Text copyright © 2014 Katie L Thompson
All Rights Reserved
Preview Extract: Multicoloured Death Trap
Prologue
A scream echoed around the building.
It wasn’t unusual to hear people screaming during the day when the ball pond was open, but at eight o’clock at night, an hour after closing time, people became alarmed.
Tina was the first one at the scene. The kitchen was closest to the main ball pond from where the scream had come. Sam burst out of his office, almost at the same time as Pauline came out of the cleaning cupboard. Louie was the last one to appear, he’d been upstairs having a sneaky fag out of the window.
“What happened?” Louie asked.
Tina, Sam and Pauline were at the other end of the room. No one replied.
“Where’s Mel?” Louie walked round to join them. “Guys, what’s going on? … Oh.”
Sam hugged Tina, shielding her eyes from the sight before them. He soothed her hair with his hand.
Pauline couldn’t tear her eyes away from what was in front of her. The multicoloured balls, that so many children had enjoyed over the two years since they’d opened, were splattered with blood. Mel was lying, partly buried beneath the balls.
Chapter One
“I’m going to need to know where everyone was when they heard the scream,” Danny said.
Carl had his notebook, ready to take down all of the details.
“I was in the kitchen, cleaning down the surfaces and making sure that everything’s ready for tomorrow,” Tina said.
“I was in my office,” Sam said. “Louie shares the office with me, but he was upstairs.”
“What were you doing upstairs?” Danny asked, directing the question at Louie.
“Just doing … stuff,” he said.
Danny frowned.
“Oh, come on, Louie. People a mile away can smell that smoke on you.” Pauline turned to face Danny. “He was having a fag out the upstairs window.”
“And, what were you doing?” Danny asked.
“I was in the cleaning cupboard, searching for my new mop. I don’t know where it’s gone.”
“So there were four of you in the building besides Mel, and none of you have an alibi.”
They all nodded.
“Is there anyway that someone could have slipped into and out of the building without being seen?”
“The front door is protected by CCTV. I can show you the tape if you like,” Louie said. “The other exits are all fire exits and are protected by an alarm system.”
“And, what happens if someone opens one of these doors?” Danny asked.
“An alarm goes off until someone resets it. Only Pauline has the codes to reset them and if the alarm had gone off, people all around would have heard it.”
Danny told Carl to check the fire exits with Pauline and make sure that all of the alarms were set.
“We’re going to need to see the CCTV footage,” Danny said. “But if what all of you are saying is true, one of you four has to be the murderer. I’d like to speak to each of you individually.”
Carl came back with Pauline and confirmed that all of the alarms had been set.
“And you heard how loud they were, no way did anyone use them as an escape route,” Louie said.
Danny left Carl looking after the others and took Louie into a room on his own.
“How well did you know Mel?” Danny asked.
“Not that well, she was just one of the girls that used to play in the ponds with the kids, made sure that no one got injured. Ironic really.”
“How long have you and Mel been working together?”
“All of us started when the ponds first opened. It must have been about two years now.”
“But you don’t know her that well?”
“No.” Louie shifted in his seat. “The teams of people pretty much stick to themselves. Tina hangs around with the cooking team, Pauline the cleaning team and me and Louie take care of the paperwork in the office.”
“And Mel?”
“She hung around with the other people who looked after the kids. I think she’s the oldest one who does it. It takes a lot of energy to paddle around in those balls all day.”
“Have you heard anything unusual around here recently?”
Louie shrugged.
“No little arguments or … ”
“Not really no. Ask Sam, he’s more interested in things like that. I like to stay out the way whenever I can.” He yawned.
“Can you think of anyone who’d want to harm Mel?”
“No. Can I go now?”
“Uh … just one more question. When did you last see Mel?” Danny looked up from the notebook on the desk – he’d borrowed it from Carl.
“It must have been around lunch time. We both had spaghetti bolognese.”
“But you didn’t eat together?”
“No. As I said, we stick to our individual teams. Mel likes to eat in the cafeteria, I like to stay in my office.”
Danny nodded. “Okay, thank you. We’ll be in touch if we have anything else to ask you.”
“Oh goody,” he muttered on his way out.
Danny spoke to Tina next, who had very little to say and spent the whole time crying, so that anything she did say was hard to understand.
“She was a nice girl,” Tina said. “The last person to deserve something like this.”
“Who do you think does deserve something like this?” Danny asked.
“No one. I was just saying that, if anyone did, it wasn’t Mel.”
“What’s Mel’s full name?” Danny asked.
“Melanie Jess Seymour.”
Tina started crying again. “I’m sorry, I just don’t seem to be able to stop,” she said through sobs.
“Sir,” Carl knocked on the door, “people are getting restless out here.”
“Alright Carl, send Pauline in to me.” He turned to Tina. “When was the last time you saw Mel?”
Tina shook her head and pursed her lips. “I spoke to her briefly at lunchtime, and I saw her in the ball pond several times in the afternoon – the kitchen overlooks the main pond.”
“Did anything seem odd?”
She shook her head.
“Let us know if you think of anything else,” Danny said.
She nodded and left, plucking a tissue from the box on the desk behind her. Pauline walked in through the door as Tina left.
Pauline had less to say than anyone else.
“Our paths never really crossed. I work at night, she worked during the day.” She shrugged. “I hardly knew the girl.”
“So you can’t tell me why anyone would want to kill her?”
“Not a clue. From what I saw, she got on with everyone. People told me she got on really well with the kids. Parents often sent letters in thanking her.”
“Alright, thanks for your help.”
“Can I go back to cleaning?”
Danny shook his head. “This is a crime scene.”
“Oh, of course. I’ll just go home then.”
Danny smiled. He checked the time on the office clock – nine fifteen – he was missing the repeat of The 100. He’d missed its first showing on Tuesday, now it didn’t look like he’d ever get to watch it.
“Sam,” Sam held his hand out to Danny.
“Great, please take a seat … I’m told that you’re the person to ask if–”
“You want to know all the gossip,” Sam said for him. “That’s right. What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell me.”
“Where to start?” Sam looked at the ceiling. “Well I assume you know about Mel and Louie, they were sort of an item.”
“Tell me more about that,” Danny said, scribbling notes down on a piece of scrap paper.
“It wasn’t official. No one was supposed to know, but nothing like that gets passed me.”
“Anything else. Was there anyone she didn’t get on with?”
“Mel got on with everyone. I heard her and Tina arguing about something the other day, but arguments are bound to happen every now and then. It’s never about anything serious.”
“What about Pauline?”
“No one knows anything about Pauline, not even me. She overheard us talking about plans to set up this place and we were all arguing about who’d clean the place. She said she would, and that’s what happened.”
“You went into business with a lady that none of you knew?” Danny asked, making sure he’d heard correctly.
“Tina, Louie, Mel and myself own the business. We employ Pauline to clean. Since starting up we’ve added another two cleaners to the team.”
“And, what about you? How well did you know Mel?”
“She was a nice lady, fun to be around. Everyone I know likes Mel. We often spoke at work, but outside of this place, she pretended she didn’t know me.”
“Some people like to keep work separate from their private lives.”
“That’s what Mel was like.”
“Do you know anyone who’d want to kill her?” Danny asked, although he was sure he already knew the answer.
“No, not a soul. Louie, now that’s another matter. That guy has a way of getting into everyone’s bad books. That’s why he was shoved into the office. Now the only thing he can annoy is the paperwork and me.”
“What do you mean, shoved into the office?”
“He used to help Mel look after the kids in the ponds.”
Danny made a note of this. “Thank you,” he said, “you’ve been very helpful.”
“Call me if you have any more questions.”
They shook hands and then Sam left.
“They’re an odd bunch of people,” Carl said when everyone had left and only they remained.
Danny agreed.
“Well, the cause of death is obvious. That stab to her heart would’ve killed her almost instantly.”
While Danny had been talking to the colleagues, the body had been taken back to the morgue.
“Definitely a murder.”
Carl nodded.
“What did they use?”
Carl shrugged. “At a guess, I’d say whatever was used is somewhere in amongst all these balls. If you’d just murdered someone, and you knew that within a matter of seconds everyone would be crowding around you, what would you do?”
“Throw the weapon as far away from me as I could and hide somewhere where I could reappear when no one was looking. It wouldn’t be hard. Hide behind one of the doors and walk out while everyone else’s attention is focused on the body.”
“We’ve just got to find it,” Carl said.
“You better not be about to suggest what I think you’re about to suggest.” Danny shook his head.
“It’s playtime, baby.”
Danny groaned. He’d never liked these things as a child, he certainly didn’t want to be wading around in balls covered in blood, looking for something which had been used to stab someone.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Carl asked.
The scene had been photographed and samples of the blood had been taken.
“Come on,” Carl said, “we’ve got to find it, and I don’t see any other way.”
Danny wished that Jamie were there so she could do it instead of him. Why did she have to choose this of all nights to go to the theatre with her brother?
“Big baby,” Carl said, he was already wading his way through the multicoloured balls.
Danny sighed, thankful that most of the blood-covered balls had been removed. “Alright, but you can’t make me take my shoes off.”
“I hardly think a bit of mud’s going to bother them when there’s been a dead body in here. Everything’s going to have to be thoroughly cleaned. It’ll be ages before this place is allowed to open again.”
All Rights Reserved
Preview Extract: Multicoloured Death Trap
Prologue
A scream echoed around the building.
It wasn’t unusual to hear people screaming during the day when the ball pond was open, but at eight o’clock at night, an hour after closing time, people became alarmed.
Tina was the first one at the scene. The kitchen was closest to the main ball pond from where the scream had come. Sam burst out of his office, almost at the same time as Pauline came out of the cleaning cupboard. Louie was the last one to appear, he’d been upstairs having a sneaky fag out of the window.
“What happened?” Louie asked.
Tina, Sam and Pauline were at the other end of the room. No one replied.
“Where’s Mel?” Louie walked round to join them. “Guys, what’s going on? … Oh.”
Sam hugged Tina, shielding her eyes from the sight before them. He soothed her hair with his hand.
Pauline couldn’t tear her eyes away from what was in front of her. The multicoloured balls, that so many children had enjoyed over the two years since they’d opened, were splattered with blood. Mel was lying, partly buried beneath the balls.
Chapter One
“I’m going to need to know where everyone was when they heard the scream,” Danny said.
Carl had his notebook, ready to take down all of the details.
“I was in the kitchen, cleaning down the surfaces and making sure that everything’s ready for tomorrow,” Tina said.
“I was in my office,” Sam said. “Louie shares the office with me, but he was upstairs.”
“What were you doing upstairs?” Danny asked, directing the question at Louie.
“Just doing … stuff,” he said.
Danny frowned.
“Oh, come on, Louie. People a mile away can smell that smoke on you.” Pauline turned to face Danny. “He was having a fag out the upstairs window.”
“And, what were you doing?” Danny asked.
“I was in the cleaning cupboard, searching for my new mop. I don’t know where it’s gone.”
“So there were four of you in the building besides Mel, and none of you have an alibi.”
They all nodded.
“Is there anyway that someone could have slipped into and out of the building without being seen?”
“The front door is protected by CCTV. I can show you the tape if you like,” Louie said. “The other exits are all fire exits and are protected by an alarm system.”
“And, what happens if someone opens one of these doors?” Danny asked.
“An alarm goes off until someone resets it. Only Pauline has the codes to reset them and if the alarm had gone off, people all around would have heard it.”
Danny told Carl to check the fire exits with Pauline and make sure that all of the alarms were set.
“We’re going to need to see the CCTV footage,” Danny said. “But if what all of you are saying is true, one of you four has to be the murderer. I’d like to speak to each of you individually.”
Carl came back with Pauline and confirmed that all of the alarms had been set.
“And you heard how loud they were, no way did anyone use them as an escape route,” Louie said.
Danny left Carl looking after the others and took Louie into a room on his own.
“How well did you know Mel?” Danny asked.
“Not that well, she was just one of the girls that used to play in the ponds with the kids, made sure that no one got injured. Ironic really.”
“How long have you and Mel been working together?”
“All of us started when the ponds first opened. It must have been about two years now.”
“But you don’t know her that well?”
“No.” Louie shifted in his seat. “The teams of people pretty much stick to themselves. Tina hangs around with the cooking team, Pauline the cleaning team and me and Louie take care of the paperwork in the office.”
“And Mel?”
“She hung around with the other people who looked after the kids. I think she’s the oldest one who does it. It takes a lot of energy to paddle around in those balls all day.”
“Have you heard anything unusual around here recently?”
Louie shrugged.
“No little arguments or … ”
“Not really no. Ask Sam, he’s more interested in things like that. I like to stay out the way whenever I can.” He yawned.
“Can you think of anyone who’d want to harm Mel?”
“No. Can I go now?”
“Uh … just one more question. When did you last see Mel?” Danny looked up from the notebook on the desk – he’d borrowed it from Carl.
“It must have been around lunch time. We both had spaghetti bolognese.”
“But you didn’t eat together?”
“No. As I said, we stick to our individual teams. Mel likes to eat in the cafeteria, I like to stay in my office.”
Danny nodded. “Okay, thank you. We’ll be in touch if we have anything else to ask you.”
“Oh goody,” he muttered on his way out.
Danny spoke to Tina next, who had very little to say and spent the whole time crying, so that anything she did say was hard to understand.
“She was a nice girl,” Tina said. “The last person to deserve something like this.”
“Who do you think does deserve something like this?” Danny asked.
“No one. I was just saying that, if anyone did, it wasn’t Mel.”
“What’s Mel’s full name?” Danny asked.
“Melanie Jess Seymour.”
Tina started crying again. “I’m sorry, I just don’t seem to be able to stop,” she said through sobs.
“Sir,” Carl knocked on the door, “people are getting restless out here.”
“Alright Carl, send Pauline in to me.” He turned to Tina. “When was the last time you saw Mel?”
Tina shook her head and pursed her lips. “I spoke to her briefly at lunchtime, and I saw her in the ball pond several times in the afternoon – the kitchen overlooks the main pond.”
“Did anything seem odd?”
She shook her head.
“Let us know if you think of anything else,” Danny said.
She nodded and left, plucking a tissue from the box on the desk behind her. Pauline walked in through the door as Tina left.
Pauline had less to say than anyone else.
“Our paths never really crossed. I work at night, she worked during the day.” She shrugged. “I hardly knew the girl.”
“So you can’t tell me why anyone would want to kill her?”
“Not a clue. From what I saw, she got on with everyone. People told me she got on really well with the kids. Parents often sent letters in thanking her.”
“Alright, thanks for your help.”
“Can I go back to cleaning?”
Danny shook his head. “This is a crime scene.”
“Oh, of course. I’ll just go home then.”
Danny smiled. He checked the time on the office clock – nine fifteen – he was missing the repeat of The 100. He’d missed its first showing on Tuesday, now it didn’t look like he’d ever get to watch it.
“Sam,” Sam held his hand out to Danny.
“Great, please take a seat … I’m told that you’re the person to ask if–”
“You want to know all the gossip,” Sam said for him. “That’s right. What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell me.”
“Where to start?” Sam looked at the ceiling. “Well I assume you know about Mel and Louie, they were sort of an item.”
“Tell me more about that,” Danny said, scribbling notes down on a piece of scrap paper.
“It wasn’t official. No one was supposed to know, but nothing like that gets passed me.”
“Anything else. Was there anyone she didn’t get on with?”
“Mel got on with everyone. I heard her and Tina arguing about something the other day, but arguments are bound to happen every now and then. It’s never about anything serious.”
“What about Pauline?”
“No one knows anything about Pauline, not even me. She overheard us talking about plans to set up this place and we were all arguing about who’d clean the place. She said she would, and that’s what happened.”
“You went into business with a lady that none of you knew?” Danny asked, making sure he’d heard correctly.
“Tina, Louie, Mel and myself own the business. We employ Pauline to clean. Since starting up we’ve added another two cleaners to the team.”
“And, what about you? How well did you know Mel?”
“She was a nice lady, fun to be around. Everyone I know likes Mel. We often spoke at work, but outside of this place, she pretended she didn’t know me.”
“Some people like to keep work separate from their private lives.”
“That’s what Mel was like.”
“Do you know anyone who’d want to kill her?” Danny asked, although he was sure he already knew the answer.
“No, not a soul. Louie, now that’s another matter. That guy has a way of getting into everyone’s bad books. That’s why he was shoved into the office. Now the only thing he can annoy is the paperwork and me.”
“What do you mean, shoved into the office?”
“He used to help Mel look after the kids in the ponds.”
Danny made a note of this. “Thank you,” he said, “you’ve been very helpful.”
“Call me if you have any more questions.”
They shook hands and then Sam left.
“They’re an odd bunch of people,” Carl said when everyone had left and only they remained.
Danny agreed.
“Well, the cause of death is obvious. That stab to her heart would’ve killed her almost instantly.”
While Danny had been talking to the colleagues, the body had been taken back to the morgue.
“Definitely a murder.”
Carl nodded.
“What did they use?”
Carl shrugged. “At a guess, I’d say whatever was used is somewhere in amongst all these balls. If you’d just murdered someone, and you knew that within a matter of seconds everyone would be crowding around you, what would you do?”
“Throw the weapon as far away from me as I could and hide somewhere where I could reappear when no one was looking. It wouldn’t be hard. Hide behind one of the doors and walk out while everyone else’s attention is focused on the body.”
“We’ve just got to find it,” Carl said.
“You better not be about to suggest what I think you’re about to suggest.” Danny shook his head.
“It’s playtime, baby.”
Danny groaned. He’d never liked these things as a child, he certainly didn’t want to be wading around in balls covered in blood, looking for something which had been used to stab someone.
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Carl asked.
The scene had been photographed and samples of the blood had been taken.
“Come on,” Carl said, “we’ve got to find it, and I don’t see any other way.”
Danny wished that Jamie were there so she could do it instead of him. Why did she have to choose this of all nights to go to the theatre with her brother?
“Big baby,” Carl said, he was already wading his way through the multicoloured balls.
Danny sighed, thankful that most of the blood-covered balls had been removed. “Alright, but you can’t make me take my shoes off.”
“I hardly think a bit of mud’s going to bother them when there’s been a dead body in here. Everything’s going to have to be thoroughly cleaned. It’ll be ages before this place is allowed to open again.”