The Proposal - part 3

Chapter 4

    As the guests entered the room, they recognized some of the things mentioned in the tape: the broken glass, the torn curtains and the blood-free floor. Strangely enough, aside from that, the room was completely neat and tidy: no signs of a struggle whatsoever.
    “How could someone have entered a second story room from a window?” asked Mr. Stewart to no one in particular.
    “E-… Excuse me, Mr. Bradford,” whispered the judge in a struggled voice. “Could you tell me where I can find the b-bathroom?”
    “I’ll show him,” said inspector Benedict. “I saw it earlier.”
    “Very well,” said the servant with an air of reluctance.
    “What’s wrong with him?” asked Catherine. “He hasn’t been feeling well,” replied Ron. “When we were outside talking, he explained to me that he woke up about three to four hours after he fell asleep. He said that since then, he’s been feeling nauseous and having abdominal pains.”
    “Sounds like someone might have had a little too much to eat,” she said with a small laugh.
    “Actually, that’s what I thought too,” replied the uncharacteristically assured lawyer. “But I also noticed occasional muscle twitches… it just seemed strange.”
    “That… is strange…” she said, now in a completely different tone.



    After leaving the ailing judge in the bathroom, Patrick walked up the staircase and down a hallway, carefully. He counted the doors on the left side and stopped when he reached four.
    He inserted the stolen key into the knob and gently slid the door open. He walked in, turned on the light and looked out the window. ‘Good.’ - He was now exactly one room above the study.
    It wasn’t his intention to steal the key and enter a room without permission, but there were so many questions burning in his mind, he was desperate for any answers he could get. Was it possible someone entered the room from above? Patrick hoped that question would be answered before he left this room.
    When he turned around to observe the room itself, he noticed that it was very similar to the one directly below, only this room looked like it hadn’t been touched in months - maybe almost a year. This was bizarre enough, but when he looked on the desk, he saw a picture that made him extremely confused. He proceeded to search the desk. There was only one drawer to open and he looked into it. What he saw made one thing clear: He and the others had been lied to.



Chapter 5

    “How long have those two been gone?” asked Ron, sounding worried.
    “I’m sure they’ll be back soon…” said Catherine. “Besides, between Mrs. Reid and Mr. Benson, we already have two mysteries to solve; let’s not make it three.”
    Shortly after, Patrick walked into the room. “Mr. Bradford, I need to speak with you privately.” He said. “Is something wrong with Mr. Kopeland?” he asked.
    “Mr. Kopeland?” Asked the inspector genuinely confused. “He isn’t back yet?”
    “No,” replied Catherine.
    “Is it important?” asked the servant. “It’s about the case,” replied the inspector. “Very well… follow me to a more private room,” said Mr. Bradford as he went to leave the room.



    “Before I ask you any questions, I need to confess something,” said the inspector as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. “I stole this from your coat pocket and used it to get into the room above the study.” He handed the key back.
    “I went into that room to look for any way this intruder could have entered from above the room. I went into that room to try to solve the case, but when I found what I did, I realized: there was no case.”
    “What did you find, Mr. Benedict?” asked the man. Now there was something in his voice. He sounded different than he had all night - like a different person entirely.