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Elise Laarman
L.A. Roskamp
24 February 2015
The Death of our Dear Angelicia
One morning at the home of James and Mary there was found to have been a murder of one of their tenants. They had three people who rented out their basement, Angelicia, Felicity and Anne.They lived on an island where most of the men went fishing and most of the women ran shops or family businesses. Mary had just gone down to start cooking breakfast when she noticed that Angelicia was not in the Living room. Usually she was always waiting for Mary in there because she liked to do some studying in the early morning. When Mary found that she wasn’t there, she just thought that maybe Angelicia had just decided to sleep in for once because she had been out late the night before with the other tenants.
Mary glanced into all of the rooms where Angelicia might be. She didn’t see her on any first glances, so she called the tenants to the kitchen and asked them if they had seen Angelicia since the night before. Mary knew that all of her tenants had been fighting for the past few days about things that Mary did not know about, so she thought that maybe one of them had locked her out of the house or in her bedroom. They all said that they hadn’t seen her since the night before.
Mary and the others started to search the house more thoroughly and Mary found Angelicia slumped next to a reclining chair on the porch. She was relieved and called the others onto the porch and showed them where their missing friend had been. Anne went over to her and shook her, but Angelicia didn’t move.
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Felicity went over and helped Anne haul Angelicia up off the chair. Still Angelicia didn’t move. Then Anne noticed that there was a splatter of blood on the back of Angelicia’s shirt, she examined it more closely and found that a speargun bullet had found it’s way into her back. Anne screamed and nearly dropped her.
“She’s been shot” Anne cried out.
The others gathered around with shocked looks in their faces.
Mary asked out loud, “Who would do such a horrible thing?
The others were silent still not fully knowing what was going on. Mary got up and crossed the room to the phone. She dialed 911 and an officer picked up the phone.
“Hello?” asked the officer.
“Hi, this is Mary, I live on 2445 Forest Lane, and I reporting a murder that happened in my home either sometime last night or early this morning before the rest of us got out of bed. “
The officer replied, “We will send some squad cars over immediately.”
“Thank you,” Mary replied and hung up.
A few minutes later the solemn group heard the wail of sirens nearing their home. When the two cruisers pulled into the driveway, three officers arrived on the front porch. They introduced themselves as Officers Cade, Fallon and McLean. Mary met them at the door and let them in. They followed her onto the back porch and she showed them to the body of Angelicia. The officer who seemed to be in charge strode forward and started to examine her body.
He said, “She was killed by a bullet from a speargun and he expertly removed the terrible thing that had killed her.
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The officer leaned forward and said, “I am going to have to interview you all so that we can try to find out as much as we can about Angelicia’s murder.
Everyone looked terrified, but they all sat down to answer the officers questions.
Officer Cade took charge of the interviews. He asked all of them if they had seen or heard anything strange.
Mary replied, “ When I woke up during the night I heard some creaking and groaning but I didn’t think anything of it because our house is old and always makes those sounds, but I suppose it could have been someone walking around downstairs.”
Anne added, “ I heard a small crash upstairs, but I just thought that it was just my imagination so I just went back to sleep. Felicity, Angelicia and I were fighting yesterday, but I promise neither of us would hurt her!”
Felicity added, “If it was a speargun that would explain why there was no noise and why none of us were woken up.”
The officers agreed and asked if anyone else lived in the home and Mary replied that her husband James did. She told them that James should be home at any minute because he got up very early to go fishing.
A few minutes later James strode through the front door whistling but stopped abruptly when he saw the officers on his back porch.
“What’s going on?” James asked
When Mary told him what had happened he was stunned.
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When the officers asked James if he had seen or heard anything strange the night before he said that he had gotten up to go to the bathroom when he had heard a strange noise and had gone onto the porch and seen nothing so he had gone back to bed. The officers said that the household would have to come to the police station so that they could get their interviews on tape.
James, a bit too quickly, asked “ Why do we have to go there, you just heard everything that we have to say?”
Officer Cade said, “James we just need proof that what you said was actually true. There is nothing to be worried about, unless you are the guilty one of course.”
When James still wouldn’t relent, Officer Fallon stepped forward with some handcuffs, and that just made James back away even farther.
“I didn’t do it” he said, “Why would I kill someone who pays rent money to me at the end of every month? I don’t think that I should have to go in. Why can’t you just read off the notes you took and call it good?”
“James,” Officer Cade replied, “Do you have a speargun?”
“Yes,” replied James, “I use one when I go fishing. I didn’t bring it this morning because I couldn’t find it but I am sure that I just overlooked it. I made a pretty big mess in there looking for my bait box the other day.”
“Okay,” Cade said, “James where do you keep your speargun?”
“I keep it in my shanty in the woods. It’s a place where people won’t find it and steal it. I am the only person who knows where it is.”
“I’ll go look for it,” Officer McLean quickly said.
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“Alright,” said Cade a little distractedly, “I’ll keep asking questions. Fallon will you take James to the squad car?”
“No!” James yelled, “Guys tell them that I am innocent!”
“James, I would,” replied Mary, “But you are making yourself look guilty. Just go to the police station and let them record what you just said. It’s not really that much to ask.”
James reluctantly slid into the back of the squad car and the rest of them piled into Mary’s small, green Honda. They followed the squad car back to the police headquarters and followed Cade and James inside.
When they got inside they were met with some not-so-good news. Officer McLean was back and he had a speargun in his hands.
“Is that yours James?” asked Cade.
“Yes,” said James, “You see it was in my shed and I am not a murderer. So can I go back home now?
“No,” said McLean pointedly, “James I didn’t find it in your shanty in the woods. I found it in the flower bed next to your bedroom window.”
“What?!,” James exclaimed, I promise that I didn’t have anything to do with this!”
“I also saw hasty footprints coming to and from your shanty.” added McLean.
“I’m really sorry James,” Cade said but so far you are the most likely suspect and so we will have to keep you here in a cell until the case is decided. There are a few pretty good hints that you were the one who did it.
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After a lot of arguing, James was put in a cell to spend the night at the police station. While James was be questioned in his cell, Mary, Felicity, and Anne were taken into different rooms so that they could be recorded. When they were through they headed back to their home.
Later that night laying in her bed alone, Mary started to really ponder what had happened that day. She thought about how much James had refused the police. What did that mean? Was James really the murderer? She knew that he had been a bit short tempered with Angelicia because she had been a month behind on her rent, but her wouldn’t hurt her much less kill her because of that. Would he? Mary chided herself. She had to have faith that her husband was not the murderer, and she had to think that all of this would turn out. After much pondering Mary tired from her long, stressful day fell asleep.
The next morning Mary was still thinking about James being taken in. There seemed to be something at back of her mind telling her that this wasn’t right and that there were a few things that pointed to someone else other than her husband, but she just couldn’t get her mind around what it might be. She knew that McLean, the newest officer in town had seemed interested in getting to know Angelicia and they had become pretty good friends. But now that she thought about it Mary realized that maybe Angelicia had been so quiet because McLean had been trying to get her to do something that she didn’t want to do. Now that she was thinking about hard for the first time, Mary realized that quite a few times recently before she had been murdered Angelicia had been coming home later than usual and said that she had been with McLean and not looked at all happy about it. All that Mary knew about Angelicia’s past was that
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she had divorced her husband and needed a place to live. Mary had gladly taken her in and given her a home.
Mary tried to jog any memory at all of Angelicia saying anything to her that McLean was trying to get her to do something that she didn’t want. And then it came clear as a bell. She remembered Angelica muttering to herself when she came in one night,
“I won’t do it, I won’t, at least not for a person like McLean. I will never marry him. Not as long as I live.”
That was it. McLean had been trying to take Angelica away to marry her and she wouldn’t do it, so he had shot her. Mary quickly hopped into her car and raced toward the police station.
When she arrived she found Cade and McLean on duty. Just the two people she wanted to see.
“ I have some clues for you Officer and I think that you have arrested the wrong man!” Mary blurted out.
“What might those be?” Cade asked.
Mary told him the whole story and Cade nodded his head.
“Now that is a good thing to remember,” he said. I also have a hunch about our new police officer McLean here. “ I have reason to believe that it was him because James said that nobody but him knew where the shanty was. Cade turned away from Mary and faced McLean. “I think that because you are new and don’t have your own weapons, thank goodness, you followed James to his shanty one night when he was bringing his speargun and other fishing
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supplies back from his evening catches. I think that you just made up the story of lots of footprints to the shanty.”
“You are crazy!” cried a red faced McLean, “I wouldn’t do that! Besides, you can’t accuse me. I am one of your most loyal officers!”
“I also think that if we looked on the speargun right now, Cade said raising his voice so that it covered McLean’s, “We would find your fingerprints on it.”
“You guys are crazy, I was wearing gloves…. he trailed off and seemed to suddenly realize what he had just said. He tried to bolt for the door but Officer Fallon was there and snapped the cuffs on McLean’s wrists.
“Looks like we found our man.” Cade said “Put him in a cell and let poor James go. He must be worried about his wife and himself no doubt.”
“Wait! called McLean as he was being led away,” You have no right to take me and lock me up. I can have a trial!”
“You certainly can.” agreed Cade, “But I am pretty sure that no matter how good of a lawyer you manage to get, we will still have enough evidence to keep you in jail for quite some time.
He then turned to Mary, “I’m sorry I had to take James in, but it was pretty suspicious that he wouldn’t answer questions.”
“I understand,” replied Mary, “You were just doing your job, and all that matters now is that we know who really was behind the death of our dear Angelica, and that my husband is indeed innocent.
