

Eric's estate is worth about 5 million… half of that goes to Laura, big surprise. One forth goes to his grandfather's exspenses, and if the old man should die before it is all used up, the rest goes to Colton, also Colton will be the holder of that money for Pappy, because, as the will says, Eric trusts Colton to use the money responsibly and not take what isn't his. The last fourth left over is split into eighths, one eighth going to charity, and the last bits go to his wife. So Laura's getting the most, huh? Well, that could be another reason… or combine with the other one. If she knew that she was getting tons of money and that he was leaving her to try to work things out, then killing him before he could change anything would make sure that she still got the money. The way she acted though… I just don't think that she did it. I won't consider her a suspect until I find evidence that she did do it, or was involved in it. Colton might not have anything to do with it, since he doesn't really get any personal money directly… but I will keep him in mind. Something seems wrong about him. Pappy, well… Pappy. Can't say much for the fellow, I suppose he just drank the entire time, and if Colton was with him in the bathroom then he was always in the room, as was Laura. So Laura and Pappy are out, since they have witnesses who acknowledge that they stayed in the living room the entire time, with Pappy having someone with him in the bathroom. So it's either Terryl or Colton.

He snaps out of his deep thoughts and realizes that he passed the study and he's by the bathroom instead, so he decides to go investigate.

Going inside, he finds a small forensics team swabbing down the faucet and sighs, relieved. At least I didn't have to ask for a team this time. He bends over to watch the lady swabbing the broken faucet. "Find anything?"

She looks up. "Fingerprints, and traces of blood, most likely the victim's but it has to come back from testing, but it probably won't be  conclusive, it was washed."

Sullivan nods. "Who's fingerprints?"

"We compared them to the fingerprints we took from the suspects when we got here, and they appear to match Colton Victor."

Sullivan is quiet. "Makes sense, since he even admitted to breaking the faucet but the blood…" An idea forms in his head and he leaves abruptly. Striding down the hall to the living room, he stops to open the door and walks in on total chaos. Terryl is yelling at Laura and Colton, Laura crying on the couch, and Colton is yelling at Terryl. The noise immediately starts pricks of pain in Sullivan's head, but he ignores it to roar "SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Terryl plops down on her side of the couch, surprised. Laura hiccups, and Colton continues to stand.

"I am so very sorry inspector, I was trying to stop them and…" Colton shrugs his hands helplessly.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask for your jacket, Mr. Victor."

Colton looks at Sullivan oddly, even sort of suspicious, and peels off his suit jacket slowly and hands it to the inspector.

Sullivan takes it. "I'll be back." He leaves the room and hurries over to the lady who was working the forensics in the bathroom. "Hey, think you can do your fancy testing thing on the sleeves of this coat, ma'am?"

She looks at the jacket as Sullivan hands it to her and nods. "Yeah I think so. What are we looking for?"

"Well, it seems like no one else is injured, so blood."

She nods and pulls out a small spray bottle from a nearby box, and sprays it on one of the jacket's sleeves, then gets out a small blacklight and clicks it on. The sleeve glows a bright blue, and Sullivan knows right away.

"You're going to want to put that in evidence, I need to go talk to the suspects again."

The lady nods and Sullivan is off, back to the living room.

He strides into the room, it's silent for once, everyone is looking at him, except for Colton. Colton's staring sadly at Laura. He knows, doesn't he?
"Mr. Colton Victor, you are to be arrested for the murder of your brother Eric Victor." A small gasp goes throughout the room, mostly from Terryl and Laura.
"C-Colton you…?" Laura stares up at Colton in a way that can only be described as heartbreaking Sullivan almost couldn't look at the poor girl.

"I… I did Laura…"

"But why…? He was my- your brother."

Colton looks even more sad. "Yes, I knew. I knew he was yours, and you were his. I only wanted… well…" He blushes but looks away with shame, and Laura's eyes widen a little, realizing why. She turns away and starts to cry as Colton is handcuffed by an officer and led away with Inspector Sullivan.

Fin.