Miss Meurtre

With her coffee mug in hand, Elliot tiptoed to the second floor. The scratching sound was coming from the room where Aunt Lizzie was staying. The sound could have come from whatever ritual Lizzie was doing to get closer to nature, but it was still good to check on her dear aunt, wasn’t it?

With a deep breath, she knocked on the door. “Aunt Lizzie?” Her voice sounded too loud in the silent house. There was no response. “Aunt Lizzie? I’m just checking up on you to make sure you’re okay…” Still no response. “Come on, Aunt Lizzie! Just respond, and I’ll leave.” There was a weird feeling in Elliot’s gut now, and there was some weird smell in the air. The smell of iron. The smell of blood.

“Aunt Lizzie!”

Elliot shoved open the door, and something darted out by her feet. She yelped, nearly tripping. It was Popeyes Drive-through, who was currently dashing down the hallway. So he had been the one making the scratching noise. She let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t crazy, after all. She looked over at the bed, just to see if Lizzie was still asleep—

A scream pierced the air. A coffee mug hit the floor. Elliot stumbled back against the door, eyes wide, her breath coming too quickly. She was dizzy, so dizzy.

Because, on the bed, the white sheets had been stained with blood. Lizzie stared, her eyes still open, up at the ceiling. Blood was still on her neck. Her throat had been slit during the night.

Part 3

“How do we know you didn’t do it?” snapped Bane for the third and hopefully last time.

Both Elliot and Sadie glared up at him.

It was Sadie who opened her mouth first. “Why would she kill her own aunt, you dolt?” she shot back, eyes narrowing. Sister and brother glared at each other. The tension in the room crackled.

Everyone in the house was gathered at the dining table. Benjamin had a cup of tea in his hands, eyes wide and empty as he stared into some invisible spot in the air. Cady was desperately trying to call someone, anyone, but the snow was blocking the Internet satellite. The least affected person in the room was Mave, who was making brunch in the kitchen. Which, in Elliot’s eyes, made her mother the biggest suspect. Elliot, however, chose to keep her mouth shut. Her mother’s arrest wouldn’t exactly be ideal, and besides, she didn’t have any proof.

There was a shouting match between the siblings now. Somehow, the topic had shifted from who could’ve killed Lizzie to Sadie’s main reason for hating her older brother.

“You think you’re better than us just because you got into law school?” Sadie was saying.

“I never said that,” Bane argued back.

“You were implying it!”

Theodore swept into the room. “Someone slashed the car tires,” he announced.

Finally, Benjamin looked up from his mug and spoke for the first time that day. “All of them?” he asked, voice trembling.

Theodore nodded.

Everyone was quiet for a while, except for Mave, who was humming a merry tune, as they all processed what was going on. Aunt Lizzie had been killed; they couldn’t call anyone, the cars wouldn’t work, the nearest town was miles away, and, in this snowstorm that was currently raging outside, none of them would be able to find it.