Nov 19, 20182 min
As she set the table Martha wondered if there would be any confessions tonight. She knew someone had done something awfully wrong but were protecting themselves, and their secret.
She placed down the last setting, there were only 14 guests attending tonight’s dinner following the unexpected death of Louisa, another member of their monthly book club’s meet-up.
She stopped to think about her briefly; Martha always admired Louisa’s alternative opinions to the narrative of the book they were discussing. She could easily see past the obvious story-line to draw comparisons and life lessons, something that many of the club admired. Perhaps it was jealousy that led someone to take matters into their own hands.
Martha was brought back to the present with the chime of the doorbell. Her first guest, Parker had arrived. Martha was surprised to see that he was using Louisa’s favourite bookmark to keep his place in his book, yet she maintained her composure and welcomed him into her home. After all, one thing she has learnt from reading these crime fictions is that people are innocent until proven guilty.
….
The chatter among the guests was filling the air like a school hall right before summer holidays. They were discussing everything but the book. They were all distracted. Martha had strategically sat near Parker to piece together any other clues about Louisa.
It wasn’t until she heard Bella mention that she picked up dog food in Wollongong three weeks ago that she stopped watching Parker so intensely. No one took much notice of this comment, but Martha distinctly remembers two months ago when discussing their book, Bella said she couldn’t really relate because she was a cat person.
“Isn’t Wollongong where Louisa was last seen?” Martha said loudly enough that the whole table heard. All conversations came to a halt.
“Why yes, but I didn’t see her there,” Bella stammered feeling slightly offended. “I was there to see….” she cleared her throat, “Peter.”
An odd combination, but Martha would revisit that later she thought.
“Parker, how did you come about to have Louisa’s favourite bookmark to use as your own?” she asked inquisitively.
“I didn’t know I did,” he exclaimed. “I borrowed this copy from Jonathan’s house when I found out he had two copies. Now you mention it though, I did see some other familiar looking items throughout his house I thought I saw Louisa wearing before she died.”
It all made sense. “It was you Jonathan, an act of jealousy! You couldn’t stand to hear about her recent proposal, lured her to your house with an invitation to tea and couldn’t contain your anger. You said you had run out of milk so you both drove to Wollongong…” her voice started to drift off.
…
It was a long draining night for Martha, but the results were worth it.
“Martha, thanks for such a good night,” said Bella.
“I never knew murder mystery parties could be so much fun!”