Doofus Detectives Ch 2 : Modern Day Mummy

The study was spellbinding. It was luxurious, towering bookshelves filled with exquisitely bound books and handwritten manuscripts. Oil paintings decorated the walls and low golden lights glinted of the expensive dark wood panels.

The spell was broken by the mess.

Several coffee cups lay cluttered all over the table, feathered quills sat dipped in the red inkpot. The blue inkpot was smashed, the flecks covered the study, the ink pooled into the expensive rug. Piles of newspapers sat everywhere; documents lay scattered. On the expensive leather chair, leaning back lay the dead body of Mrs Camilla Lawrence, stabbed several times, the dagger poking out of the chest, bleeding all over the chair and down into the rug. Her open, vacant eyes stared slack jawed at the ceiling.

She was on old woman, pale papery complexion and sparse white hair like whisps of cotton. Mrs Lawrence was dressed in an expensive white suit, now dark red of course, and maroon pumps. Her hands hung at her side, her fingers skewered several golden and diamond rings. She was wearing an expensive ruby necklace.

A generous layer of dust covered her.

Mat stood at the entrance of the study with the others, a bemused look on his face, the camera hanging around his neck. They were all wearing gloves, and had been ready to attack the crime scene, but the layer of dust on everything was so thick that couldn’t touch anything without proper documentation.

Ham frowned at the body, “It’s been sitting there for a while now, I don’t understand why it isn’t smelling. It should be decomposing by now. But it's just sitting there, perfect.”

“Well, it is December, and the windows been open all this time. Maybe the cold just preserved it.” Adi gestured towards the window, “What I don’t understand is why they waited so long till they called us. I mean, they found the body two whole days ago.”

Mel waved her hand around in exasperation, “That’s all well and good, but doesn’t anyone else think its weird there are no flies here? Back home you leave a glass of milk out and within seconds we have dozens of flies sitting on it. There a whole dead body here, not to mention several cups of coffee.”

“Technically it’s just two - three flies.” Mat corrected her, “And we live in a different part of town.”

“A poorer part of town, I guess flies are classist too.” Mel pouted.

Mat smiled slightly. He adjusted his camera and started to photographing the scene, his eyes intent, going over everything carefully, making sure to take in every possible angle.

Ham glanced at the window again, “You think the killer came in through the window?”

Adi shook his head, “I was thinking the same thing but to be able to climb in he would have needed a ladder of at least 35 ft - we’re on the fourth floor. Moreover this side of the building is in plain view of not just the main gardens but also the main road so he would have to wait till pitch black darkness to attempt the climb.”

“And 35 ft ladders are notoriously hard to handle.”

Adi shrugged, “Pretty much.”

Mel frowned, “It's most likely an inside job. Pethic’s attitude was very complacent and drunk considering his mother has been murdered. Also, a murder is a pretty big deal and the household is big, so there should be plenty of servants, the fact that none of them snuck away to inform the police means that Mrs Lawrence was either treated as worthless by her family or she was not liked at all.”

Ham eyed the body, “I have a feeling it might have been both.”

Adi’s brows scrunched in confusion, “But if Pethic was the murderer, why would he call us? He can’t be that stupid.”

“Well,” Mat looked at the others, “it certainly wasn’t a robbery gone wrong, there’s nothing missing here.”

“Anything else out of place?” Mel questioned.

Mat shook his head, “All the dust patterns are intact, there were some smudges near the door, but I'm assuming that’s from when the body was discovered. Everything else is fine, the room wasn’t opened or entered into after the murder.”

“Or after the first instance when the body was discovered.” Adi finished.

Mat nodded, “They just left the body sitting here for two days after the it was discovered.”

An uneasy silence filled the air.

Mat resumed his work. Ham flexed his fingers, “We’re going to need documents, the will, financial statements etc.”

Mel nodded, “I’ve sent James out, we should have them by tomorrow evening.”

Adi blinked in surprise, “What? When did you do that?”

Mel shrugged, “I’d gotten ready early, so I went down and told James to send a bunch of telegrams. I would have called if I had more time.”

Ham glanced at Mat, “You done?”

Mat looked around the study, “Yeah, surprisingly. This place is deceptively small.”

Ham, Mel and Adi entered the study, adjusting their gloves. Ham went to inspect the body; Adi went towards the bookshelves and Mel studied the area around the desk with Mat. “None of these papers make any sense, these are just random documents.” She said, going through all the papers on Mrs Lawrence’s desk. “Grants for grass? And kitchen utensils?” She sounded utterly confused.

Mat frowned, “There are documents missing here. There are pens in the red inkpot, and the blue one was open so they’ve obviously been used, but all the documents here are typewritten. There are no annotations anywhere.”

“It’s possible that the killer took them.”

Adi turned around, “That might have been the motive. Perhaps it was evidence for something, fraud or cheating or stealing. Most likely something money related.”

Mel tapped her foot impatiently raising a mini cloud of dust, Mat stood there looking thoughtful, “Anything up with the bookshelf?”

Adi sighed, “No, all the books are unread, but I suppose –“

“Guys.” Ham’s voice was surprised, he sounded both slightly panicked and utterly muddled. They turned to look at him.

Ham stood by the chair over the body, his gloves bloody, supporting the body to stop it from slipping with one hand, he used his right hand to gently pull the handle of the dagger to reveal……. a three-inch blade.

They stared at in shock.

Mel’s eyes were blown wide, “What…. what is that?”

Adi’s mouth hung open, “Is that the entire thing?”

Ham nodded, “Yeah.” He sounded perplexed.

Mat swallowed, “Is a blade that small supposed to kill people?”

“Not normally no, but it is possible.” He grimaced, “It’s an absolutely horrible death.”

Mel looked up sharply, “What do you mean?”

“It’s like stabbing someone with a compass, not very effective but it fucking hurts. To be able to actually kill somebody with a blade so short, a tremendous amount of force would be needed. Which is exactly what’s happened here.” He gestured towards the wounds of Mrs Lawrence’s chest, “Several puncture wounds, some deep some shallow, the murderer just went to town stabbing in a violent, random, frenzy.”

Mat winced, “But that is the cause of murder right?”

Ham disengaged himself from the body, “Yeah I’m pretty sure. Still, I’ll send it in for an autopsy – better be safe than sorry.”

Adi raised his eyebrows, “How will you do that? It’s obviously a murder and we have to be discreet with this remember.”

Ham nodded, “I remember, I’ll pull in a favour with some old pals, don’t worry about it.”

Mel straightened suddenly, her eyes bright, “That must be the letter knife!” Her voice was loud, the voice that erupted after a flash on insight.

Adi’s eyes widened, “The murderer must have picked it up from the table.”

Mel snapped her fingers, “Of course, and the missing documents must be some sort of letter that Camilla must have opened and signed or corrected.”

Ham glanced at the little dagger in his hand, “But…. that means…..”

“The crime wasn’t planned, it was spontaneous. A crime of passion.” Finished Mat grimly.