Mystery in Paris

 The Mystery in Paris

“Wake up Anne”, my mother woke me up, “You have to go to your tour”. I woke with a jerk and saw that it was 6.00 am on 22^ndJanuary. But first, let me introduce myself before I proceed with the story…

I am Anne, aged 14. I am a member of the adventurous group “Seven Seas”. We travel to many parts of the world and solve mysteries over there. Our group members' names are- Georgia, Nicky, Max, Colette, Alex and Anne (me).we all are of the same age group.

This time we were traveling to Paris, France not for solving a mystery but for traveling and enjoying. I gave a warm farewell to my parents and my pet dog, Percy.

I met my friends at the airport and took our flight on time. The plane took off. Max said,” It will be a very nice tour”. “Hope we won’t have any mystery this time,” Colette said. Georgia, Nicky, and Alex were busy with their smartphones.  I felt something is going to happen very soon.

On 23^rd January, we landed in Paris and we met our old friend Sam. He assured that agents have been sent to various parts of the city for our security. We went to the hotel “Prince De Galles” which was specially reserved for us. The hotel manager approached us and welcomed us. I said “Bonjour Mr. Jake. Thanks for your care”.”It’s my duty Anne, your team is very important for all of us.” he replied. Georgia said, “No fear when Seven Seas are here”. We all laughed. Then Mr. Jake showed us our rooms. We took some rest after a relaxing bath. Sam told us that there are a lot of things to see in Paris like Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Notre-dame de Paris, Palace of Versailles, etc. At night we ate the special dishes of France. Yummy!! “I don’t know why, I am felt that someone is keeping an eye us”, Nicky said. “Don’t worry, Nicky. Just enjoy and enjoy and enjoy it…” Max said. As we were a detective group, we had a gun with us. We slept with our guns beside us.

The next day we started our journey at 8.30 am. What a beautiful place! I felt that I should stay here forever. It was just like a dreamland. Suddenly, Sam’s phone rung up. He picked up the phone and soon after he started sweating. His eyes were filled with horror. He looked at me and took us back to the hotel. We questioned him a lot but he didn’t answer. He was shivering. When we entered the hotel we saw that a lady receptionist of that hotel was murdered. She was lying in the pool of blood. Sam observed the body and told us that she was shot at least half an hour ago. We looked at each other. I saw there was something inside the fist of the receptionist. It was a paper soaked with blood. I read it aloud, “Next turn is yours, Seven Seas. Beware!!”  Mr. Jake said, “I didn’t see her for a long time. She said to me that she will just check the computer about the status of the hotel. So I went swimming to refresh myself. When I came back I saw her nowhere. When I called her, I heard her phone ringing in room 169. I opened the door and saw she was not there. Suddenly, I heard a loud scream and rushed down to see what had happened. Every other staff came to see what had happened. Then I saw her dead body”. “How could be this possible? Someone got into the hotel, murdered a staff and no one could see that.” Max remarked. “Hmmm. Do you have CCTV cameras?” I asked. Mr. Jake said, “Yes. I checked the footage twice or thrice. But-”“But what?” Colette asked. “But when the murder took place… all the CCTVs were not working and then suddenly after 15 minutes it started working and saw her dead!” “Damn it! Such a clever murderer” Georgia shouted. Sam turned to us who was quiet for a long time and said “Anne I would give you a good suggestion. Pack up all your things and return back to your home. I don’t feel you all will be safe here.” “No, we should face the murderer’s challenge,” Alex said. “Do whatever you feel good. We will be with you all” Mr. Jake and Sam assured.

At night we were thinking of what to do now. Crash!!! The glass window broke and something came inside. I and Alex rushed towards the window with our guns. We couldn’t see anyone outside. We called Sam. He sent his men to check the surrounding places. Nicky said, “It’s a stone. A paper is wrapped in it. It’s a message. Let’s read it.” The message said, “Are you all afraid little chickens?” We became furious. Colette said, “How dare this person compare us with chickens? It’s too much.”

Next day, we planned what to do. From the morning Nicky was not feeling well, so she went to see a doctor with Sam’s men. As per the plan, we divided into groups at night. Sam, Alex and me were outside the hotel hiding behind the bushes with our guns, while, Colette, Mr. Jake, Max, and Georgia were in the hotel. For the safety of the other staff of the hotel, they were sent to their homes. When we were keeping watch everywhere, we saw someone coming towards us. We couldn’t see the face as it was dark. Loading his and pointing it towards the person, Sam said, “Who are you? What do you want from us?” The man then raised his hands and pointed towards us. When we were concentrating on him, something hit our head hard and all went black.

“Open your eyes Anne. Wake up.” Max pushed me and said. When I opened my eyes, I could neither move my hands nor my legs. I saw that my hands and my legs were tied with rope. Then I saw all were in a dark cell tied tightly with each other. “What to do now?”Alex said. Somehow I managed to reach my secret pocket in my jeans and took out a knife and tried to cut the rope. Suddenly Georgia pointed out that Mr. Jake was not with us. Everyone was silent because we didn’t know what to do. No guns no help! I managed to cut the rope after a lot of trials. Now we were free! “Oh! Thanks, Anne for your help”, Alex said. “It’s my duty Alex. We should always help each other,” I said. “Right said, Anne,” Max said. Now our next obstacle was the locked cell. The darkroom with no ventilators was really suffocating. “I have an idea!” exclaimed Colette with joy. “My hairpin will set us free!” Then, Colette went towards the lock put her hairpin and lo! She opened the lock effortlessly. “Oh! Wow!” I said. Then Sam turned to us and said, “It’s not the time to enjoy. Let’s go.” When we opened the door of the cell we entered the room which will lead us outside. We were happy. We were just about to go outside; suddenly some men hold our hands tightly with guns on our heads. Then a man's voice was heard. He said, “So did you like my drama, Seven Seas”. He came to us. We were astonished. It was Mr. Jake! “You!” Sam shouted, “I believed in you, Jake. You broke my trust”. Mr. Jake gave us a cruel smile and loaded his gun to kill each one of us. “But why? What do you want from us?” Alex asked. The reply came from Mr. Jake, “Do you remember about the gun smuggling case? Do you remember the smuggler Peter? Though he was later proved that he was trapped by other gun smugglers, he was imprisoned.” Sam said, “It was all because he helped those smugglers”. Then Georgia asked, “But how do you know what happened to Peter? What is related to that case?” Mr. Jake said, “He was my younger brother; my only loving brother. But you all have snatched him from me forever. When he was imprisoned he could not bear the humiliation, so he committed suicide. But now you all have to die. And also do you remember those messages and all and …” Suddenly someone shot at Jake’s leg and fell down. Some other men came inside breaking a window and did the same to Jake’s men. We grabbed the gun and pointed towards them. Then a voice was heard. It said, “It’s all over Mr. Jake!” We turned and saw it was Nicky. “Oh! Yes. Let me finish your words.” She turned towards us and said, “Do you all remember the murder incident that took place in the hotel? The murderer was Mr. Jake. Guys, just try to remember his words. He told us that he was swimming in January. I am sorry Mr. Jake. You are under arrest.” “Wait! I have one more question why did you kill the receptionist of the hotel?” I asked. He replied that the lady receptionist had heard the conversation between Mr. Jake and his men. That is why he killed her so that no one would be aware of his crime. Some policemen came and took Mr.Jake and his men in prison.

“Oh! Nicky thanks a bunch!!” we said. “But how did you know that we are here?” Max asked. “Friend, it’s all because of GPS. I had put a GPS machine in your secret pocket of Anne so that I can trace where you are and can join you all when I will be fine.” Nicky replied. “Indeed a clever deed!”

The next two days were really nice. We traveled to many other places in France. And now it was the time to go back home. We didn’t feel like living in such a beautiful place. We waved bye to Sam. Hotel Prince De Galles was given to the Paris government. The other staff was given jobs in other hotels. Max said, “Mystery in Paris solved… Seven Seas ready for our next adventure?” We all shouted together, “Yes!!! Three Cheers for Seven Seas! Hip Hip Hurray! Hip Hip Hurray! Hip Hip Hurray!"