THE MOMENT
"This was too easy...," The Inspector chuckled to himself. His eyes roamed over the guests gathered in the drawing-room. Two older women wearing floral dresses, a middle-aged man with a salt and pepper beard, an athletic teenager in a black suit, and Robert. "...frankly, I'm insulted that one of you thought they could get away with this after how sloppy your work was. Maybe practice a little more next time," he added as he made eye contact with everyone. He happened to be looking at Robert when he mentioned practice.
Robert tried his best not to react; he hoped the Inspector was trying a tactic to flush the culprit out. It didn't mean the Inspector knew he was the murderer. It was Robert's first time; but, he had seen a lot of murder mysteries. He always considered himself a quick study. Not that the thought of murder ever crossed his mind. But, the mystery genre was hot right now and Robert's publisher insisted he try and tap into the market. If it weren't for that, he never would have found himself in this situation. Although, Robert did make a note that one murder wasn't going to be enough research; he did need more practice.
"Your first mistake was leaving the murder weapon at the scene. Completely amateurish...," the Inspector shook his head. Robert knew that was a major blunder; but, he was hurried. He miscalculated how much time he had to do the deed and approaching voices made him rush. Part of the problem was that he hadn't considered how to dispose of the dagger beforehand. Robert shrugged off the regret to focus on the lessons he could learn; it was his first murder after all. Next time he would have a more concrete plan with several escape routes.
"And you didn't even remove your prints!" the Inspector raised his voice in obvious amusement. Robert clenched his fists to keep from correcting the Inspector. Of course he wiped it down. That was Murder 101. But, the Inspector continued. "Solving this was as simple as matching the fingerprints on the blade."
The blade! Robert wiped every inch of the handle and wore gloves; but, he realized that somewhere along the way he'd mishandled the knife and left proof on the blade itself. If nothing else, it was interesting to him that they managed to get anything off of the blood-coated weapon. That was a useful detail to keep in mind. He guessed most of his audience wouldn't know that; he didn't.
"And then there's your alibi...," Robert sighed. It was another sign of poor planning on his part; but, useful to keep in mind for next time.
"Excuse me?" One of the women interrupted. "If you know already, can we speed this up?" The Inspector stared at the woman for a second, then shook his head.
"I didn't get to do any detective work; at least let me have a little fun...," he said. The woman nodded; but, she was obviously displeased at the prospect of waiting longer. "I'll tell you what. If you didn't commit the murder, you can leave..," he said.
"Thank you," the woman gave him a smile and stood along with he friend. They walked out of the drawing-room. The middle-aged man had fallen asleep at some point and continued napping.
"What about you?" The Inspector directed his question to the teenager in black.
"I got nowhere to be," he shrugged. "I thought this was going to take longer."
"Yeah, me too," the Inspector chuckled. Robert couldn't help but shrink a little bit. He was embarrassed at being caught so easily. But, he had a job to do.
"So.. about my alibi..?" he asked. The Inspector nodded.
"You didn't have one," he said. "You're supposed to be seen by other people as much as possible around the time when the murder takes place. Your excuse was you were in your bedroom sleeping," he shook his head. "That's going to immediately make you a suspect."
Robert thought it would be more suspicious to be wandering around the bed & breakfast in the middle of the night. But, apparently, that wasn't the case.
"And while we're on the subject of basics; did you give your motive any thought?" the Inspector asked. "Obviously, it doesn't matter in this case; but it's a good idea to try and work in a motive; it's more fun that way. Did you even take Murder 101?"
"Yeah...," Robert nodded. "But, this was my first time actually doing it...," he said. He glanced at the teen in black, then at the Inspector. "Hey, you're not in a hurry, and you didn't have any fun. Can we do another round? Maybe one of you could be the murderer and show me how to do it better."
"Sure," the teen said. He smiled at Robert and introduced himself. "I'm Alvin," he said.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Robert," they waved at each other. But, the Inspector shook his head and interrupted.
"Sorry, I'm out. There's no challenge here, I'll find another group," he said. "Good luck!" he waved as he walked out the door.
"Oh wait..," he entered the room again and pointed at Robert.
"YOU'RE THE MURDERER!" he said.
[Game Over] a deep voice filled the room and the furniture disintegrated into white dust around them.