Murder+on+Kilimanjaro


 * "Murder on Kilimanjaro" by Cam and Erik **


 * __Murder On Kilimanjaro__ **


 * __Chapter 1__ **


 * It was a nice, warm summer day in the middle of August. Unless, of course, you were at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which was where John, Jim, and Frank Stratton were heading. John was deathly poor, but was still invited by his wealthy father and brother. He made most of his income by hunting and selling exotic fruits. Their family went here every year, except this year they are without Mary Stratton who died of lung cancer. She had had the bad habit of smoking half a pack of cigarettes every day. Of course, she didn’t know it was eating her from the inside out. **
 * As John, Jim, and Frank reached their cabin Frank called out, “Finally! We’re here. It just doesn’t feel right...” **
 * “I know what you mean,” said Jim, “but I invited Egret for dinner tonight.” **
 * John piped up, “It makes it worse. Now, on top of worrying about Mom, we have to sit and eat dinner with her best friend.” **
 * Later that night, after dinner, a scream was heard. Egret rushed into the room, just to find Frank lying back on the recliner, a bullet hole in his neck. A small stream of blood ran down the arm of the chair. Egret didn’t know what to do. John was nowhere in sight. **
 * Then John walked into the room. Rubbing his eyes, he started **
 * to say, “Geez, dad, you don’t have to scre-,” and then his eyes went wide. “What happened? Egret! What did you do?” **


 * “N-nothing! I swear! I just heard scream, a-and I came in and saw him here.” **
 * “Right! That’s just what you want me to believe!” **
 * “I’ll hire a detective,” she said, “you’re the one who’s killed him!” **
 * “Don’t bring me into this! I was outside in the garden,” John said. **
 * It was then that Jim walked in. As soon as he saw his son lying dead on the chair, he burst into tears, “Who killed my son!” **
 * “It was Egret,” John quickly replied. **
 * The somber expression on his face didn’t help settle things down. **
 * “No way! I didn’t kill your son! I’m calling a detective this instant,” Egret screamed. **


 * __Chapter 2__ **


 * “OK, Mrs. Baxter, I will investigate your case,” the famous detective William Burke said, “I will be at the cabin by 8:00 this evening.” **
 * “Thank you Mr. Burke. I really appreciate it. I will see you then,” Egret said. **
 * At eight o’clock sharp, William Burke and his assistant Jacque Smith arrived at the cabin. They didn’t knock. The just walked in. **
 * “Hello,” Egret started. **
 * “Let’s cut to the chase,” Burke snapped. **
 * “OK, I’ll show you Frank,” Egret said, rolling her eyes. **
 * “Aha! But first...Jacque, you’re a horrible detective, I hate you, you’ve ruined my life, and you’re fired!” **
 * Jacque nodded absentmindedly, and walked off. No one ever saw him again. **
 * “Excuse me. Jacque always got in my way” **
 * With a shake of William’s head, they walked into the library. Burke got down on his hands and knees. He started to examine Frank’s lifeless body. He took out a small pocket knife, sharp-looking, and a tray. He cut a small circle around the bullet wound. After removing the skin, he looked for a bullet. He didn’t find it. He walked around to the other side of the chair. He saw that the bullet hole went through the back of the chair and out the side of the cabin. **


 * “This shot was at very close range. The gun had a silencer. By the looks of the bullet hole, it looks like a 9mm gun, perhaps a Beretta handgun,” Burke declared. **
 * “Who would’ve killed him? What sort of person would be so malevolent?” Egret questioned. **
 * There was a long silence. **
 * “Interesting...I must be getting off. I will come back tomorrow,” Burke finally said after staring pensively at the dead body for quite a while. **


 * __Chapter 3__ **


 * William Burke, ten minutes out, heard a scream. And a loud one, too. William Burke rushed back to the cabin, and found the door unlocked. He opened the door only to find Jim Stratton lying on the floor. He was twisted in an oblique angle, multiple wounds were evident in on his skin. A pool of blood was expanding around the grotesque body. He looked around the cabin. Nobody was there. **
 * He was looking for any trace of Egret or John. He checked all of the rooms, the bathrooms and the kitchen. All that he found was Egret’s knitting needle, and it had blood on it. **
 * Just then, Egret walked in. A look of surprise crossed her face, followed by sadness. Then, she realized her knitting needle was laying on the floor covered in blood. **
 * “I didn’t do it!” She exclaimed. **
 * “How do you expect me to believe you. That is exactly what you said about Frank. Now I am starting to think that you have killed both of them!” William Burke exclaimed. **
 * “I swear! I-It’s John! He did it! He’s dirt poor, and wants the money from the life insurance policy!” Egret retor **
 * Burke continued to walk around the cabin when he heard a crack. He jumped, and then he fell through the floorboard. **
 * “Well, that was...interesting,” Burke said as he was climbing up from the hole in the ground. “Wait a minute,” he said as he was pulling out his flashlight, “Je to tajný tunel!” **
 * “What?” Egret inquired. **
 * “A secret tunnel, fool! A secret tunnel! One of you has a secret tunnel!” He snorted. “That’s why the floor broke when I jumped. I’m going back down there.” Burke said. **
 * “You can’t! Don’t be so imperious!” Egret screeched. **
 * “You sound like a banshee!” He said with a maniacal grin,and with that he jumped in. **


 * __Chapter 4__ **


 * When Detective William Burke reached the bottom of the tunnel, he was surprised at the expanse of it. It went in three directions, and it seemed to lead out of the mountain. Each tunnel was at least 20 feet wide, and he could not see the end of any of them. He started to walk down the middle tunnel. After a while,he saw some light at the end. He was very quiet as he approached the end of the tunnel. He tripped and fell. When he got up, he saw the 9mm Beretta handgun that was used to kill Frank. Along with that, there were other such weapons. Swords, knives, sawed off shotguns, rifles, snipers, and even a grenade launcher. By the time that he got to the end of the tunnel, he had solved the case. The killer, John Stratton, was laying on the mountain side, wet and covered in mud. **


 * __Chapter 5__ **
 * William began to think. “John...!” he said, startled. And then it came to the detective. “I should’ve seen it all along! You ‘weren’t there’ when Frank was killed. You must have gone through the tunnel. When Jim was killed, you escaped through the tunnel, too! You must have fallen and slipped in the mud.” **
 * Just as Detective William Burke pulled out his phone to call the police, John Stratton pulled out another 9mm Beretta handgun. **


 * “No, John! Put the gun down...!” **
 * “No!” He yelled. **
 * Burke rushed towards John. Before John could fire his gun, Burke had knocked it out of his hands. **
 * John swung his right fist around, hitting William in the jaw. As William wiped the blood off of his face, he launched himself at John. They grappled, fists, knees, elbows and legs all in a frenzy. **
 * William kicked the murderer in the stomach, making him fall over. As Burke was coming over, John scrambled to the handgun. He cocked it. **
 * Burke’s eyes went wide. **
 * “I will get the money. The one million dollars is mine!” He laughed evilly. **
 * “Not if you’re in jail!” retorted the detective. There was then a loud bang, followed by a searing pain in Burke’s head. **
 * “I knew this would happen someday,” were his last words. Burke fell over, and went into a deep, deep sleep. **


 * __Epilogue__ **
 * John Stratton eventually did get the $1,000,000 dollars from his father’s life insurance policy. He started a new life as a stockbroker at a large London bank. **


 * Ten years later, the case was reopened. They found John’s fingerprints on both of the Berettas and found some of his hair on the back of the chair that Frank was killed on. And Egret Baxter’s knitting needle wasn’t covered in blood- it was tomato sauce. **