Murder At The Aries Estate (standard:mystery, 3827 words)
Author: Jim Keim	Added: Aug 21 2016	Views/Reads: 3046/1807	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Several murders occur at the Aries Estate during a meeting. The police come and investigate and the killer is apprehended with an extremely happy ending.

Murder At The Aries Estate 

By  Jim Keim 

Why do murders always happen during those dreary, dreadful nights, when
the fog is so thick you could almost cut it with a knife? Oh, and 
speaking of knives, well, that's how this whole mess really began. It 
seems Miriam Cauldron was having her 13th annual convention for the 
coven of spiritual and metaphysical beings. The meeting was to begin at 
8:00 P.M. sharp with snacks and refreshments to be served afterwards. 
Miriam decided to wait a few extra minutes past 8:00 because one of her 
main readers, Margaret Timms hadn't shown up yet. “Miriam. What are we 
all sitting around here for? Its 8:15,” Jack bellowed. “Yes, I know. I 
believe Margaret must have run into a problem. She's never been this 
late before, so I thought I'd give her fifteen or twenty minutes. I'm 
sure she'll be here any time now.” “Well, I say we start without her. 
She never contributes anything positive to the meeting anyway,” 
remarked Jeff. “Yeah, amen on that one, Jeffy,” replied Jack. “Now, 
come on people, let's not get hostile here. Let me give her another 
five minutes and if no Margaret; then we'll get the show on the road,” 
Miriam said. Five minutes passed and the conversations were turning 
into an uproar. Miriam finally pounded her gavel three times and called 
the meeting to order. Miss Cassidy sat at the far end of the table, as 
usual, and made preparations to record the minutes for the meeting. For 
the next hour or more, we talked about everything new going on in the 
realm of the occult. As soon as the meeting was over, everyone moved 
into the formal grand dining hall for hors d'oeuvres and wine. Pepsi 
was available for Miss Cassidy, who never touched anything stronger 
than black coffee. The members, all dressed in their formal attire, 
began mingling around and forming into small groups. Miriam and Ann 
Cassidy strolled over by the picture window with their drinks in their 
hands. “So Ann, with all this nasty rain and fog settling in tonight, 
are you going to try to drive back to Ohio or are you planning to wait 
until tomorrow?” “Oh Miriam, I'd rather wait. Driving in the rain 
doesn't bother me but I hate that fog.” “You know, with all the 
bedrooms in this place, you're more than welcome to stay. Some of the 
others are staying over as well, except some members from the local 
area here.” “Well, thank you for the offer, Miriam. Lucky for tomorrow 
being Sunday, most of us don't have to worry about going to work. I am 
getting tired, so I think I'll be ready to settle in before long.” 
“Whenever you're ready, let me know and we'll go upstairs and get your 
bedding set up.” Ann happened to look out the window toward the 
circular parking area and noticed a pink Jeep parked there. “Look, 
Miriam ... over there behind that van. That looks like Margaret's 
Jeep.” “Ann, you're right. As a matter of fact, that is Margaret's 
Jeep. I'd recognize it anywhere. She has a hand-carved Gemini twins 
figure hanging from her inside mirror. I wonder what the hell is going 
on. If her Jeep is here, then where is she?” We strolled outside to get 
a closer look at the Jeep. It must have been there a long time because 
the way she had parked, others had to park her in so they were clear of 
the road. Miriam and Ann ran inside to tell the others. Suddenly all 
the conversations came to a hush as everyone looked at each other. 
About then, there was a bright flash of lightning and all the lights 
went out. “Oh, terrific. What a way to end a party,” replied Miriam. 
Ann reached into her purse and pulled out her car keys which 
conveniently had a tiny flashlight attached to them. She told Miriam 
she could use it to make her way out to the kitchen so she could get 
some candles. She knew they were stored in the pantry, because that's 
where all the office supplies were kept for recording the club minutes 
and such. Ann went off on her way while Miriam announced to everyone to 
stand still until Ann came back with some candles. About then, Ann 
began screaming hysterically from the kitchen. Miriam made her way back 
there as quickly as she could. “Ann, Ann? What's the matter?” “Over 
here Miriam. The pantry!” Miriam went over toward the pantry and found 
Margaret lying in a pool of blood with a knife in her chest. Miriam 
knelt down weeping as she stroked Margaret's hair. “Who would do such a 
thing? Margaret would never hurt anyone. She loved nature, existence, 
all of it. Ann, you have blood all over the front of your dress!” “I 
know. It was horrible. I opened the closet door in here to find the 
candles and she fell right against me. I jumped back screaming as she 
fell to the floor. Someone murdered her, stood her up in there and 
closed the door.” “Come on. Let's get these candles out to the parlor 
where we can use them. We need to call the police right away.” “You're 
right. Let's go.” They lit a dozen candles throughout the parlor and 
announced to everyone they found Margaret in the pantry, murdered. 


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