It All Started At Four Corners by Robi Crusoe (read this if .TXT) 📖

Chapter One

 

I have never been ordinary. It’s as if I’m a beacon for all sorts of trouble. So, a while ago, I decided to use my sixth sense for good. I became a private investigator. My goal is to help people, instead of hurt them, as I once did. I believe just as my dearest childhood mentor did that one truth prevails, no matter what the situation is. And as long as I remember that, no case will be too hard, and no crime will remain unsolved. Not for this detective, anyway.

 

 

            The night was cold, dark, and damp, the perfect conditions for a heist. The Moriaritys had been preparing for this night day after day, and now, it was finally that time. It was time to strike. Their youngest member went up to the door of the shop, knowing what she was to do. She picked the lock in seventeen seconds, and then set to work helping the gang leader crack the safety system. Finally, they were in. The crew began to collect the riches from the cash register, the safe, and the other somewhat hidden places in the store that a scout found earlier in the week.

            Just as they were about finished, a loud wailing echoed throughout the building.

            “Run!” cried Jamieson, scrambling for the back door. The young lock pick tried to follow, but tripped on a trash barrel and fell to the floor. She reached up, hoping to receive a hand from her best friend. But to her dismay, he was already turning around and running away.

            “Drake, please don’t leave me!” she called. Drake stopped, turned his head slightly, and sighed.

            “I’m sorry, Addi.” he said. Then he walked away, leaving his once named partner to the mercy of the Four-Corner’s PD.

                                   

            “All rise for the trial of Addison Avery Carter, charged with theft and breaking and entering.” commanded Judge Dillon. Addison smiled and stood.

            “How do you plead, Miss Carter?” he asked.

            “I plead guilty.” Addison said. Then she looked over at the policeman and held out her hands mockingly. “Officer, take me away.”

            “Not quite yet, you still need to hear your sentence.” Judge Dillon said. “Addison Carter, you are hereby sentenced to twenty years in prison. Case dismissed.

 

Seven Years Later…

 

“The butler did it.” Addison stated, closing her manila folder with her left hand. Dari Stutter, Addison’s cellmate, looked up at her in surprise.

            “How did you figure that case out so fast?” she asked. “It must have taken the police two full days to figure that one out and you solved it in fifteen minutes!” Addison laughed. She loved it when Dari asked her how she solved things. It gave her an excuse to explain her deductions.

            “Well, first of all, the butler didn’t have a good enough alibi.” she answered. “He said that he was in his room sleeping, and he didn’t have anyone with him to prove he was in his room the entire time. Plus, out of the two possible suspects, he was the only one that was strong enough to hit the victim over the head with the murder weapon.”  Dari just continued staring.

            “I still can’t believe that you can crack a case that quickly!” she said. “By the way, do I need to cover for you tonight? You look like you’re out of case folders again.”

            “That would be perfect!” replied Addison.

           

That night, Addison, using her talent for picking locks, crept out of her cell and slipped silently into the back of the prison library. She immediately went to where she had left off, folder two-thousand nine-hundred thirty-seven.

            “Ah yes,” Addison whispered. “The Case of the Estranged Doctor, this is sure to be an excellent mystery!”  She whipped the yellowing envelope from the shelf, taking a few other as well, just enough so that she would not have to come back for a couple of days. Quietly she crept back to her cell, tucked the stolen folders into her special compartment in the wall, and crawled into bed, making it seem as if nothing had happened at all.

 

            Little did Addison know that her plan had not been as secretive as she had believed it had been. Outside the prison compound, a disheveled young man rose to his feet, a red notebook and pencil in his blistered hands.

            “Yes, I believe she is the one.” he whispered. “I will conduct the final test tomorrow.” He then stood, dusted himself off, and seated himself on his Harley. As the middle-aged man drove away, he glanced back and smiled.

            “I’ll see you in the morning, Ms. Carter.”

 

            “Addison, wake up!” shouted Dari, shaking her friend vigorously for the fifth time that morning. “The sergeants are coming! It’s almost time for inspection!”

            “I’m awake, alright!” cried Addison. She forced herself up, and yawned. “I must have stayed up a little bit late last night.

            “Well you had better pull your act together before the Feds come.” Dari said. “If they see you like this they will know that something’s up.” She helped Addison straighten out her hair and slip on her shoes. The duo then resorted to sprucing up their quarters.

            They had just finished when Sergeant Flanders walked in for his daily inspection. His beady eyes scanned every corner of the room, looking for one hair out of place; one thing he could condemn the fugitives for. Finally, he gave up his search, and ordered the girls into the mess hall for breakfast.

           

            The cafeteria was not exactly the “cleanest” place in the world, nor was it the safest. Masses of inmates crowded the flimsy wooden tables, getting into their well established groups, and growling at the newbies who would try and enter their cliques uninvited. As always, Addison and Dari made their way to a back table, far away from the battlefield at the front. They sat back with all of the nerds and weirdoes who had learned their lessons long ago.

            “So, Addison, did you solve another one of your cases last night?” a girl named Janise Rosewell asked, leaning in closer so that she could hear well. She had entered the compound around the same time Addison did, so she knew all about her knack for solving crime.

            “In fact, I did.” replied Addison proudly. “It was about this doctor who-.”

            “Addison Carter,” yelled Sergeant Flanders, a wicked gleam in his eye. “You are wanted in the front office, immediately!”

            “Do you think he found the folders?” Addison asked Dari.

            “How could he have, they were hidden so well!” Dari answered. Addison shrugged, then turned around and walked up to Sergeant Flanders, her emotions unreadable, and her step unfaltering. Just as she was marched through the door by the sergeant, a shout arose from the back table.

            “Good luck, Addison!” yelled Dari. Then the view of the cafeteria vanished, and all Addison saw was the long stretch of hall ahead.

 

            “Well, if it isn’t Addison Carter!” exclaimed the man sitting in a burgundy armchair. Addison and Sergeant Flanders had just entered Officer Delaney’s study, where he and a young scraggly gentleman were seated.

            “Ms. Carter, this man’s name is Detective Connor Doyle. He is a private investigator for the Four Corners Police Department.”

            At the mention of the detective’s name, Addison’s breathe caught in her throat. It had been so long, but she could never forget the night that she had first met Detective Doyle. It was the night that Drake had betrayed her. As she looked into Connor’s eyes, she saw a sense of understanding, overlaid with a hint of mystery and a splash of trust. She then knew what he wanted with her. Slowly, she gave him a slight nod, signaling to him that she would do what he asked.

            “Alright then, it’s settled.” Connor said. “Ms. Carter shall come to my manor tomorrow at noon. I will arrange transportation as required.”

            “Wait a minute!” cried Addison. “I can’t go with you tomorrow, not without Dari!”

            “Who’s Dari?” questioned the inspector, a gleam in his eye. Sergeant Flanders answered for her.

            “Dari has been Addison’s friend during her time in this facility.” the sergeant explained. “They’ve been inseparable ever since they met.”

            “That’s right!” Addison proclaimed. “Dari and I, we’re like peanut butter and jelly, Laverne and Shirley. We’re like Sherlock Holmes and Watson!”

            “That’s quite enough, Ms. Carter!” shouted Officer Delaney. “Go back to your cell at once!” Addison gave everyone one last defiant look, and then she sulked back to her cell.

           

            “Are you sure she’s the one?” questioned Sergeant Flanders. “I mean, I know Addison is smart and all, but still, you have to remember that she is a criminal, and she is liable to turn back to her old ways at any moment!”

            “No, she won’t.” answered Detective Doyle. “Even if she didn’t know it, she has been training as a detective for these past seven years.” Dramatically, he produced a manila folder from behind him.

            “But, those are our case files!” stammered Officer Delaney.

            “Exactly, Addison Carter has been secretly pillaging these cases every night.” explained the detective. “Under our very noses, she has been solving countless numbers of these, keeping score on the wall by her bed.”

            “I thought those meant days!” gasped Sergeant Flanders. “I never had any idea that she was actually solving murder mysteries in there!”

            Connor snickered.

            “She hid her stolen objects very well, by placing them inside a compartment behind a stone in the wall.” he explained. “It’s pretty ingenious, if you think about it. Now, how about those release forms?”

 

              “We’re in.” said Addison said as she walked into her cell, a satisfied look on her face. Dari looked up from her crossword, confused.

            “What do you mean by ‘we’?” she questioned. Addison smiled at her.

            “I have successfully convinced the ecstatic Detective Doyle to bail out both of us.”

            “Really, we’re actually leaving this dump!” exclaimed Dari. “I can’t believe it… Oh, wait a minute, there’s a catch, isn’t there. There’s always a catch.

            “Alright, you got me.” Addison said, raising her hands in the air. “He’ll bail us out, but only if I agree to become his ‘assistant’. The only reason you got included is because, being the amazing friend that I am, I stood up for you.”

            “And you agreed to this?” asked Dari.

            “Yes, yes I did.” whispered Addison. Then she said goodnight to Dari, and fell into a nice, mystery filled sleep.

Chapter Two

 

 

The next day, Addison and Dari packed up their things, and left the place that had been their home for the last seven years, for good. They loaded their bags into the back of Detective Doyle’s car, and pretty soon, the trio was driving through the desert at sixty miles-per-hour, heading towards the bustling city of Four Corners, Arizona.

            When they arrived at the detective’s mansion, the two girls were introduced to his butler, a clammy old man who went by the name Niles.

            “Niles, please show these young ladies to their quarters.” Conner ordered. The