The scream echoed through the old manor. I and four other guests rushed towards the sound. In the library we find Sarah Mitchell, another guest at the party, standing over the battered and bloody body of Mr. Wall. An ambulance and the cops were called ASAP.

After Mr. Wall had been taken off to the hospital, a detective cleared out the party except for the six of us. When he returned to the library, Bobby Denvers rose from his seat.

(Bobby) “Detective, what is the meaning of this?”

(Detective) “We’ll Mr. Denvers, we talked to some of the guests, and out of a crowd of four hundred plus, only five people were said to even go near this library during Mr. Walls' party. You five, plus Ms. Mitchell who found the body.”

From my seat, I interjected into the conversation.

(Gary) “I can assure you I’m at least innocent. I just lost looking for the restroom.”

Another guest, Sam Copper, stood next.

(Sam) “The same thing happened to me.”

(Kat Stevenson) “Well someone’s looking mighty guilty right now…”

(Sam) “Oh really? What were you doing in this library then Ms. Stevenson.”

(Kat) “The butler…”

(Detective) “Ahem! From now on I’ll be the only one asking the questions. Now we have six suspects, an injured man, no weapon or motive. So Mr. Denvers we’ll start with you, what’s your relationship with Mr. Wall?”

(Bobby) “I was one of his former students. I consider the man my mentor and the biggest reason for my company’s success. Without him, I’d probably be some schlub with a nine-to-five that I hated. I wouldn’t hurt that man for all the riches anyone could offer me.”

(Detective) “Noted…Ms. Stevenson?”

(Kat) “Detective if you were throwing a party for the upper class of society wouldn’t you want the hottest actress in the world to attend?”

(Detective) “So you’re just a publicity tool?”

(Kat) “If you want to be crude about it I guess.”

(Detective) “Ok, Ms. Nico Eden. You’ve been pretty quiet, how do you know Mr. Wall?”

(Nico) “Through my mother…”

(Detective) “Ok, how does your mother know Mr. Wall? Were they friends? Co-workers? Lovers?”

(Nico) “She's an accountant, she handled Mr. Walls' taxes.”

(Gary) “How close were they? Maybe she knew where he hid his money.”

(Nico) “You’ve been awfully vocal for someone that was just looking for the bathroom…”

(Detective) “Decorum, please. Mr. Pine since you want to talk, how do you know Mr. Wall?”

(Gary) “I don’t detective. I crashed this shindig. No particular reason honestly, I was just bored.”

The others began to murmur to themselves. I just shrug and turn to Sam.

(Sam) “I’ll spare you the time detective. Mr. Wall crippled my dad. My dad sold cars and Mr. Wall came in asking to test drive a vehicle. My dad agreed and per company policy joined him on the test ride…out of nowhere Mr. Wall began to drive faster and faster, until he lost control of the vehicle and careened into the woods. My dad was paralyzed and that bastard has never paid for his crime. We struggle every day because of that old bastard.”

(Detective) “Wow, sounds like a pretty good motive to assault someone wouldn’t you say, Mr. Cooper?”

(Sam) “Trust me, detective, if I attacked Mr. Wall I wouldn’t hide it.

(Detective) “Right, Ms. Mitchell that leaves you.”

(Sarah) “Mr. Walls my stepdad. My mom was his third wife.”

(Detective) “His second longest marriage correct?”

(Sarah) “Mhm, he basically raised me. He and my mom are still on good terms though. I actually planned this whole party except for the incident in question.”

(Kat) “Well, I certainly think we’ve found our top suspects detective. A bored degenerate, a son seeking revenge, and a step-daughter who would know all kinds of secrets and hidden treasures.”

(Gary) “You call me a degenerate but I wasn’t the one fucking a staff member in here you tramp.”

(Sarah) “Yeah, I’d never hurt Charles, like I said he’s the only father I’ve ever known. I owe everything to him.”

(Bobby) “Nico, Sam you two are suspiciously silent.”

(Sam) “I told you already, if I did it everyone would know about it.”

The detective opens his mouth to speak but his train of thought is interrupted by a book falling from the shelf. It shocks us all and quiets the entire room. The tense atmosphere is practically suffocating. The detective goes over to the fallen book. He picks it up and tries to open it only to find it glued shut…

(Sarah) “And cut! Good work everyone! A few more rehearsals and maybe a couple of tweaks to the script and we’ll be ready for the school's Halloween dance.”