Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder. Donna Andrews

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СКАЧАТЬ glanced at Beatrice, who was drying her tears. As she surveyed the room, not one person in the gathering looked the least bit mournful. Several of the ladies were positively jovial, talking animatedly with smiles on their faces.

      Perhaps Miss Grayling had done more good than she ever could have imagined.

      But her part must, of course, remain a secret, a secret to the grave.

      KM Rockwood draws on a varied background for her stories, including working as a laborer in a steel fabrication factory and supervising an inmate work crew in a large state prison. Since she retired from working as a special-education teacher in correctional facilities, inner-city schools and alternative schools, she has devoted her time to writing and caring for her family and pets. Her published works include the Jesse Damon Crime Novel series (Wildside Press) and numerous short stories. www.kmrockwood.com

THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT THE ESCAPE ROOM, by Leone Ciporin

      “You have one hour to escape.”

      The girl hosting our adventure clutched a dangling earbud, ready to resume her private concert once she locked us in. Since I’d invited my family to this escape room outing, the girl’s obvious boredom reflected badly on me.

      We weren’t a close family—my stepaunt, Janet; my stepbrother, Hubert; my stepcousin, Delphine; and me. Despite that we all lived within a thirty-minute drive of each other—and Delphine and I even went to the same college—we hadn’t all been in the same room since last year, when we buried my stepfather and his sister, Delphine’s mother, who’d died together in a car crash. Nonetheless, I wanted them to have a good time.

      “What if we don’t find our way out?” Delphine asked Earbud Girl. Though chunky limbs on her tall, lean body made her look like a half-finished clay person, Delphine always wore T-shirts and shorts to soak up the outdoors. She didn’t care what people thought of her. She even let Hubert’s mean comments roll off her back.

      “People usually figure out the code. But if you don’t”—the girl waved the earbud for emphasis—“we’ll let you out.”

      Hubert stopped stroking his thin mustache to say “How suspenseful,” drawling his sarcasm, stretching each syllable to yield maximum condescension. “I’m trembling. As usual, David has come up with such a wonderful idea.”

      “Hush, Hubert,” Delphine slapped his arm. “David said escape rooms are fun. Let’s give it a try.”

      “Fine,” Hubert said. “But it’s an hour of my life I’ll never get back.”

      I struggled to not roll my eyes at how pretentious he was. You’d think a guy nearing thirty would stop trying to impress people. Not Hubert. He rolled his words around the back of his throat to sound French and insisted on pronouncing his name with a French accent, Ooh Bear, which wasn’t even how the French said it. Then again, the closest he’d ever been to France was a snooty restaurant downtown.

      “It’s just a game,” I said. “The whole point is to kill an hour. Grandma won’t be finished with her procedure for another hour at least.”

      “Procedure” was a bland term for giving Grandma enough morphine to blunt the pain from pancreatic cancer for the few days she had left.

      Until recently, Aunt Janet and I were the only relatives who visited Grandma regularly. But with her death near, Hubert had begun showing up, clearly hoping for a fat inheritance to launch the wine import business he loved to talk about. Delphine had started visiting Grandma too, probably out of duty, considering she always brought a friend with her for company. Today she’d invited her roommate, Felicia, and Felicia’s boyfriend, Cody, to join us, both at the hospital and here in the escape room. As usual, Felicia slumped against a wall, as if her skeleton was napping. Cody slouched too, like an athlete leaving the field after a losing game. Cody kept eyeing Delphine. She seemed not to notice, but Felicia sure did. Man, that guy was such a tool.

      Felicia grabbed Cody’s hand in a possessive way and said, “So what’s an escape room anyway?”

      Earbud Girl started to open her mouth, but I cut in. This was my idea, and I needed to make it sound exciting. “It’s like a scavenger hunt. You’re locked in a room, and you have one hour to search it. You need to look for hidden keys or for things in a series that tell you the numbers to punch into a combination lock in a door somewhere and then escape. But not the door we came in. Another door we’ll have to find.”

      “Scintillating,” Hubert said.

      “This room looks like a library,” Cody said. “Are we supposed to read books for clues?” He grinned at Delphine. “Delphine’s a big reader. She can spot the clues for us.”

      Felicia glared at him.

      I shook my head. “Escape rooms have themes. This one has an Agatha Christie mystery theme.” Grandma loved Agatha Christie novels. I’d read a ton of them to her last summer, after my first year at college, when her eyesight shrank to a pinhole. I knew she’d enjoy hearing about our mystery escape room outing. I looked forward to seeing if she figured out the clues. She probably would.

      “Why don’t we listen to the rules?” Aunt Janet startled me, though she spoke softly. I’d forgotten she was there. It was easy to do. She never said much or made a fuss. Even her clothes were in neutral colors, usually tan or gray or blue, though still stylish for an older woman. Her jewelry was expensive but not flashy.

      Earbud Girl recited the scenario in a monotone. “You have been called in to solve a murder. The Styles family woke this morning to find Lucius Styles stabbed to death in the library. No knife was found in the room. The library doors were locked and will open with a code known only to the family. Lucius Styles was wealthy, and his death leaves a sizeable estate to his relatives, some of whom are greedy, some of whom have money troubles, and some of whom fall into both categories.”

      I muttered to Aunt Janet, “That hit a little close to home.” Grandma was stinking rich and Hubert, who always had money troubles, was eagerly awaiting his inheritance. He’d have to share it with Aunt Janet and Delphine. Since I was a step-grandson, I was out of the picture inheritance-wise. Grandma had no problem giving me love, but when it came to money, she said she felt compelled to leave things to her blood relatives.

      “Human nature is the same everywhere, dear,” Aunt Janet whispered back.

      She squeezed my shoulders briefly. Aunt Janet reminded me of Grandma, who poured more affection on me than my own parents ever had.

      Earbud Girl was still talking. I’d probably missed key information.

      “Despite the police’s suspicions, the Styles family is certain an outsider killed Lucius, and they’ve hired you to find the killer’s escape route before the police return in one hour.”

      At least no one would kill Grandma. Cancer was handling that one.

      “All the clues you need are in the room.” The girl pointed to a television high on the wall. “Time remaining will display on the screen, and we’ll also post some hints, so keep an eye on the monitor. Any questions?”

      We were all quiet a moment. Then Aunt Janet said, “What time of year did the murder take place?”

      The girl gawked at Aunt СКАЧАТЬ