Dead Man's Nettle

  Here is the third book of The Series Of Murder!

Dead man’s nettle

Contents Page

Chapter 1 Bets, Amy, Iona and Hannah

Chapter 2 So many nettles!

Chapter 3 The disappearing mirror

Chapter 4 Holidays are the perfect type of break, until…

Chapter 5 Murder!

Chapter 6 Why them?

Chapter 7 I think I know who it is!

Chapter 8 The murdered stranger

Chapter 9 Now I am sure!

Chapter 10 Oh Mrs Syrup!

 

Chapter 1

Bets, Amy, Iona and Hannah

Bets, Amy, Iona and Hannah were all nineteen and two years ago, two series of murder had happened. They were glad that now it had all stopped; it was a week ago that, being best friends, they had moved in together. Like when you move in a flat with someone but only, this was an old house in a lane called Humble Berry Lane in a village called Damson Dale. “Do any of you fancy a drink? I’m making myself a hot chocolate any way,” Iona asked one day,

“Yes, I’ll have one please Iona.” Bets replied,

“Oh Ernie!” said Hannah as their dog started chewing a newspaper, “Stop that Ernie!” Amy said and Ernie, being a well trained dog, left the newspaper alone. Iona came and sat down; giving Bets her drink as she did so. “Well I’ve got to go to town to buy some material for my next card I’m making for my aunt.” Amy said as she had a sort of hobby of making professional celebration cards. “I need some compost for some flowers I’m going to plant in the garden so I’ll come with you Amy.” Iona was a keen gardener,

“That leaves me and Hannah to walk Ernie,” Bets said. Sometimes she felt quite left out as she was the only one who didn’t have a hobby. Amy created cards, Iona liked gardening, Hannah played the violin, and Bets did nothing. But this didn’t stop her from liking the others; they had all met at the start of secondary school and had been friends from then. Iona wouldn’t usually make the hot chocolate but Chubs (their cook) was out shopping.

 

Chapter 2

So many nettles!
Mrs Suji was out with Mabel Tesco and Emma Alps; they were looking for some nice flowers to put in vases at their homes. Since it was only just March their vases were quite empty. “There’s some lovely blue ones here, I’ve seen people picking them before but I’ve never known what they were called!” Mabel said,

“They’re phlox Mabel, you can pick some if you like, I think they’d look nice in your living room.” Emma replied,

“I quite like these tulips, but they’re in Bets’ and the others garden, I’ll ask them if I can have one or two later.” Mrs Suji said, “I think I’ll pick some of the daffodils in my garden for my house.” Emma said, they walked through Frosty Woods, heading back to their houses when, at the other side of the wood, they found that the exit was completely covered in nettles! Long ones short ones, big ones small ones, they had never seen so many nettles! There really wasn’t a nettle-free gap anywhere, it was maddening! Slowly they started to walk through them, lifting their legs up high. Mrs Suji and Emma were ok as they were wearing long trousers, but Mabel had picked a skirt and was getting stung all over her legs. When they finally got out of the nettles they all went back to Mabel’s house where Mabel found some cream to put on her legs. Emma had also managed to get stung a few times on her ankles as there was a tiny gap between her shoes and her trousers. “Well I wonder where all those nettles have come from!” Mabel said as she rubbed some cream onto her left leg. “Yes I’ve only ever really seen one or two nettles there before and they can’t have spread that quickly! That means that someone must have planted them,” Emma explained.

“I don’t know if you noticed but there were two long stalks with no nettles on, they looked as if they had been picked, did any of you two see them?” Mrs Suji asked, “I only spotted them because the stalks were so long,” Mabel and Emma shook their heads, but they had been going a lot slower than Mrs Suji as they had been being stung. “I wish that I’d put my jeans on today, then I wouldn’t have got stung at all!” Mabel sighed,

“Well I’m not usually the lucky one, but it looks like I am here!” Mrs Suji laughed and got up, “I must be off, got lots of shopping to do. Lovely walk up until the nettles though, bye,” Emma got up and said goodbye about ten minutes later so Mabel was left on her own. Well, not quite on her own, there was no other person left but she still had her cat Mabelle to keep her company!

 

Chapter 3

The disappearing mirror

Mrs Syrup was having a cup of coffee at Stan’s Café; she meant to go on her own to read the paper but had met Patrick Lucas there. They recognised each other so sat down together and started talking, “Hello, it’s nice to have no more murders of mysterious affairs happening,” Patrick started. “Thanks to you there’s been no more horrid people murdering anyone.”

“Well I couldn’t have done it without help, do you remember, in the first ‘happening’ Mabel reminded me of something, in the second it was her cat. Hopefully there won’t be another one or there’ll be nothing left of Damson Dale at all!” Mrs Syrup laughed, “Oh I’m sure there won’t be another one for a long time!” Patrick said, but that’s where he was wrong… “Have any of you seen my mirror? You know, the one on the wall in my bedroom, the one mother gave to me from when she lived in Africa.” Bets said,

“No, come to think of it your mirror wasn’t there yesterday either, but I thought you had taken it down.” Iona said, Bets went and asked Chubs but she hadn’t seen it either. “No, I haven’t taken it, why would I want a mirror?”

“It’s a funny thing to take, I mean it must have been stolen, mustn’t it? There’s no reason to take it, it’s probably only worth a few pounds!” Bets explained. “It was three days before Albert Topps was murdered actually, that mother gave it to me I mean.”

“I’m just going to put a plaster on my finger, oh no there’s no more in the cupboard I looked yesterday, can I use one of the ones on your dressing table Bets?” Amy asked, “Yes of course Amy, the wall behind it looks terribly bare at the minute though, now that the mirror’s gone.” Bets replied, Amy went upstairs and came down a minute later with a nettle in her hand (being held by the stalk.) “I found a nettle on your dressing table Bets, do you know why it was there?” she asked, “Maybe it’s the thief that took Bets’ mirror’s present!” Hannah laughed. Bets told Mrs Syrup about the mirror and the nettle, “Hmm, I think that we’d all better look out. There’s still one more danger to come, yes we all need to look out. Tell everyone in the village to look out Bets, there’s going to be three series of happenings, not just two. Two have gone and one at least, I’m afraid, is still to come…”

Chapter 4

Holidays are the perfect type of break, until…

“So then, has everyone got everything?” Mabel said to the rest of the village who were waiting at the bus stop with her. They were all going to Norfolk for a holiday, they were to catch the bus to the train station and then walk to their holiday house which looked over the sea. “Yup, I made sure before I left,” Patrick said. Everyone else nodded just as the village bus drove up. Everyone got on and sat down, “This is the first proper holiday I’ve had in four years!” Mabel exclaimed to Hannah, “The last one I had was 1988

 which was twenty years ago!” Mrs Suji said from the opposite side of the bus. The bus drove up to Linkentine Train Station, everyone picked up their luggage and bought their tickets. “We’ll catch the 9:45, we should get there by twelve with a bit of luck,” Bets said as they started walking towards the platform. The train chuffed up and everyone climbed on, they found their seats and sat down. Their luggage was in a different carriage so they only had their hand or small bags with them. After two hours and fifteen minutes and one stop for water, they arrived outside a small village. “We’re looking for Silken Lane, I think that when I phoned up they said it was left of the small woods, apparently you can see it as soon as you enter the village.” Amy explained, they started walking into the village and as they did, they saw small woods and just to the left of it, was Silken Lane. They entered the lane and saw a large, Tudor house, “This is it! I’ve got the keys so we can go in straight away; there are seven rooms but a sofa bed in a study upstairs.” Iona said,

“I’ll sleep in it,” Patrick said. Iona unlocked the door which opened into a huge hallway. There were three big doors in the wall, an opening into a large living space and a staircase. Everyone had a look downstairs and then took their bags upstairs; each person had a large bag as they were staying at their house for three weeks. On the landing there were nine doors, seven bedrooms, a study and a bathroom. One of the bedrooms had an en suite and another had a large window seat. Everyone chose a bedroom, Hannah choosing the one with an en suite and Bets with the window seat. The bags were all unpacked and lunch was served. Seeing as they had only just got there lunch was not huge, a small salad and ham was all that was served. The rest of the day was spent sunbathing on the sand or swimming in the sea.  At exactly 10:00 that night Mabel announced that she was going to bed, “I’ll come with you Mabel,” Hannah said as she had been yawning all day. Everyone was in bed by 11:00pm and fell asleep happily; Patrick went upstairs at 10:30pm but stayed writing a letter until 11:00pm and fell asleep at the desk in his room, but didn’t wake up…

Chapter 5

Murder!

At precisely 11:00pm somebody crept into Patrick Lucas’ room where he was writing, they crept up to him and… A yell was heard at 11:02pm and everyone rushed up to the study or Patrick’s room as that was where the yell came from. Mabel banged on the door and shouted Patrick’s name, “Patrick! Are you in there?” there was no answer, in a hurry she opened the door and looked around; a bunch of other people looked over her shoulders. “Aah!” Iona fainted as what she saw was gruesome; Patrick Lucas was lying there, stabbed. Emma ran downstairs and rung for the doctor and police. Within minutes the doctor rode up on his bicycle and the police drove up in their car. “Hmm, dagger in chest, we’ll have it checked for finger prints. The ink pot is knocked over and the quill pen on the floor.” The police were noting things down. Patrick had been identified by the doctor as dead, Iona had been put to bed and was being checked on every now and then. “I don’t know about you but I think that we’re dealing murder,” PC Jolter had just happened to be on duty in Norfolk. He had been put in charge of the case, Mrs Syrup was also helping in the case. She had meant to be going on holiday with the rest of the village but her sister had come down with flu so she had to go and look after her. Now that her sister was better, she could stay with the rest of the village. It sort of worked better as Mrs Syrup could have Patrick’s room. (Don’t think I’m saying it was good that Patrick was dead.)  Iona finally woke up, “Is he dead?” she asked Bets, “Yes, he’s dead alright. Now there are only girls in the village,” Bets replied. The next morning breakfast was simply toast. Nothing fancy or delicious, just toast.

 

Chapter 6

Why them?

“Hmm,” Mrs Syrup thought as she sat at the desk in her ‘bedroom.’ She was thinking about Patrick Lucas’ death, it was being treated as murder. “I don’t see how it can be suicide, if it is then it was certainly a funny way to commit it and accidental death is out of the question!” Was Jolter’s view of it. Nobody really spoke or ate much; there was one question, a question that was bothering everyone, why them? Patrick was an innocent man so why kill him? I mean, you’ve got the perfect right to not like him but wasn’t it going a bit far to kill him? The rest of the village certainly thought so, no-one said so, but it was obvious that everyone thought so. The next morning Bets was talking to Jolter on the phone, “Yes, yes, well I’ve phoned to talk to you about something that I think is linked with the death of Patrick Lucas. Daphne? Who’s Daphne? Oh, yes I’ve told Mrs Syrup, it’s about nettles…”

“Did you say that there was a nettle by Patrick Lucas’ body?” Amy asked Bets five minutes later, “Yes, I’ve just told PC Jolter.” Mrs Syrup was sitting down talking to Mabel Tesco in her room. They were both quite tired and stammered a lot in their speech; everyone was like that, even Chubs who is usually cheerful of grumpy, not scared or sad. 

 

Children at the school next to the house were singing the nursery rhyme,

“Flowers grow, yellow, no black,

Once they’re gone they’ll never grow back,

Look at the petal, the pretty pink petal,

Never as deadly as Dead Man’s Nettle.”

Chapter 7

I think I know who did it!

Edward Kipling was reading a book in bed at 10:00 clock pm, he lived at 116 Oposing Lane, Polter. Mrs Suji was also reading a book at the time, or so she said… “Da da da ta ta ta pa pa pa la la la!” Chubs was singing whilst boilng eggs for breakfast, Miss Golding was behind her scowling, just to annoy Chubs she started whistling, “Ta peep, la peep!” Amy walked in, “Oh! I thought it was the fire alarm!” She said laughing and walked back out, “Do stop whistling Lily!” Chubs said five minutes later, annoyingly ‘Lily’ or Miss Golding, carried on whistling. But louder and a more annoying sound this time, by a ‘more annoying sound’ I mean like the siren of a fire engine or police car etc. Ten minutes later everyone was eating breakfast, some had toast, some had boiled egg, some had bacon and some had cereal. “I do hope that no more murders happen!” said Mabel,

“Yes, it’s all so sad, and confusing,”

“Confusing, confusing, yes it’s all very much confusing!” Mrs Syrup said to herself, “Are you feeling alright Mrs Syrup?”

“Oh yes, quite alright. Said Mrs Syrup, who suddenly seemed in everyone else’s world again. The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence, until Mrs Syrup thumped the table and said, “I think I know who did it!” with that, she walked off.

Chapter 8

The murdered stranger

“Well if she knows who did it why didn’t she just tell us?” Mabel asked confused, “She needs proof,” Mrs Suji answered. “Without evidence you can’t be sure of anything.” The postman delivered a letter through Mabel’s letterbox. It had a red envelope and read ‘Mabela Tesco’ instead of Mabel Tesco.’ Mabel opened the letter and read out the sheet inside,

‘Flowers grow yellow and black,

Once they’re gone they’ll never grow back,

Look at the petal the pretty pink petal,

Never as deadly as Dead Man’s Nettle.

E.k’

Actually, Mabel wasn’t the only one to have got a letter from ‘E.K’ Mrs Syrup had had one as well, but it said a completely different thing,

‘You’ll never solve this mystery,

However hard you try,

So don’t try to solve this mystery,

Because you’ll fail and then you’ll cry!

E.K’

Mabel and Mrs Syrup were puzzled, they didn’t quite know what to do, so they didn’t do anything exept tell the rest of the villagers. Emma Alps was walking to the wardrobe in her room at the holiday house, she opened it, she saw something, she rushed to the police station.  ‘Then mix the parsley into the sauce and…’ Mabel Tesco was watching ‘Learn to cook with Lesley Long.’ Suddenly Emma walked in and said something. Mabel and Emma rushed to the landing where everyone else was waiting for them.. “He’s been identified as Edward Kipling, anyone know him?” Emma asked, everyone shook their head.

 

Chapter 9

Now I am sure!

‘Him’ as he had been referred to as was Edward Kipling, and Edward Kipling had been found poisoned in Emma Alps’ wardrobe. Mabel Tesco went up to bed early as she had not slept very well the night before. Everyone else went to bed considerably late, they stayed up watching a film and chatting until midnight. It was quite quiet and when I say the chatted, it was only every now and again. This was because Mabel was usually the one who kept the conversation going. The first to fall asleep was, not surprisingly, Mabel Tesco. Although it did take her a matter of minutes, well, half an hour to be precise. At 1:00 that morning Mrs Syrup woke with a start. She had been having a dream, a quite unsettling but helpful dream, a dream that had made her sure of who had murdered Patrick Lucas and Edward Kipling. She explained all this the following day in full detail.

 

Chapter 10

Oh Mrs Syrup

“So, for our murderer, it was all simple. There were two murders, one of which the victim was Patrick Lucas and the other of Edward Kipling. Anyone could have poisoned Edward Kipling, so I will only talk about the death of Patrick Lucas. Apart from this, Mabel Tesco and Mrs Syrup received letters signed ‘E.K.’ These letters were written by Edward Kipling. Why write these letters? Our murderer paid him to do so. So now, Patrick Lucas. First of all our murderer goes to Patrick Lucas’ room, they gag him and force exactly 20ml of poison down his throat. Then our murderer has a shock, they hear footsteps and the footsteps they hear are close. The murderer stuffs the gag into their pocket and thinks of a way to dispose of the poison bottle. Now, Patrick was always fond of writing with a quill pen which is exactly what he was doing before he was murdered. Our murderer takes the poison bottle and places it on the shelf with all the ink. They get a full ink bottle and pour the tiniest bit of ink into the poison bottle. Then they place the almost full ink bottle on the desk where Patrick Lucas is lying dead. The murderer tips the bottle over and lies it on it’s side with the lid off. They place the quill pen next to the ink bottle. Then they stab the already dead Patrick Lucas to make it look like that it how he was murdered. Now our murderer simply stamps his feet about ten times and yells to create a commotion and runs to their own room in which they appear from a few seconds later. Why did they do it? Because, Patrick Lucas had a secret, he wasn’t called Patrick Lucas, he wasn’t innocent, in fact this man was extremely guilty. His real name was Thomas Morley and Thomas Morley used to live in Spain. He did until he robbed a bank, therefore to not be found out, he changed his name, died his hair and shaved his beard. He had a tad of Spanish accent, our murderer noticed it, they also found his birth certificate. Then, all they had to do was threaten him; “If you do not tell me the whole truth I will kill you!” was along the lines of what they said. Thomas Morley also moved house to here. Mrs Syrup explained,

“Yes but who is ‘our murderer?’” Mabel asked,

“Oh yes, now for our murderer to be able to commit this crime, their room had to be near to Thomas’. So that rules out Mabel, Emma and Bets, their rooms were on the other side of the landing. The murderer also had to be clever, so that rules out Chubs and Miss Golding. So now we are left with four people, Mrs Suji, Hannah, Amy and Iona and of course myself, but it wasn’t me, I wasn’t anywhere near this house at the time. So, now I will explain how it cannot be three of these people. Hannah, you cannot have committed the murder, for you at the time were in your en suite taking a shower. Amy, you were asleep at the time, you woke up when all the commotion occurred. So that leaves us with Iona Curter and Mrs Suji. Mrs Suji, you told us that at the time of the murder, you were reading. That you were not, you were poisoning Thomas Morley.” Mrs Syrup finished, “This woman’s mad! I wouldn’t commit a crime; anyway she still hasn’t explained why it couldn’t have been Iona.” Mrs Suji went scarlet,

“Iona was with me,” Mabel said.

PC Jolter and everyone was silent, until PC Jolter said, “Well done Mrs Syrup, but can I ask you a question, will you ever stop beating us?”

 

I'm a little teapot

Here is book two of the series of murder (in which The Ten Cards is the first book) called I'm a little teapot.

 

 

I’m a little teapot

 

 

I’m A Little Teapot

I’m a little teapot short and stout

Here’s my handle here’s my spout

When I see the teacups hear me shout

Tip me up and pour me out

 

Contents page

Chapter 1 What Mr and Miss Smythe were like

Chapter 2 Where is Miss Smythe?

Chapter 3 I’m a little teapot short and stout

Chapter 4 Here’s my handle here’s my spout

Chapter 5 The row

Chapter 6 Chubs and Miss Golding

Chapter 7 When I see the teacups hear me shout

Chapter 8 Death Takes Time

Chapter 9 I think it was…

Chapter 10 Tip me up and pour me out

Chapter 11 Yet again, solved by Mrs Syrup

Chapter 1

What Mr and Miss Smythe were like

“Well I’m certainly looking forward to having a peaceful life for a while!” said Neil Topps three weeks after a series of murders happening. “Yes, I agree,” Mrs Syrup agreed, she had solved the mystery. Mr Smythe and his daughter were renting out a house in the very same village. It was an extremely small village, even smaller then though as so many people had been murdered. “Wherever we go I certainly hope Mrs Syrup stays so that she can solve any more mysterious happenings!” Jane Gane laughed.

“Don’t be silly mother,” said her daughter Bets (short for Elizabeth.) “No more murders will happen, none of us would commit a crime of any sort.” Her brother Joe was nodding in agreement, Stanley Smythe wasn’t too keen on the village or the people in it and insisted on moving somewhere else the following year. His daughter Stella however, had other ideas, “I do like it here father,” she was saying to her father one day. “Hmm, I’m not so sure,” her father replied sternly. It was 9:00 in the morning the following day and most people were having their breakfast, even Bets and Joe who, being seventeen and eighteen, would usually be studying. But it was their holiday so they had three weeks to spend some time with their friends and family. “Chubs!” shouted Bets, “Can I have some more juice please!”

“Coming Bets,” Chubs said from the kitchen.

“Can I have another slice of toast as well?” Joe asked,

Chubs said yes and the rest of breakfast at fifteen Corner Street was spent eating and talking. Mrs Suji was quite happily getting dressed; Mabel Tesco and Emma Alps were talking at Emma’s house (Mabel had been staying there) whilst drinking a cup of coffee. Neil Topps was singing in the shower, Amy Rando was watching TV, and Iona Curter was reading a book. I am not quite counting the Smythes as people of the village as they were only renting a house out for a year or so. If you are wondering what they were doing, they were eating breakfast. At precisely ten o’clock, everyone was down at the market place. “I’m not too keen on that man Stanley Smythe,” Mrs Suji was saying to Neil Topps. “I quite agree Mrs Suji, but his daughter Stella is quite the opposite, sweet natured and cares about others more than herself. Her father is, well, how I should put it, rather stroppy and somehow boastful. Doesn’t have the slightest interest in anyone or anything apart from himself.” Neil Topps and Mrs Suji paused for a minute, Mrs Syrup joined them and started up the conversation again. “I’m so sorry for interrupting but I really must ask you Mrs Suji, you borrowed a book from me a few weeks ago, would it be possible to have it back?”

“Oh yes of course, I’ll bring it round to you later.” Mrs Suji replied.

“Thank you, I must be going now.” Mrs Syrup started walking away, but when she was still in ear-shot, Neil said, “This may be going a bit far, but Mr Smythe seems a little like the sort of man to commit murder…”

       Chapter 2

Where is Miss Smythe?

At ten 0’ clock that night Mrs Syrup was sitting at her bedroom dresser, worrying herself over something. She didn’t quite know what it was, but there was something bothering her, it was ten minutes that she had been sitting there. She banged on the table and stood up. “I’m being silly,” she said aloud. “There is nothing wrong anywhere, the only thing that there’s something wrong with is me.” After that Mrs Syrup simply got changed, brushed her teeth and went to bed. But she couldn’t sleep, there was something wrong and she knew it, well she didn’t actually know what was wrong but what she did know was that something was. The following morning Jane and Bets were eating breakfast, Joe was at his house doing the same. Bets had always said that the age of eighteen was too young to move out but her mother insisted that she would think differently when she was that age. Of course Joe didn’t live there much as he was still studying, but he had bought the house. He liked it particularly because it was in the same village as his mother and sister. Chubs came in with the phone in her hand. “Mr Smythe, for Jane,” she said. Jane got up and took the phone into the kitchen, she came in a minute later holding her hand over it. “Have you seen Stella Smythe since yesterday Bets?” she asked. Bets shook her head. “No I’m terribly sorry Mr Smythe but she hasn’t, I’m awfully sorry about Stella being missing. Yes we’ll all look out for her, bye.” Jane put down the phone and sat back down. “What was that about Stella being missing? I’d rather it be her father!” Bets questioned,

“Well this morning Mr Smythe was knocking on her door trying to get an answer, it was locked so he broke it down. She was gone and so was the key to her door, Mr Smythe is terribly upset and, he didn’t say so, but I bet that he hates the village even more now. Mabel Tesco, like everyone else, had also had a call from Mr Smythe and was sitting on the opposite sofa to Emma, talking and stroking her cat Mabelle. She had only got Mabelle (a two month old tabby kitten) a week ago. It was Emma’s idea of calling her Mabelle. She said that women called Mabel should always have a brown, black and white under the chin tabby kitten called Mabelle. Mrs Syrup had come over to Emma’s house to talk about the disappearance the next day, she wasn’t trying to take charge but couldn’t help being interested. The police had already been contacted and were searching. Jolter had been put in charge of the case, as he had been for the murders before. “Aah Mrs Syrup, I see you’ve got here before us, again” he said, smiling. Jolter had always had a soft spot for Mrs Syrup. “Well inspector I won’t interfere too much as I know it’s your case but I…”

“No Mrs Syrup, I would rather if you helped me solve this actually.” Jolter said.

“Well, if you insist,” Mrs Syrup agreed.

Chapter 3

I’m a little teapot short and stout

Just in case you are confused, Mabel had brought Mabelle to Emma’s house, she loved her so much that she felt that she simply couldn’t leave her behind. “I hope that Stella’s alright, I mean, I miss seeing her, although she was short, and a little chubby as well (no offence). A bit like the rhyme – “I’m a little teapot short and stout!” Two days later and Stella had still not been found; Mr Smythe was by now in hysterics and, even though he had a lot of sympathy, was driving the village mad. He was actually showing that he did care about Stella! He and Mrs Suji were chatting on a Thursday, they had happened to both be going shopping in Thornford. They had instantly recognised each other as being either, ‘That horrible man Mr Smythe’ or ‘That weird lady that lives in Tappard Lane.’ “Erm, I’ve never caught your name…” Mr Smythe said.

“Mrs Suji.” Mrs Suji plainly replied.

“Your first name?” he asked.

“I have never liked my first name so everyone calls me Mrs Suji, Stanley.” She replied, bluntly,

“Well, seeing as I have only rented a house in your silly little village, I would also like to be called Mr Smythe.” Mr Smythe said, “Good-day Mr Smythe,” Mrs Suji said, and walked off. She was smiling to herself as she did so. At Emma’s house, her and Mabel were watching a programme about antiques. Mabelle came in through the open door with something in her mouth. “Oh Mabelle, what have you brought in this time!” Mabel said, “Here, give it to me,” Mabelle dropped the paper politely. Mabel read out what the paper said, “It has an ellipse first, and then reads ‘I’m a little teapot’ with another ellipse.” Mabel went white after this,

“What on earth’s the matter Mabel? Oh, yes you said that she was short and stout like the rhyme the other day! I remember, but Mabel shook her head and pointed to the paper. Emma read it aloud, “Yes Mabel, you are right, Stella is short and stout.” She read, Mrs Syrup and PC Jolter were reading the same paper five minutes later. Mabel and Emma were standing there with Mabelle. “Well I think that Mabelle may have found us the first clue!” Jolter said,

“Oh no PC Jolter, Mabelle can be a lot more helpful now by showing us where she found this. I am sure that she wants to go there now. The paper was obviously attached to something, you see, the corner had ripped off.” Mrs Syrup said, Mabel let Mabelle down, she ran off. With Mabel and Emma behind them, PC Jolter and Mrs Syrup followed her. They finally came to a big bush, Mabelle jumped straight into it. “We have our place!” Jolter said, he parted the bush and gasped. Mrs Syrup looked as-well, she turned to Mabel and Emma, “I’m afraid that it’s quite what I expected, Stella Smythe, is dead…”

Chapter 4

Not again!

The news spread around the village about Stella, “Well for one I really do wish that it wasn’t Stella that died! And for two why is it our village that gets all the murders!” Jane was saying to Bets when they were eating lunch on a Monday at one 0’clock. “Yes,” agreed Bets, “And it also means that it could be any one of us next!” Bets, Hannah, Iona and Amy were having a meal out the next day, they went to knock on Neil’s door when they were coming back, he wasn’t in. So Bets left the film that she was lending to him on the door-step. She rung his mobile to tell him so, but there was no answer. Instead she left a message on his answer phone. Then they all went their separate ways to home. Later on that day Bets remembered that Neil was probably driving a taxi somewhere, but the next day Neil was still not there. But he was back in the village the next, as a matter of fact; he had never left it… Hannah Maple was taking a walk and had found a boot sticking out of a pile of leaves, “Funny place to leave a boot!” she thought. Hannah pulled at it and got the shock of her life, Neil Topps’ face became visible as the owner of the body she had pulled out. She screamed and everyone in the village except Mr Smythe came running up. Most of them went white when they saw Neil’s body on the floor. The strange thing was, is that there was the handle and spout of a teapot next to the body. Hannah was extremely white so Jane put her arm round her and lead her away, Joe stayed by the body and Patrick went and rung the police. “Not again!” Emma said to Mabel a few hours later, “I’m getting quite used to seeing dead body’s now, but why Neil! He’s been living in the village the longest out of all of us!”

“Hmm, I quite agree with the first words Emma, not again!”

Chapter 5

The row

“I wonder who it will be next! Oh, erm maybe I should put that differently, I hope that it won’t be anyone, I mean, it could be me or you!” Mrs Suji was talking to Mrs Syrup over the phone. Jane was out the next day and Chubs was out shopping, so Bets was on her own in the house. Chubs came back about five minutes after she had gone, “You were quick Chubs!” Bet said surprised.

“Forgot the list,” groaned Chubs, she hurriedly picked up the list and went back out the door. “I don’t know why but mother’s been acting weirdly since she got back,” Bets had rung Joe to tell him this, “Chubs isn’t back yet so I can’t ask her,”

“Well, ask Chubs if she knows and if she does ring me back alright?” Joe suggested,

“Ok Joe, bye.” Bets finished,

“I wonder, what would you like to watch this evening Mabel?” Emma asked Mabel,

“Oh you can choose Emma, I really don’t mind.” Mabel replied, “Ok then, what about Death Takes Time? You know the murder one where Dorothy Lankasting solves it?” Emma suggested,

“Oh yes, I love that one!” Mabel agreed graciously, she had seen it ten times already, but wasn’t bored of it yet. It was six 0’clock (a hour and a half after Chubs had left to shop) she was still not back. Bets was very worried now, “Mother, Chubs has been gone for absolutely ages now, should I ring her?”

“If you like Bets, but I wouldn’t worry,” Jane replied, now Bets was really worried now, one about Chubs and two about her mother. She was just about to pick the phone up when the door opened and Chubs bustled in. “Sorry if I worried you Bets, but erm, do you think I could talk to you on your own?”

“O-k, erm, let’s go upstairs.” Bets said,

“It’s about your mother, do you want to ring Joe so that he can listen?” Chubs asked,

“Yes, ok I will.” Bets said, she did so and Chubs started.

“Well, I was in the Tesco’s car-park, and I heard voices in one of the trolley parks, I looked and it was your mother and Mr Smythe. I couldn’t help but listen, she said that she was sorry about Stella, and then he said that she wouldn’t say that to him unless she was accusing him. Your mother got all cross at him and then he started shouting. Then they both came out and I quickly hustled into Tesco.”

“Well I must say that it’s all rather distressing,” said Joe over the phone.

“Hmm,” said Bets, “I think that it’s rather strange of Mr Smythe to react like that…”

Chapter 6

Chubs and Miss Golding

Mrs Suji had a cook, and that cook was called Miss Golding. She was a extremely competitive women who whenever met another cook or maid, would try and show that she could do more than them. Chubs was also a bit like this, now this chapter is about Chubs and Miss Golding having a ‘competition.’ They met at Tesco once and started showing off a bit. After that they started working harder and telling each other all that they cooked. “I cooked the most amazing dish yesterday, with scallops and muscles as the centre piece.” Miss Golding told Chubs one day,

“I cooked an amazing pasta sauce this morning, with tomato, cheese and basil in it.” Chubs boasted,

“I went shopping for one-hundred things,”

“I put out the washing in record time.”

“I baked an apple pie,”

“I cooked a Shepherd’s pie.”

“I won a best cook’s award on Friday,”
“Oh yeah well…” This sort of natter and boasting went on for a series of days before Chubs had some sense to stop it. “We’re being silly boasting like this, let’s just stop and calm down a bit. No more extra hard working, I know Jane has been very puzzled lately.”

“Hmm, I’m not so sure, but if you say so Chubs, it’s a mystery why they call you that…” Miss Golding said,

“Hey!” Chubs butted in. After that, Miss Golding and Chubs stopped boasting.

 

Chapter 7

When I see the teacups hear me shout

Mabel and Emma were taking a stroll the next day, “I do enjoy the fresh air Emma, this wood is the perfect place.” They walked all around the village, meeting Joe halfway; he was going the other way to Emma and Mabel. “Hello Joe, how are you today?”

“Oh fine thank you, although I have had a sneaking suspicion that I am being watched! But that will just be me,”

“Oh yes, that’s happened to me lots of times!” Mabel said, they said goodbye and went on. Mrs Syrup bumped into Mabel and Emma and told them about how her daughter had taken her to see swan-lake the evening before. “Oh how lovely, we were watching Death Takes Time, have you seen it?” Emma asked,

“Oh yes, great film, oh, oh no surely not!” Mrs Syrup stopped,

“Whatever’s the matter Mrs Syrup?” Mabel exclaimed,

“Oh nothing dear, I just realised something, now, I must go. I will see you soon,”

“Goodbye!”

“I wonder what it was Mrs Syrup realised, maybe something to do with this case.” Mabel said,

“Hmm, yes, it was probably something to do with murder,” agreed Emma. They came back to the wood and walked through it. They came to a clearing and sat down on a tree stump. When they started walking again, they heard a rustle ahead, “Probably just a bird or animal of some kind, there’s so many of them in woods.” Said Mabel, they came out of the wood into Humble Berry Way (the smallest lane in the whole village.) “I do love living in Damson Dale, and Frosty Wood is perfect for walks, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced better.” Emma smiled as she said this. They were just at the end of Humble Berry Way when they heard a scream coming from Appleby Corner (the next road that was mainly a corner.) They ran to where it was coming from, it was a man’s scream, a sort of yell. There was a body on the pavement, by now most people were by it. It had a recorder machine where you record things. A red button was on the front, someone pressed it and the same yell as before was heard. “Hey,” said Mrs Suji, “There’s a teacup here!” Nobody was happy, everyone except the Gane’s were there, but Joe was. Jane and Bets hurried up, Bets screamed when she saw the body, her mother was silent. The body was Joe.

Chapter 8

Death Takes Time

Mrs Syrup was sowing her grand-daughter a new pillow case whilst thinking about what to do next. She thought she knew who the murderer was, but she couldn’t be sure, she had no evidence, no proof of who it was. She had to notice at least one more thing, which pointed at them. Or more if possible, Mrs Syrup was also thinking about how to catch the murderer. She went and had a talk to PC Jolter about this, but didn’t come up with anything at all. At Fifteen Corner Street, no-body was really saying a word. Chubs cooked in silence, Jane ate in silence, Bets, well, was silent. Mabelle the cat was sitting on the windowsill at Emma’s house, looking out at the front garden and road. Emma and Mabel were sitting waiting for Mrs Syrup to come. Mabelle jumped down from the windowsill and lay down on the rug, purring. Finally Mrs Syrup arrived; she knocked on the door which was answered by Emma. “Hello Emma, I’ve come to talk to you and Mabel about something, well really thank you.” Mrs Syrup waited to be asked to sit down, “Please sit down,” Mabel said.

“It’s such a horrible business this murder.” Mabel started,

“Oh yes, I quite agree, it’s always the innocent who get murdered, which is even worse.” Mrs Syrup agreed, Mabelle jumped onto Mabel’s lap and started purring again. “Oh, I never knew you had a cat Emma!” Mrs Syrup said, surprised,

“It’s not mine, Mrs Syrup, Mabelle is Mabel’s!”  Emma laughed, “Oh, oh right,” Mrs Syrup said.

“What did you want to thank us for?” Mabel asked,

“Oh yes, you mustn’t let me rattle on like that.” Mrs Syrup said, “I’ve come to thank you for something you didn’t know you did. It was when you mentioned Death Takes Time; it made me think of who the murderer might be.”

“Why haven’t you told anyone?” Mabel asked,

“Well I can’t be sure yet, but I will be soon. Another murder will happen and I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” Then Mabel, Emma and Mrs Syrup said their goodbyes, “I wonder if that’s what Mrs Syrup realised!” Emma said,

“Yes!” Mabel agreed, that night, Mrs Syrup thought about what she was going to do the next day, in the end she thought of something.

 

Chapter 9

I think it was…

The following day Mrs Syrup went to everyone’s house asking them who they thought was the murderer. She started with Mr Smythe, “I d’no,” he said.

“Now come on Mr Smythe think your hardest, who do you think did it.”

“Mrs Suji,” he said bluntly, “And that’s all I’m gonna say.” Next Mrs Syrup went to Mrs Suji, “I think it was Mr Smythe, he just seems like a murdering sort of person. I always thought that there was something not right about him.” Mrs Syrup asked Patrick, “I really don’t know, it’s most likely some lunatic from another place or something.” Then Mrs Syrup politely knocked on the Gane’s house, “I think it was, well I really couldn’t say, it’s just all to strange, I really don’t think it was anyone in the village, but Mr Smythe is the wrong sort of man.” Was Jane’s answer, “I’m the same as mother, I can’t imagine it being anyone in the village and Mr Smythe, well he just isn’t rights somehow,” said Bets. Chubs though, had different ideas, “Hannah Maple, I’ve never liked her and I’ve finally got something to blame her for.”

Mabel and Emma both thought it was Mr Smythe, “Ha, ha, we knew you were going to ask this! We have already discussed it, Mr Smythe!” Hannah didn’t though. “It was definitely someone that lived somewhere else, nobody in Damson Dale would do a thing like that, I know that it was Kenny last time, but he didn’t actually live here.” Is what she said, “We think it was Mr Smythe,” Amy and Iona said. That’s everyone, oh no I forgot Mrs Suji’s cook Miss Golding thought it was Chubs. This was insane. 

Chapter 10

Tip me up and pour me out

Mrs Syrup always asked everyone for their opinion as she said it helped her to know who most people thought it was. In that case, most people thought it was Mr Smythe, Jane and Bets were taking a walk in another village called Oak Hill. It was called this because the village was basically a big hill, and lots of Oak trees grew there. Jane and Bets liked this village and thought of it as a place to come to be free of murder. It also helped that Bets and Jane were keen walkers and had once walked half a mile with no breaks (apart from a sip or two of water.) Mrs Syrup however, took no walks when there were murders happening. She had to focus, focus hard. When there was murders happening nearby her friends relied on her to solve it. There was no mystery that Mrs Syrup hadn’t solved and if one time she did fail, the only blame would go to her. Nobody else would blame her but she would blame herself. Bets and her mother had parted to go shopping, Jane drove Bets to a place called Tappard shopping centre. They were driving home and suddenly Jane started yawning constantly, Bets asked if she was tired. “Yes,” said Jane, she yawned again. When they got home Jane went to her room to get an energy tablet, she came back down and sat on the sofa. Bets was outside getting the washing in. When she did come in she found her mother asleep, there was a tipped up teapot next to her. Bets felt her mother’s head, it was freezing, then she noticed that her mother was very still. Then she noticed that her mother was dead.

Chapter 11

Yet again, solved by Mrs Syrup

“I know who the murderer is, meet at my house tomorrow, ten 0’clock sharp.” Mrs Syrup said to the whole village. Mrs Syrup had a plan, she knew how she could catch the murderer in action. So at ten 0’clock that night, she lay in bed pretending to be asleep, little did the murderer know, three policemen were hiding in the next room. The murderer crept in and stabbed at Mrs Syrup, she moved (in her sleep to the murderer) they tried again, Mrs Syrup snored loudly and in came three policemen. “I arrest you Mr Stanley Smythe for the charge of murder.” PC Jolter shouted, Mr Smythe knew there was no escape and hung his head low. The next morning at ten 0’clock the village and PC Jolter met at Mrs Syrup’s cottage. “Well, I suppose you are all wondering how I worked it out, well it started when Mabel and Emma told me about them watching Death Takes Time. The father kills his daughter in it, it gave me an idea that it could be Mr Smythe, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“How were you sure?” Hannah asked,

“I’m coming to that, When Jane was murdered, I asked Mr Smythe where he had been three weeks ago, he said he had been at home on his own most of the week. He hadn’t, he had been poisoning Jane. You see, he used a poison called polonium, it can take up to a month to react, but he knew it would. It also makes you very tired five minutes before you die.”

“Well I’m amazed, but how did he murder the others, and why use the rhyme?” Jolter asked,

“Oh yes, well there was only really one person he wanted to kill. His daughter, the other people he murdered were all by either poison or strangling. He murdered them because they knew it was him from the process of elimination. Mr Smythe used the rhyme to make people think it was Mrs Suji, which he didn’t really succeed with. Mr Suji has always had a lot of china on a shelf in her living room.”

“But how did he get whoever was poisoned to drink or inhale it?” Jolter asked,

“Easy, he forced it down, with Stella, he let her smell it by putting it into a flower, mixed with the pollen. He strangled Joe as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to poison him. He simply walked past Jane and told her that he thought he could smell something funny, she instantly sniffed a lot. He strangled Neil, as a man he was to hard to be able to poison.”

“Well, Mrs Syrup, you make me go mad, you’ve beaten the police yet again!”

“Oh it was nothing, but I do wonder, anyone for a cup of tea?”