Crimson Cape...

The family was made up of a man, a woman, twin sisters, a young boy, a chambermaid and a gardener. A murder took place at their house four years ago. The victim was an old man who happened to be the man’s father. A mystery shrouded the house as the body was never found and almost evidences were erased from the crime scene. No bloodstains were detected, no murder weapon was found and thus no suspects were brought forward. The mayor thought that it was time to close the case for good as investigation was taking too long that the townsfolk began to believe that the old man was murdered by supernatural being. This brought about a cloud of suspicion and fear that the townsfolk were beginning to move away from the village.

A stranger arrived at the village not too long ago and was warmly welcomed by the mayor. He claimed to be a trader from faraway lands who wanted to find market in that village. The mayor offered him to stay at his cottage and he gladly accepted his kind offer. Soon, it became apparent that the town had become ghostly as more and more villagers began to leave. Strange incidents began to occur. Corpses were dug up from their graves and left to rot. The youths of the village were found hanged at their homes. The stranger began to question the mayor about the village’s dark past and learnt about the family. Ever since that incident happened, things has became from bad to worse. The stranger decided to solve the murder mystery and was determined to put an end to this nightmare. The mayor warned him about the consequences of having attachments with the family that whoever came close to the family has never come back alive. The previous victims were the town sheriff and the constable.

The stranger arrived at the family’s mansion as a guest in a carriage. He told the family that he wanted to investigate the murder that took place four years ago. The woman told him that his efforts would be in vain as four long years had passed and thus, finding evidences would be fruitless. He replied that so long as the remaining family members were still alive, any mystery could be solved even without evidences. He was later brought to the guest room where he would be spending the night. Nothing unusual happened that evening. Soon it was time for dinner and he asked the woman about the muscular gardener he saw through his bedroom window. He suspected that with the amount of strength he possessed, it was likely he could kill the frail old man with his bare hands. She told him that the gardener was a gentle and nature loving man who would never hurt even a spider. He noticed the twin sisters sitting opposite him. They were silent throughout dinner and never spoke a word. After dinner, he took a tour around the mansion attended by the chambermaid as instructed by the head of the family. After taking a look at the crime scene and visiting some rooms, he returned to his room, sat down on the chair and wrote, “The painting along second floor corridor leading to the twins room shows heaven and hell turned upside down” and “the chambermaid was young and beautiful yet I sensed something dark about her from her eye contact”. He went to bed and turned off the light.

Upon midnight, he noticed the gardener again. He seemed delicate while working on the flowers he thought. He approached him in his pyjamas and asked, “May I know how long have you been working here?” The gardener answered, “About eight years, the lady hired me back then.” The stranger continued, “Can you show me your palm?” He opened up his palm and the stranger sensed something was amiss. He later said, “You worked too hard for a gardener. Nevertheless, keep up the good work on those thorny roses.” The gardener smiled and returned to his work. The next morning, the stranger headed for the twins room. It was locked so he peeped through the keyhole. The twin sisters slept on different bed with their back facing one another. He then walked towards the painting and observed it carefully. Something was missing from the painting. He was sure that the heaven and hell represented the twins but there was no indication of the painter’s signature. He went to the chambermaid and asked her if he could take a look at her room. She was nowhere to be found but her room was not locked. It was located at the far end of the mansion away from the family’s rooms. He looked at the ceiling, walls, and floors and even under her bed. It was clean and there was nothing that caught his eye except the fact that the room was big enough to be shared by two people on one bed. He left the room after thanking her and made his way to the youngest member of the family’s room. The boy was sleeping soundly in the room. The room was located at the far end as well, opposite the chambermaid’s room. The room was small enough to be occupied by one person only. One thing was odd, why would a boy’s room be lit by such an antique chandelier. He spent the rest of the day questioning himself with why this and why that all over the mansion. At night he wrote many things.

An antique chandelier was in the boy’s room. The chambermaid’s room was on the exact opposite of the boy’s room but they had different room dimensions. The painting remained a mystery due to the absence of the painter’s signature. The rough palm of the gardener was not due to the roses’ thorns but it was due to friction.

The following morning, he entered the twin’s room. The twins were missing. The room was decorated with black on one side of the wall and white on the other. It was said that the twins had completely different likes and dislikes. The room’s location was at the heart of the mansion which became the parallel wall between the western and eastern part of the mansion. It was also said that the one of the twins favoured their mother while the other favoured their father. The parent’s room was exactly above the twin’s room on the third floor. He entered the parent’s room. Nothing unusual was found. So, he entered the study room where the murder took place. He took the pen on the desk but soon realized that it had run out if ink. Why would somebody leave this useless pen? He searched the room for clues. The room was dusty indicating that it has not been used for quite some time. Then he saw a slip of paper sticking out between two books. It was a drawing of a boy and an old man. He took out the two books and strange enough, both of the books were entitled heaven and hell. He later entered the old man’s room which was just beside the study room. The room was empty and the walls were dull. Then, as he stepped across the room, he could hear his footsteps. He realized that below the floor, there was a hollow space. As he stepped harder, banged his feet harder, the sound got louder. He knew that there was something below the mansion that was why the ground floor was covered with carpet. But this room was left out because the murderer wanted to remove every clue. After collecting all these details, he worked to fit in the puzzle pieces in his room, burning the midnight oil. He wrote all he encountered.

The following night he gathered all the family members and asked them to remove the carpet of the ground floor. He found out that there was an underground wine storage with its entrance close to the study room and stretched from the eastern part of the mansion to the western counterpart. It was an ordinary storage and was no longer in use as mentioned by the man. He found a telescope, a shovel, a worn out slippers and an oil lamp. So he concluded something and announced it to the whole family during supper. He started, “I found something interesting. These slippers I assume did not belong to any of you. Its size and shape was designed to minimize noise and usually worn by an elder. So, here is something I believed happened. Our late Mr Marley used these slippers and used the oil lamp to travel around this wine storage. To make the storage accessible, Mr Marley asked the gardener to build another entrance under his bedroom. The gardener’s rough palm proved that he worked on the entrance all by himself using this shovel. Next, Mr Marley was close to his grandson as the boy made him this drawing. They visited the study room often as we all knew. I asked the chambermaid if she has been working here long. She was hired by the late Mr Marley himself as she confessed. Mr Marley grew fond of her and spent more time with her than to his grandson as time went by. So, he paid the gardener to extend the storage from the east to the far west without telling him why. All the gardener thought was money so he could not care less about his motive. I believed that the late Mr Marley had an affair with the chambermaid thus her room was made bigger without the family’s knowledge. This occurred so often that he asked his grandson to make it look as if he was in the study room with him by making him write with this pen till it ran out of ink while Mr Marley descended to the storage entrance to his lover’s nest, the chambermaid’s room. It occurred late at night so he believed nothing would go wrong but this secret leaked out. The only person besides Mr Marley who had access to the storage was his son. He knew Mr Marley had an affair. He confirmed it by taking a peek through his telescope from his room on the third floor. All along, he had used this telescope to be the peeping tom on the chambermaid when his wife was not around. His wife soon learned about this secret and they had a conflict. This conflict was witnessed by the twins themselves and thus they sided their mother and father separately. Months passed and this incident went on. The chambermaid was pregnant and Mr Marley decided to abort the baby. Instead, the chambermaid consulted to the Mr Marley’s son’s wife being a woman herself without Mr Marley’s permission. I have no idea about the baby’s whereabouts or what they did. But something else happened. Mr Marley’s son thought that he could blackmail his father by knowing his secret. So he asked him to write the will stating that all the wealth would fall to him when he died which he did with no other choice. The night before his death, Mr Marley asked his grandson to paint a replica of the heaven and hell painting. His grandson managed to complete it except that he had forgotten to put down his signature as he could not counterfeit his handwriting. Using a chandelier taken from Mr Marley’s room, his grandson painted his replica in his room and left it intact. Mr Marley had faked the will he wrote for his son. So, he hid the real will behind the real painting. His grandson then removed the real painting with the replica on the night of his death. So where is the real will? Only Mr Marley’s grandson knew.”

The boy did not reply. The stranger continued, “There is only one room left which I have not checked, the attic.”

The stranger went to the attic and found the real painting and behind it, the will was attached and sealed. He read out the will to the family, “All my wealth will fall to Miss Falena.” It was none other than the chambermaid. “Before I continue, Mrs Marley, would you explain to us why and how you killed your father-in-law?” He said. She was shocked. “The chambermaid and your husband had no reason to kill Mr Marley because they thought all the wealth would fall to them. The boy was just following his grandfather’s wishes and had no ability to kill him. The twins spent most of their time in the room. I think you collaborated with the gardener and the chambermaid. You told the chambermaid to keep the baby till it was born; then you asked the gardener to kill your father-in-law. The gardener refused so you tried to frame him by telling me that he was a delicate man so as to make me suspicious of him. The reason why you asked the chambermaid to keep the baby was because you knew Miss Falena would inherit all his wealth due to their secret affair. You had plans to dispose her once she received the will so that you would be able to change Mr Marley’s statement and thus you would inherit all his wealth. In addition, being a pregnant woman, you would be able to play the role of midwife for Miss Falena to make it look as if Miss Falena died while giving birth. Both ways, you win. So, where is the body?”

The woman stood up and pointed at the garden. “So, I see, framing the gardener would be the conclusion as he knew about your plan to kill Mr Marley.” He added. She confessed that she killed him in the study room by suffocating him using the pillow. He commented, “So, that was why no evidence or bloodstain was found. A perfect plan I must say but I missed out something, the town sheriff and the constable. The mayor told me they did not return after investigating, what happened to them?” She smiled sinisterly. “We killed them all.” The man said. “All of us are part of the plan. Yes, me, my wife, my children, the chambermaid and the gardener. We planned it all along. Now, the truth shall die with you just like the two of them.”

The stranger was taken aback and said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I’m no guest here and I’m no trader from faraway lands. I am a vampire hunter. So now you know why I only went out of the room during daytime. The smell of blood lingered in the air at night. I knew vampire was around when I saw those tooth marks on those poor villagers you hung and the fresh corpses you dug up so that you could quench your thirst for blood.” He took out his crossbow and arrows and shot those pointed dart-like weapons through the vampires’ heart. None of the vampires survived for an efficient and experienced hunter was prepared all along. After that, he returned to the mayor and explained to him about the vampires and who he was. He told him about Mr Marley who was a human was buried at the family’s garden. He also stated that Mr Marley had an affair with Miss Falena who was a human as well but became a vampire shortly after giving birth. The baby was saved from the vampires and was brought to this village. “So, I guess, I know who inherited his wealth then. I have an adopted son. I found him on my doorstep four years ago. He must be from the Marley Clan and he is a normal human.” The mayor answered. “My job is finished here, it is time to wander to other places and slay the remaining vampires, farewell and I wish you well.” The stranger left as he walked out of the cottage with his crimson cape…

This story is purely fictional. This story is inspired by “Our Master, Fugue”, artist unknown.