| Mystery and Crime Fiction posted September 8, 2024 | Chapters: |
...6 7 -8- 9 
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An adventure!
A chapter in the book Murder At The Berkshire
Room 413
by Douglas Goff
Previously:
With Hattie being alone and her children living out of state, the older daughter placed her in a home for the elderly. Unfortunately, she finds herself even more lonely surrounded by people. When Hattie learns of the mysterious death of Mr. Howell up on the fourth floor, she decides to look into it. The ladies create the Senior Sleuth Society. They decide they need to visit Room 413, where Mr. Howell died.
New:
Hattie led the group of ladies towards the east end stairs. About halfway down the hallway they had to pass by the floor assistant’s office. From the open doorway, they could hear slight snoring sounds dancing with a minor case of sleep apnea coming from within.
When they hurried past the room, they saw Becky Hazel laid back in a large reclining armchair with her snoring and snorting face sounding off at the ceiling it faced. Her feet were up on the desk. Next to her white uniform shoes was a tin with squares of fudge marble brownies. Hattie could just make out a ring of chocolate around the assistant’s lips.
The group of elderly women scurried past the open doorway, feeling relief at having passed their first obstacle. Then to their surprise, Nelly turned back and went straight into the floor attendant's office!
Joy and Hattie stared at each other, mouths agape in shock. A moment later, Nelly returned with four of the brownies. Hattie wasn’t happy. Of all the nonsensical deliciously ignorant tasty mistakes. Okay, they are quite delicious!
Once the ladies had gobbled down their mid-raid snack, they continued to the stairway. They could not risk the elevator, because Nancy had advised that the fourth floor attendant sat at a desk right beside the elevator. This was for the safety of the fourth floor residents who tended to wander about.
Once they started up the stairs, Hattie had to grimace at all of the popping knees and cracking bones as they climbed, including her own. It sounded like some type of creepy skeletal band. Luckily it’s only one flight of stairs, or we will never make it!
Finally, they were at the far east end of the fourth floor. They snuck as quietly as church mice down the dimly lit hall. The fourth floor was neither as tidy nor as bright as the other floors down below. The entire place had an eerie feel to it. Creepy, in fact.
Luckily, the single bulbs hanging down from electrical cords every fifty feet or so provided just enough illumination to reveal the room numbers. Once they reached room 413, the ladies huddled behind Hattie at the door.
She opened it as quietly as she could and all four of them slipped into the room, nervously running into each other when she stopped in the middle of the room. The first thing the ladies noticed was that it smelled stale and the air was stagnant.
When Nancy flipped on the light switch, they saw that the room was sparsely decorated and stripped of all personal items. Hattie noted that there was at least twenty feet distance from the davenport to the stripped bed. There were two chairs, a small table, and a private bathroom. The entire setup and size was very similar to their rooms down on the third floor.
Joy started to speak when they heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door. All four of the ladies froze, hoping that whoever was walking by, wouldn’t notice that the light was on inside of the room. If they did, then their caper was all over.
A loud noise, obviously the passing of gas, sounded out in the hallway as the person continued down the hall. Hattie held her finger to her lips after seeing Nel’s face trembling. Then out came a snicker, followed by a louder giggle. That broke Joy, who also giggled. When Nancy joined in, Hattie had to shush them.
Once they managed to control themselves, and grew silent, the ladies listened for several minutes. It seemed whoever had passed, most likely the floor attendant at this hour, was gone. Then they resumed their search.
“Is that blood?” Nancy pointed at a large round stain in the middle of the mattress.
Nel took a closer look and saw that it was yellow, stating, “Depends.”
“On what?” Nancy questioned.
“No . . .Mr. Howell needed some Depends.” Nel smiled, “That’s a pee stain.”
Hattie had to silence another round of giggles before they continued. It didn’t take them long to discover that there wasn’t much in the room. All of Mr. Howell’s personal items were long gone. Needless to say, it was a little disappointing.
“What exactly are we looking for, Hattie?” Joy went and looked out the window.
“We're looking for clues, silly.” Nelly answered and made her way to the closet. After pulling it open, she sighed at the emptiness. “Besides, isn’t it good to actually see the scene of the crime?”
“What type of clues are we looking for?” Nancy questioned from behind her mirror.
“It’s always good to see the crime scene, so as to ensure that you have it pictured correctly in your mind.” Hattie bent over and appeared to pick something up off the floor. She held up a bright shiny earring pinched between her fingers. “And we’re looking for a clue exactly like this one.”
CHARACTERS:
Key Residents
Hattie May Hatfield-New resident who used to be an author
Katherinne Beck-Chatty Kathy, a resident who talks constantly
Jubilee Joy-Bubbly lady
Narcoleptic Nelly-Plump, purple-fashioned lady, who falls asleep
Art Antica-A cold, but cute resident
Jerk Beefy-An amorous sleazy resident
Moaning Lisa-Jerk Beefy's girlfriend
Narcissistic Nancy-Pretty lady who loves the mirror
Lesser Residents
Grumpy Gus-A cranky, very old residents
Barfett-a slovenly resident who eats sloppy
Windy Wendy-A resident who constantly passes gas
Pharmacuetical Phil Barnes-Supplies pills to the male residents
Employees
Harold Chapman-Pencil pushing Berkshire Director
SUSPECT Debra-The Berkshire Nurse
SUSPECT Mrs. Janice Cooley-Attendant
SUSPECT Harvey Marsh- Attendant
SUSPECT Becky Hazel- Attendent
SUSPECT Jimmy Williams-Attendant
SUSPECT Carmen Marsala-Attendant
Deceased
Edward Howell-Sent to the 4th floor, then suspiciously died
Paul Hatfield-Hattie's deceased police detective husband
Extras
Sarah Hatfield-Hattie's oldest daughter
Detective Steele-Hattie's deceased husband's old partner
Marcy-Narcisistic Nancy's sister
With Hattie being alone and her children living out of state, the older daughter placed her in a home for the elderly. Unfortunately, she finds herself even more lonely surrounded by people. When Hattie learns of the mysterious death of Mr. Howell up on the fourth floor, she decides to look into it. The ladies create the Senior Sleuth Society. They decide they need to visit Room 413, where Mr. Howell died.
When they hurried past the room, they saw Becky Hazel laid back in a large reclining armchair with her snoring and snorting face sounding off at the ceiling it faced. Her feet were up on the desk. Next to her white uniform shoes was a tin with squares of fudge marble brownies. Hattie could just make out a ring of chocolate around the assistant’s lips.
The group of elderly women scurried past the open doorway, feeling relief at having passed their first obstacle. Then to their surprise, Nelly turned back and went straight into the floor attendant's office!
Joy and Hattie stared at each other, mouths agape in shock. A moment later, Nelly returned with four of the brownies. Hattie wasn’t happy. Of all the nonsensical deliciously ignorant tasty mistakes. Okay, they are quite delicious!
Once the ladies had gobbled down their mid-raid snack, they continued to the stairway. They could not risk the elevator, because Nancy had advised that the fourth floor attendant sat at a desk right beside the elevator. This was for the safety of the fourth floor residents who tended to wander about.
Once they started up the stairs, Hattie had to grimace at all of the popping knees and cracking bones as they climbed, including her own. It sounded like some type of creepy skeletal band. Luckily it’s only one flight of stairs, or we will never make it!
Finally, they were at the far east end of the fourth floor. They snuck as quietly as church mice down the dimly lit hall. The fourth floor was neither as tidy nor as bright as the other floors down below. The entire place had an eerie feel to it. Creepy, in fact.
Luckily, the single bulbs hanging down from electrical cords every fifty feet or so provided just enough illumination to reveal the room numbers. Once they reached room 413, the ladies huddled behind Hattie at the door.
She opened it as quietly as she could and all four of them slipped into the room, nervously running into each other when she stopped in the middle of the room. The first thing the ladies noticed was that it smelled stale and the air was stagnant.
When Nancy flipped on the light switch, they saw that the room was sparsely decorated and stripped of all personal items. Hattie noted that there was at least twenty feet distance from the davenport to the stripped bed. There were two chairs, a small table, and a private bathroom. The entire setup and size was very similar to their rooms down on the third floor.
Joy started to speak when they heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door. All four of the ladies froze, hoping that whoever was walking by, wouldn’t notice that the light was on inside of the room. If they did, then their caper was all over.
A loud noise, obviously the passing of gas, sounded out in the hallway as the person continued down the hall. Hattie held her finger to her lips after seeing Nel’s face trembling. Then out came a snicker, followed by a louder giggle. That broke Joy, who also giggled. When Nancy joined in, Hattie had to shush them.
Once they managed to control themselves, and grew silent, the ladies listened for several minutes. It seemed whoever had passed, most likely the floor attendant at this hour, was gone. Then they resumed their search.
“Is that blood?” Nancy pointed at a large round stain in the middle of the mattress.
Nel took a closer look and saw that it was yellow, stating, “Depends.”
“On what?” Nancy questioned.
“No . . .Mr. Howell needed some Depends.” Nel smiled, “That’s a pee stain.”
Hattie had to silence another round of giggles before they continued. It didn’t take them long to discover that there wasn’t much in the room. All of Mr. Howell’s personal items were long gone. Needless to say, it was a little disappointing.
“What exactly are we looking for, Hattie?” Joy went and looked out the window.
“We're looking for clues, silly.” Nelly answered and made her way to the closet. After pulling it open, she sighed at the emptiness. “Besides, isn’t it good to actually see the scene of the crime?”
“What type of clues are we looking for?” Nancy questioned from behind her mirror.
“It’s always good to see the crime scene, so as to ensure that you have it pictured correctly in your mind.” Hattie bent over and appeared to pick something up off the floor. She held up a bright shiny earring pinched between her fingers. “And we’re looking for a clue exactly like this one.”
© Copyright 2024. Douglas Goff All rights reserved.
Douglas Goff has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
