My breath is shaky as I go into to state my case. I'm which means that I'm clueless, completely and utterly clueless. Breath, I tell myself. I just need to think about what I know, one location is enough to...to assemble a decent case if I just think.

"Alice?" Giles calls me. "You're up." I give him a weary smile, wiping my sweaty hands on my purple dress. Apparently I have to dress formal when talking to the killer. "Good luck." He tells me, closing the oaken doors to the study behind him.

"You, whoever you may be, are a sick sick person." I close my eyes, remembering what happened after I heard the scream. The four of us rushed over to find a dead body. Giles, was there amongst the other guests and he looked at all of us and told me something that scared me so so much. We were selected for a game of life and death, and in order to survive...we had to have the best theory of who was just killed.

"You killed David. He did nothing wrong!" I shout. "He was just addressing a letter to his friends!" I chose to go to the last known whereabouts, Marie went to the morgue and both Nathanial and Cyril went to the crime scene. They were the ones I trusted because I was with them at the time of the murder, so there was no way they were the killer, I hope. The last known whereabouts was simple, his bedroom. Neat and clean, except for his desk where a letter was being written, there was ink everywhere...white ink.

"But that wasn't regular ink he was writing the letter with...was it? It was white, so you must've done something to prepare it." I pause...think, think...what could white ink mean, it has to mean something, seeing as it was the only significant thing there. Could it be poison? It would make sense, because poison often causes people to scream - and we heard a scream, and agonizing scream. "You poisoned that ink." Now that I've made that leap, how would the ink poison him? I need to just calm down and analyze what I know. The ink was spilled and all over the table, which either means it was spilled during a struggle. But there was no other signs of struggle, or maybe spilled upon spontaneous feelings. Like anger or sadness...or pain. David might've cut himself perhaps with the paper, and gotten the ink into his cut.

"But it was interesting...because you relied on luck to kill him...seeing as you anticipated the fact that he would give himself a paper cut and then after that graze the cut over the freshly inked paper. It poisoned him."

"However, it's not that simple is it?" I turn, so that the killer watching me can see me at different angles. Wouldn't want them to get bored and kill me next. "Because if David had simply died right there of poison his body would've been in the bedroom, but that's not where it was found."

"So after David gets poisoned with the pen laced with poison you prepared earlier, you walk up to him and push him, causing him to fall onto the floor below. And that is where his body is found." I draw a shaky breath, I don't even know if that's right.

"I guess it pays to be an actor." I shrug. I have to accuse someone, "Because you're doing a damn good job at playing innocent right now...aren't you Alexander?"

I leave the room, with my heart pounding rapidly. Now...I wait.

-

I was shocked, frozen with fear. The scream echoed throughout the house. Everyone looked as bewildered as I did. Finally after what seemed like hours of silence, a voice sounded "What the HELL was that?" The voice belonged to a man by the name Nathaniel I remembered. Just then, Giles strolled in with a nonchalant look on his face and said" the games have begun." My head was swirling. What games? I knew the just of what was happening, but I thought it would all be a joke- a gimmick of sorts. But, if this was real, then- what have I gotten myself into. "You will each pick a place to investigate, the mourge, his room, or the great room." Giles said motioning out the door. As he was about to leave I raised my hand. "Wait," I said, "are you not going to mention the gunshot we just heard, or what just happened?" I roughly asked.

"Dear Charlotte, I thought you knew what you'd signed up for, Oh well." He sighed. "Good luck to all of you." Before I could get out another word Giles exited the room. Immediately everyone got up and started figuring things out. They seemed to all gravitate towards a certain person, and I was just a stick in a flower garden. As the guests were clearing out, I spotted someone who seemed to be as lost as me. I decided to go for it. I walked over and stood in front of him. "Hi, I'm Charlotte Jones." I said mustering up courage.

"Hi. I'm Osias. Osias Whitely. He responded back with a slight smile. I sensed that he was kind of like me, and I was thankful for that. "So. You have any idea what we're doing?" I questioned.

"Not really,"I'm going to the mourge, would you like to come?" He said.I nodded my head and followed him. He led us down a flight of stairs, where the only source of light was a chain swinging from side to side connected to the ceiling. We finally got to a stainless steel cold silver door. I felt my heart skip I beat. I was uneasy, but went in anyways. There was a large steel table with a figure on it covered with a tarp like sheet. I cautiously approached it, with Osias by my side. "Is that him?" Osias gulped.

"I-I guess so." I stammered. I reached for the sheet with shaky hands as if, at any moment he could wake up and grab me. I pulled back the sheet rapidly. There in front of me lay a man, maybe mid-thirties, average build, tall, with sandy brown hair, dead. In front of me. "His name was David." I jumped as I heard a voice. I turned around, and in the doorway, Giles was standing there. "Was he another guest?" I asked

"He couldn't have been." Osias answered. "There were only thirteen room keys, unless. Unless you planned this? You planned this mans murder!" Osias angrily said to Giles.

"That's for you to decide, but, you should most likely look at this mans corpse. There's a murder to be solved." Giles walked out. I was tenacious but, well as he said, there's a murder to be solved. I picked up a pair of white latex gloves and pulled them on. "You're really going to touch him?" I looked at Osias and saw him in the back of the room as if the body was infected with the plague: which it very well could be. "Yes, I am going to discover who murdered this innocent man." I said as I started poking around. I had never been this close to a dead body except for the time at my grandad's funeral. I had studied anatomy but that was the closest thing to discovering how someone was murdered. I spotted a glob of white foam around his mouth, and had the urge to take a sample. When I looked back, Osias was still cowering in the back. "Well?" I questioned. "Are you gonna help or not?!" Osias hastily put on a pair of gloves and came to my side. "Get a container and a spoon or a toothpick." I ordered. Osias grabbed what looked to be a pill bottle and a small spoon. I guess that would have to do. I spooned about a tablespoon of the white foam into the bottle and closed it. "Refrigerate this, make sure it doesn't evaporate." I handed the container to him and watched him put the lid on and into a refrigerator. Further inspection showed that there was a large amount of bruising on his back. Also he had been holding a pen in his hand at time of death, and there was also a small slit in the palm of his left hand. "Curious." I muttered to myself as I worked. I swabbed the cut with a Q-tip and put it in a ziplock Baggie. There was also a large hole from a slug right in his chest. I reluctantly dug into the hole to retrieve the bullet casing and deposited it into another bag. Just then Giles walked in and announced that it was time for dinner. It was very late now, almost 10:00. I deduced everyone else was working at their scenes also. I grudgingly left my work and trudged up the stairs. In the dining room there were only a few empty seats left. I sat down next to a man named Matt Gray who I had been introduced to earlier. There was a delectable meal laid out in front of us, made up of roasted chicken and herbs, cooked vegetables ,and mashed potatoes. After the meal I was tired and decided today was long enough, and went back up to my room. I fell asleep on impact, but woke up like I had gotten eleven hours of sleep. I leaned from my bed to check my phone- 2:00 am. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep and might as well get some more work done. I dragged myself downstairs. Funny, how the old manor looked actually calmer, and more pleasant at night. When I got back down to the mourge and worked some more, a theory struck me. I had just gotten the results from his tox screen, and the swabs from his cut, and the foam from his mouth. Someone had really done a number on this guy. The bruising on his back was due to someone beating him with a blunt object. He had tried fighting back with the pen in his hand and managed to stab the killer, due to the fact that there was blood on the tip of the pen. Also, although you would think the cause of death would be the slug in his chest, that's not the case. The bullet barely missed his heart. He would have died of it eventually but the real cause of death was that he was poisoned. The tox screen showed traces of arsenic and cyanide. That's how the cut was made too. Someone stabbed a large medical needle full of the poison in his hand. It all added up. Giles told us that one of the guests was the killer. I tried eliminating the guests off one by one till I came to one person. It- it was, I couldn't believe it. I wrote down my findings and now knew, If there was any chance I was going back to sleep before: it was gone now. The next morning I heard Giles calling the guests down for breakfast. I had actually ended up falling asleep on a table next to the corpse. I guess I was tired. My adrenaline rush from the night before was over so I pulled myself up the stairs and into the dining room again, but no one was there. Strange. All of a sudden I heard voices in the parlor: I guess we're were all gathering there. I went inside and everyone was chirping with each other making small talk. It reminded me of when I first arrived at Rue Manor. Again, I sat in the love seat in the corner of the room. Giles entered and said," today we will be sharing our theories." In a way I was actually excited. "Charlotte," Giles pointed me out, "Why don't you go first." I strolled up with artificial confidence and took my place in front of the guests. "Well my findings showed some interesting things." I started off. "My findings showed that he was hit on the back repeatedly. He also had a cut on his left hand, and a slug in his chest. Lastly: the cause of death wasn't the bullet, he was poisoned." A gasp escaped the guests and I know that one of those gasps wasn't really genuine. "My theory is that the killer injected the victim with a liquified concoction of arsenic and cyanide earlier in the evening. Then when the victim figured out it was him, he confronted the killer. There, the killer grabbed the closest object to him: for example a lamp, and beat him with it. Lastly, when that wasn't working, the killer drew his concealed gun out of his coat pocket and shot the victim. The shot didn't kill him- it would have eventually though. The poison worked its magic and that's what really killed him." I could see the crowd growing restless while my adrenaline rush was back. "And the killer is," I prominently stated. "Cyril Marinescu." More gasps rang out through the guests. "With your sweet French nature, you can sweet talk anybody. At the reception of all the guests you snuck to our victim and inserted a small needle into his hand full of the poison. Then, you thought everything would be fine, the poison would take its course and it would look like an accident." I focused my eyes on Cyril only. "But, that wasn't the case. He figured out it was you. He had just left his room and on his way to tell everyone when you intersected him. You grabbed a lamp on the coffee table and started to beat him. The victim tried to fight back and ended up stabbing you with the pen in his hand. Then, you had had enough, pulled out your pistol and shot him. And the poison worked." I stood triumphantly thinking I had solved the case. The room was now silent.

-

Somehow she was back doing work.

Marie entered this competition so she could have a break from being a lawyer for a few weeks, yet the murder had brought her work to her.

The murderer had disconnected all phones and slashed the car tires, so they couldn't contact the authorities. Not they they would be of any help, but it would be comforting to know that the person sleeping in the adjoining room wasn't plotting to kill her.

The sun was just rising, bathing Marie's room in a soft glow. She sat on the end of her bed, which she had been doing all night. Who could blame her? Someone had been murdered less than twenty-four hours ago.

A bell chime rang out through the mansion: Giles' way of summoning the competitors. Marie quickly opened her bedroom door and started down the grand staircase to where Giles was standing.

The other competitors didn't look appropriate at all. One young girl's hair resembled a rat's nest, while others were still in their nightgowns. Hopefully, her allies will be dressed formally.

Yes, Marie had made some acquaintances. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, as she had been told in law school. It may be a child's saying, but it translated well into the court of law. It sometimes even won cases for people.

Her first ally was Cyril Marinescu, a French teacher. He, like herself, had his eyes on the prize. He was determined to win, which was valuable to Marie. But he came with a price. If she wanted him to be her ally, she also had to ally with Alice, a foolish gymnast who was still in college. Although reluctant, Marie ended up allying with them both.

Cyril approached her, a wide grin on his face. "Good morning."

"Or rather lack thereof," Marie replied, her lips pursed. A murder surely isn't good. That is, if you're not the killer. Hmm. "Where's your shadow?"

Cyril chuckled as he made the connection. "Alice is getting ready. She should be down in a minute."

Marie didn't look impressed.

"You want me to count for you?" He asked, an odd grin on his face. Marie wished he would stop smiling so much. It actually made him less attractive.

Marie didn't reply, and she couldn't even if she wanted to, for Giles began to speak.

"Contestants, you have been chosen for a game of life and death here at Rue Manor. To survive you must give the best theory on how the previous person died!" Previous? Does that mean that there will be more than one murder? Oh dear, Marie hoped not.

"Now, you must only choose one location to go to so you can find clues on how they died. After, you probably want to discuss with other people what you found, then the killer will give you a riddle, and the first person to answer it will have a distinct advantage to getting the best theory!" Giles spoke with an odd gleefulness to his tone, yet he couldn't be the murderer. He was there when Marie heard the scream.

"Once you choose where you want to go, you must stay there and try to find all the clues you can. Good luck, and may the killer's eyes pass over you!"

With that Marie turned to Cyril and said, "I'm going to the morgue. You and Alice each choose different places. We will discuss our findings later." With that she left Cyril and ran as fast as her heels let her to the morgue.

After racing down the stairs, Marie entered the basement. It was made of all steel and in the center of the room laid a man in a crisp suit.

She quickly made her way over and began studying him. He had dark, brown hair and a cleanly shaven beard. He was tall, probably about six feet even, and had broad shoulders. Things began to stand out to Marie, though.

His lips were covered in some kind of white liquid, and when she opened his mouth, Marie saw that it was filled with the same white foam. Also, he had a small cut on his hand. I t might mean nothing, but sometimes the smallest detail ends up solving a case in a trial.

Marie began taking off his shirt. Not because she thought he was cute, though. That's awful because, one, he's dead, and two, this is official work. Sure enough, she found a wound in his chest. It was a hole, deep and of small diameter. It was definitely a stab wound, but with what?

That's when she saw it. There was a pen in his right hand. Marie checked and it fit perfectly into the hole in the man's chest. How convenient.

Just as she was about to put the pen back, she heard two voices. They must've chosen the morgue, also. Marie knew her next decision was wrong, but she did it anyway.

She stashed the pen in her pocket and began leaving the room, smiling at the two visitors as they entered. "Not much to find here." She lied.

Marie started up the stairs, a wide grin present upon her face. Thanks to her, everyone else will be missing a huge chunk of the information. Just in case the killer is watching from one of the many cameras in the mansion, she glanced at one and winked.

Let the games begin.

-

"Ok everyone we are very sorry this little game already started with the killer! We hope you can still relax and enjoy the manor! But now..." Giles hesitated. "Now let's see who can help figure out who this killer is! Do you have any suspects, what do you think happened? You will be able to search one room and share your findings with another guest. Please one again may I stress this enough! Don't worry, we will try and make your stay a little bit easier! I can't wait to see what all of you find!" Giles explains. Sabrina looks around wondering what has possibly happened. She can't begin to fathom what has gone wrong in this place. What has Sabrina gotten herself into?? "I think I will search the morgue, I want to figure out what happened to this person before I can figure out who did it." Sabrina begins planning out what she will do. She really wants to get down to the Bottom of this and work with someone smart so they can be the first to find out this killer. Sabrina Laurence did not want to be the first to die! Shivers ran down her body just thinking that anyone at this hotel could stab her in the back... Literally. Sabrina makes her way into the morgue with a simple notepad and pen. Clues will be scribbled out through her examination. Walking through the cold rusty doors Sabrina looked into the poorly lit room. She took a deep breath as she made her way to the table with a white sheet coving an awkward body shape. Slowly she pulls back the sheet seeing the pale emotionless male through squinted eyes. Sabrina didn't want to see or think about a murder. Sabrina began writing down observations on her pad.

• slight bruising on the arms

• big gash on head

• black eye

•carpet burns

•multiple stab wounds to the chest