The Missing Librarian Who May or May Not Be Lying Dead in the Burned Library

Hi! First of all, don't forget that your sentence story entries are due April 28, so click HERE if you forgot the requirements or just plain missed that post! 

As you might know, we had to write a mystery for school. Now, mysteries were never really my thing as I could never wait long enough to find out who really did it so I would read the last page right away and if the answer wasn't on the last page, I'd read the last chapter and so on. I'm not very patient with mysteries as you can see, but I'd have to say for me, writing one is more fun than reading one. This is probably the worst thing I've ever written but I was surprised that I actually did that well on it! Mysteries are so hard to write though. There are so many plot holes you need to watch out for and other things you need to take account of! I wrote this entire thing (five pages single spaced) last night and so tonight I'm basically just relaxing as my brain is still recovering. I would love your critiques and other constructive criticism but please don't be too mean and enjoy! S
orry for the double spaces I can't figure out how to take that off on blogger and whenever I try to do it on my original writing it glitches weirdly!..... :P

Oh and click on the "read more >>" below to read my mystery! Sorry for the inconvenience but it is also inconvenient for one post to take up so much space, lol.
~July

The Missing Librarian Who May or May Not Be Lying Dead in the Burned Library

*The Love Triangle*

16 months ago

Twenty two year old Belle Maurice was standing on the corner of Applebrooke and Fulton and experiencing the most uncomfortable silence in her whole life. Alongside her was her boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend now, Jack. They were waiting for the public bus to come and pick them up because his car was in the repair shop as he had recently crashed it into a tree just outside of town after falling asleep in his car because he was out too late doing “who knows what?”.

Belle just had one of the most difficult conversations of her life with Jack Hookmen, she had just officially told him it was over. This had happened a few times before, but they just called it “taking a break” then. Now it was truly over. Belle made a pact with herself to never get back together with him because every time she got her hopes up, her heart was crushed when she saw Jack flirting with other girls at coffee shops or stores around town.

It was the same every time: her mind told her no and that it would never work out, but her heart screamed yes!

Just as the bus pulled up to the curb, the gathering clouds started to leak and they put on the most coruscating lights display, and Belle stepped on and never looked back on her decision that day because her prince was yet to come.

*Belle's Prince Charming*

12 months ago

Belle stood behind the counter of the nearly empty coffee shop she was employed at with her nose stuck in the new Polly Brighton novel that just came out. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. The hands seemed to move the slowest when she was waiting for someone!

“Ten more minutes!” she said to herself.

He hadn't always been a regular customer, but lately he had been coming in more often, always at the same time, always ordering the same drink, always sitting in the same seat by the counter. Often times, he would also buy an identical coffee for Belle.

Ten minutes passed and the familiar bell clanged on the door signaling a customer. Belle's head snapped up to see the person who always put a smile on her face when she having a dark day.

“Belle, how are you?” William Gold asked.

“Hey, Will! I'm alright, how about you?”

“I'm about to be much better.”

Belle laughed, slightly confused, but brushed it off. “Do you want to usual?”

“Not today, but go ahead and make something for yourself, on me.”

“You don't want anything? What's up with you?”

“Belle, I've wanted to ask you this for a long time but I've just now gotten up the courage....” William paused and took a deep breath.

“Will, spit it out!”

“Will you come out on a date with me tonight? I mean, just a movie and some pizza, nothing too special,” his tongue spit out the last sentence.

“Aww, William Gold! I would love to!” Belle reached across the counter and hugged him.

“I'll pick you up at seven then?” his voice dripped with the sound of his relief.

Belle nodded ok, and they exchanged addresses. Right after her shift finished, Belle rushed home to prepare herself for her very first date after her breakup with Jack.

 *The Mystery of the Burned Down Library*

Present Day

“William is taking me out for Chinese food after work tonight for another date!” Belle smiled and she thought back to that first date with William Gold and decided she wouldn't've changed anything about it! If she'd said no, so many things wouldn't have happened in her life.

Will's father funded and built the library in their town and now that he was retired, he gave Belle the head position there so she could quit her job at the coffee house and have a job that she enjoyed. The library was the town's pride and joy. It was their spirit and the thing they were known for! The architecture was beautiful and it had the largest collection and variety of books in the whole state.

She'd had some of the happiest times of her life with Will, he made her laugh and was her brightness in the hard days.

Now that he was her fiance, she looked forward to the rest of her life and could move on from her shady past.

Belle walked outside to her car, a spring in her step. She was headed to her favorite job, a place where she could escape from everyday life for a little bit. The library.

***

William had been parked outside Belle's house waiting for her to come out for ten minutes she still hadn't come out! Will jammed his hand into his pockets, searching for his iphone and once he found it, he sent Belle a quick text.

“Where is she?” he said to himself after getting no reply.

He climbed out of his car and walked up to the front door which, he discovered, was locked, so he concluded that there might have been a miscommunication and she might be waiting for him at the library where all cell phones must be silenced.

He got back into his car and about a block away from it, he saw smoke rising from the approximate location of the library! He gunned the car and sped the rest of the way down.

“What's going on?” he asked Officer Graham who was speaking in a radio with the chief of the fire department.

The library was engulfed in flames that lit up the pitch black sky and smoke was pouring out the windows.

“It looks like the library caught fire, either a total accident or on purpose, but thankfully it was closed so no one was in there.”

“My Belle might have been in there! We have to look!” Will nearly screamed at the man then dashed forward.

“No! No one can go in there. It is impossible to survive!” Graham grabbed his arm and held him.

“You can't just let her burn!”

“If she was in there, she'd already be dead. We'll investigate when it is safe to go in but right now, if you go in you'll be sentencing yourself to death. You don't even know she's in there anyway.”

“I'd rather die than live without my Belle!” William burst and ran back to his car.

***

A few days later, Will's cell phone rang with the number of Officer Graham showing up.

“Did you find anything?” Will asked eager for any information about Belle.

“Not yet, we just got clearance to go in and search. You are welcomed to come as well, but I would advise against it.”

“No, I'll come, I'll be over there in a few minutes.”

Will was both terrified and excited because today he would finally find out the fate of his fiance.

***

As the team of investigators searched the the remains of the charred library, William stood by and prayed for a someone to say that it was clear and that nothing had been found.

“Officer Graham!” one team member yelled, “I think there's something here you need to see!”

Graham glanced over at William Gold, saw his look of utter panic, then climbed through the trash heap towards the team.

When William saw the look on Graham's face, he knew that things were not good. Graham handed a black bag to the team and they started putting several burned objects into it while Graham made his way back over to Will.

“William, this is the hardest part of my job and most definitely the worst. We found some bones.”

Will gasped and teared up.

“But hope is not lost! We'll do some tests on them to see who's bones they really are.”

“I need to go,” Will choked. He knew if he heard anymore he'd lose it completely in front of the officer. He needed to go to Belle's house.

***

Officer Graham was sure that Belle Maurice was dead. There was no possible way she could've have survived that fire unless she had some kind of super power. However, the search wasn't over. They still needed to search for other clues to figure out what even started the fire!

Graham walked to the back of the rubbled mess and discovered a purple back pack that was sitting lodged in between two trees in the forest behind the once beautiful library. He put his gloves on and unzipped the zippers revealing empty gas cans and a box of matches. At that moment, he figured out that this had been intentional. Somebody had wanted the library burned down, although he couldn't imagine who!

After he brought the backpack to his cruiser, he took another trip to the back woods where he

found another vital clue. Huge tire tracks in the dirt led away from town. The tire tracks made him think of something that no one had thought of yet which was the question of where Belle's car was. It wasn't in front of the library so it must be either at her house or..... had she started the fire herself and left?

“Why would she do that? Why?.... why?.... why?.....” he puzzled himself as he climbed into his cruiser to head to Belle's house. He did recall her saying a few months ago that she felt trapped in this town and that nothing was worth staying here for so maybe burning down the library was her way of freeing herself from any ties she had here! For the moment, Belle was the number one suspect on his list.

When he arrived at his destination, he found William sitting in his car with his head in his hands and Graham invited him to walk up to the door with him. They walked up to the side door by the garage together and first off, Graham, tried the handle but it remained locked tightly.

“Hold on, let me get my lock picker thing from my car,” Graham said.

Will looked toward the ground in despair once again. He glanced back up before his mind could completely register that his eye had landed on something lying on the ground. Will snapped his eyes back and picked up a small sticky note off the ground.

“Will, Can you please pick me up at the library? I forgot to feed Pongo so I need to go back and do that. Love you and thanks!”

“Officer!” Will raised his voice, “I found something!”

Graham came back over and scanned the note, his eyes widening.

“We were supposed to go on a date that night and I waited for her here but never saw the note! I just assumed she was at the library because that is her favorite place in the world.”

“So it's possible that those bones we found could be Pongo's bones, not human bones?”

“Yes, I guess it is,” Will agreed.

“Those tests will be done tomorrow, so very soon we'll have our answer.”

They moved on to the garage and saw that her car was gone, but Graham didn't want to break Will's hear with his other theory just yet.

***

The next day Will's phone rang again and he picked up to hear Graham telling him that it was confirmed that the bones were Pongo's, and not human.

“Is there any possible way that Belle could've set the fire to get out of this town? To cut any ties she had here?” Graham finally shared his other idea.

“No, it's impossible. She loved the library too much! Plus I know she wouldn't even consider leaving me.”

“Well, what do you think happened?”

“I think I know who did it. I think it was Jack Hookmen. He was Belle's ex-boyfriend and he's still very jealous and in love with her. He's been trying to get his revenge on me ever since I proposed. Anyway, I saw him at the coffee shop on the morning of the fire, but after that no one had seen him until today and he was looking extraordinarily cheerful.”

“So? He could just be out of town.”

“His car is in the garage again because he dented it up again. He couldn't leave. Plus Jim at the gas station told me that Jack came in on the morning of the fire and bought two huge cans of gas and a big box of matches. It had to have been him, everyone else here adores my Belle! I think he burned the library to get his revenge on me!”

Graham was shocked, “How did you come up with all of that?”

“I've had a lot of time to think. He wanted to burn the library to get revenge on me, but what he

didn't count on was someone being at the library. Remember, it was supposed to be closed but she forgot to feed Pongo so she had to go back. Pongo was blind and deaf so she couldn't get him out fast

enough, but Belle was able to come out of the library when she smelled smoke and see Jack. Jack knew that there couldn't be any witnesses so when Belle ran to her car and tried to drive away, Jack pushed her out of the drivers seat and kidnapped her.”

“This is brilliant! It matches up with everything. But where is she?”

“That's easy. All you have to do is follow the tire tracks!”

Graham stood there open-mouthed. Will's theory was absolutely brilliant and he knew he, himself, never could have come up with this so fast.

Both men took the cruiser down to the scene of the fire and followed the tracks about an hour through the woods to a small, rundown cabin where the tracks went no further. William was the first one out of the car and bolted to the front door. He knocked it right off its hinges and the first thing he saw was Belle gagged and tied to a chair in the corner, passed out.

Graham followed him through the door and before he could do anything, Will cut her bindings slid the gag off her mouth.

“Belle!” he whispered. “Please wake up!” He kissed her lips for at least thirty seconds and as he came up for a breath, Belle's eyes flickered open.

“Will? Is it you?” she moaned through cracked, dry lips.

“Yes,” Will laughed, “I've missed you so much, I thought you were dead.”

“I know, I'm sorry,” Belle said.

“What happened?” Officer Graham said.

“Can I get something to eat and drink first?” Belle asked. She hadn't had much fluid or protein for days.

“Of course,” Officer Graham said.

The three clambered out of the cabin and Will and Graham helped Belle into the car. They took her back to the station where she had a bottle of water and a small bowl of lime jello with pears.

After a bit of Belle's strength had returned, she started telling her story. The story almost mirrored Will's theory but it was filled with much more detail because she had experienced it first hand. “It was Jack,” she concluded.

“We know. Well, actually you just confirmed what we already were ninety percent sure about. You should be very proud of your fiance though, because he figured that all out and he was completely correct!”

Graham drove over to Jack's house and took him back to the station where he was questioned and after many lies and denials, he finally admitted what he did. His court date to decide what his punishment would be was set for the day of William and Belle's wedding.

*The Wedding Day*

William and Belle Gold made their commitments to each other, both were sporting shiny rings that would always remind them of their everlasting love for each other. There were many other gifts for the couple but the most memorable one was from an anonymous donor that gave them the funds to rebuild the library and restore the town to it's former glory.

When they arrived home, they saw a box on the front porch from Officer Graham. There was a little piece of paper attached that told them that Jack would be spending fifteen years in prison and after that, he would have to do an additional seven years of supervised community service. The final paragraph of the note bid them well wishes for their honeymoon and to enjoy the contents of the box.

Belle slid the bow off and opened the box revealing the most adorable face of a little dalmatian puppy similar to Pongo! Since Pongo had died in the fire, Graham gave the a new puppy to fill the empty spaces in the soon-to-be-built library.

The puppy shot out of the box and bolted into the front door. “Ohhh! He's adorable! I'll name him Missile!” Belle laughed as they followed the spunky pup inside.

“Bet he'll never be adorable as you!” William said as he shut the door closing the world behind them.