Murder, She Wrote - The Schoolgirl and Jessica Fletcher's Revenge F/f (Completed).
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 12:01 pm
Hello, all,
My name is Headmistress and I was a member of the old forum. I actually thought it had been taken offline until I recently came across it again.
I have been watching "Murder, She Wrote" and decided to try and write something along the lines of the show. It is not graphic, so I thought it would be OK to post it in the board for everyone. Hopefully, people will enjoy it.
May Browning, a pretty 16-year-old student, from Cabot Cove High School was sitting in a clump sweating. But it wasn’t from fear. It was from excitement. She was a tall, willowy girl with a slim, yet athletic build, tan skin, long brown hair that was currently secured in a messy ponytail and eyes that were such a deep, dark brown that they were almost black. At the moment, she was wearing her school uniform of a red blazer with gold buttons over a white blouse and red tie, a red, white and green tartan skirt, white socks and black shoes. Her uniform was slightly crumpled because May was the kind of girl who could never quite seem to keep her clothes crisp and clean. At that precise moment, May was standing in a house that she had always seen from afar, but never gone inside - until now. It was Jessica Fletcher’s house.
May was a popular girl who was well-liked and had a lot of friends in the school and the town in general, but she had always hated Jessica with a passion. Jessica Fletcher was an older woman who was a mystery writer and a longtime resident of Cabot Cove. Jessica was slightly shorter than May with soft, creamy blonde hair that was kept fairly short, pale skin and was always dressed in either a jogging suit or casual jeans with a sweater or blouse. On occasion, she wore a modest dress. While she was older, she had a nice figure, lovely skin and very fine, delicate features that made her good-looking. Jessica was also extremely intelligent, which added to her allure and May knew that there were quite a few older men who admired Jessica from afar.
However, Jessica’s best ability was also her biggest flaw (at least, it seemed that way to May). Being a mystery writer and intelligent, Jessica was, unfortunately, also very nosey and gossipy and always took it upon herself to solve all the "mysteries" that happened around Cabot Cove – no matter how small they were. Somehow, she always seemed to find time in her schedule to do it and to unmask the cause or culprit(s). Whenever Jessica solved a "mystery", she never hesitated in making it public knowledge afterwards. May had no idea why, but she suspected it was because Jessica thrived on attention and showing off her intellect. That had never bothered May because she did not know Jessica well and had very little to do with Jessica and her mysteries.
However, one day, Jessica had decided to solve the mystery of who had been stealing apples from the apple trees in Cabot Cove's orchard and selling them for a profit. Unfortunately, for May, Jessica had placed the orchard under surveillance without her being aware of it and May had been busted with a full bucket of apples. That would not have been so bad, but Jessica had promptly told May’s mother and May had been grounded for two weeks with no pocket money. To top it off, Jessica had told the school as well. As a result, May had also been suspended for a week and missed a fabulous school weekend away, which she had been dying to go to. It had made it worse when all her friends had spent the following week talking about it and how much fun they had had.
That was when May had decided to get her revenge on Jessica. She had spent a lot of time wondering what she could do that would really get to Jessica. In the meantime, she had amused herself by going to Jessica’s place after school, every now and then, and playing little pranks on her that she thought of as “build-up pranks”. They were small things like putting glue on the seat of Jessica’s bicycle, just before she was due to go out for her afternoon ride, egging her house at night and the like. From town gossip, May knew that Jessica was getting increasingly annoyed with the pranks. Finally, May had come up with the perfect revenge.
She was going to create a mystery that Jessica Fletcher couldn’t possibly solve. However, she needed some help, so she had gone to the library several times after school over the past few weeks and spent several hours sitting in the big overstuffed armchair in the reading room reading several of Jessica’s books and poring over all the little details. After reading through many of them, May thought she had finally established how Jessica’s mind worked.
May had also spent a few weeks covertly hanging out at all of the local town events and she always stayed as close to Jessica as possible, so she could listen to any conversations she was having. The week before, she had heard Jessica tell Seth Hazlitt, the town doctor and her best friend, that she had some antique jewelry in her house that she wanted him to get valued for her. Apparently, the jewelry was worth a lot of money and it was in an antique wooden jewelry box.
When she had heard that, May had decided that she would steal the jewelry. She would hide it for a few weeks, maybe a month and then put it somewhere completely random where it would be likely to be found. Now, that would surprise Jessica Fletcher! The jewelry was of no interest to May. It was the thought of driving Jessica crazy by presenting her with a mystery that she couldn't solve that appealed to her. Jessica was intelligent, but she was also slightly vain when it came to proving her superiority in solving mysteries, which meant that it was also a weakness of hers.
May had then hung around Jessica’s house the next day until she had seen her go out and then she had done a quick lap around the house. A quick examination of each door and window had revealed that there was a small window in the back of the house with a loose latch that didn’t quite close properly and it was just big enough for May to fit through.
The perfect opportunity to search the house to steal the box had come up the very next day. Cabot Cove was having a town meeting and everyone always went to the town meetings because they were one of the few big events that Cabot Cove had regularly. May also knew that Jessica always attended the meetings because she was on the PTA and sat on several boards, so her presence could always be counted on.
May’s mother was a single mother who worked nights, so May had told her that she was going to the town meeting after school. The town meeting started in the early evening, so May had first walked home from school, had a snack and then completed the 15-minute walk over to Jessica’s house. She had hidden in a large clump of bushes just across the road from the house, and checked every now and then to make sure that nobody was about. At about six o’clock, Jessica emerged from the house wearing a smart and tailored brown tweed suit over a white blouse and black boots. With a briefcase in her hand, she had gotten on her bicycle, fastened the briefcase to the back of it and rode off into the distance.
May was wearing a large funky wristwatch, so she let it tick through 15 minutes just to make sure that Jessica didn’t return in case she had forgotten something. She had bought her black school backpack with her to store the jewelry in and this backpack was slung around her shoulder like a burglar’s sack of swag would have been.
When the last minute finished, May slipped out of the bushes and darted to the house, jumped over the small side gate, went around the house and cautiously made her way to the backyard. Fortunately, for her Jessica’s backyard was large, bushy, had a lot of dense overgrowth and was surrounded by a high wooden fence, so there was no chance of being noticed.
May found the little window with the loose latch and jiggled it. When she peeked in, she realised it led to the kitchen because the light had been left on, so she could make it out quite well. The window slid open noiselessly and May grabbed the sill, got a leg up and went smoothly through the window. She had to lie down on her stomach and clamber over one of the wooden kitchen counters to get all the way in, but managed it easily and dropped to the tiled floor. The kitchen was a nice room with old fashioned polished wooden counters, a metal sink with two dainty taps, a black and white tiled floor and it was neat and tidy and well put-together like Jessica herself.
The reason May had chosen this night was because in several of Jessica’s books, May had noticed that the chief suspect(s) or villian(s) always acted when all the other possible suspects were elsewhere, so that no-one would have a solid alibi. With so many people who always attended the town hall where the meetings were held, there would be no way to verify who had and hadn’t been there as nobody ever did a count. May also planned to finish her crime quickly and make a quick appearance at the town hall after changing her clothes and hiding the jewelry, so that someone would be able to verify that she’d turned up.
Since the kitchen was the first room she had arrived at, May decided to start her search there and then move to the other rooms. A quick search of every counter and cupboard revealed no jewelry, but she reasoned that a kitchen would be a silly place to put such a thing. A better option would be the lounge room or Jessica’s bedroom. The lounge was next to the kitchen, separated only by the entry hall and located on the bottom level of the house. The house's layout and the staircase that was at the end of the entry hall indicated that the bedroom must be upstairs, so May decided to try the lounge before moving to the bedroom.
After turning the lounge room light on, May took a quick look around. The lounge room was decorated just like a bed and breakfast inn would have been. The walls had been wallpapered with a creamy, stripy sort of paper. The windows were old-fashioned wooden windows made up of small square panes of glass that opened and closed with small golden latches. There were several pieces of classic wooden furniture, such as a coffee table and two chairs sitting at a round, higher wooden table that was obviously a dining table. The other end of the room held two overstuffed armchairs and a cabinet that consisted of several drawers sitting under a cupboard.
May moved to the cabinet because it was the largest piece of furniture and it stood out to her. Opening the first drawer revealed nothing but old letters, envelopes, writing paper and a few pens. She closed it and opened the second drawer. That was when she saw a medium-sized wooden box with a circle of flowered engravings around the top and a hinged lid. Drawing in her breath, May took hold of the box with both hands and opened it.
She gasped out loud when she saw the collection of jewelry. Glittering rubies and sapphires and topaz and other precious stones sat in a collection of necklaces and rings. It was truly beautiful. For a second, a shadow of doubt went through May’s mind. Stealing had seemed like a small crime, especially since she had planned to return the goods, but now she wasn’t so sure.
But May assured herself that it wouldn’t be so bad since she had no intention of really stealing it. However, one of the lovely necklaces – silver with topaz stones caught her eye. May was not the type of girl who wore jewelry, but she found herself removing it from the box and putting it on while admiring the weight of the necklace. She caught a quick glimpse of herself reflected in one of the window panes and found herself looking at her reflection holding the necklace. She stroked it with two fingers, admiring the look of it. “Beautiful”, she said. Just as she was about to remove the necklace and return it to the box, so that she could put it in her backpack and leave, something happened that sent chills up her spine.
A voice spoke:
“It is indeed, Miss Browning. Now, I suggest that you take off that necklace, return it to the box and put the box back in the drawer, then put your hands up.”
May gasped in shock as Jessica Fletcher emerged from the darkened entry hall from the direction of the front door. She looked the same as she always did, elegant, classy, carrying her well-worn briefcase in her right hand, but what really made her tremble was the gun in Jessica’s other hand. Jessica had also donned a pair of dark brown leather gloves which she hadn’t been wearing before and the gun was in her left hand. May noticed that the dark brown leather gloves perfectly matched the chocolate brown in the tweed pattern of Jessica's suit, which was the annoying kind of precise detail that Jessica always seemed to employ. But what really drew May's attention was the gun. May had never seen a gun before, but the cold, metallic barrel with the dark hole at the end was extremely frightening.
She said the first thing that came into her mind:
“How did you know?”
Jessica smiled slightly. It was the kind of smile that May hated. It wasn’t a proper smile – it was smug and condescending. It was the smile she had had when she had busted May at the orchard and it always came out whenever she solved one of her “mysteries”. There was also a slight note of arrogance in it.
“May. I’m Jessica Fletcher. I’ve solved every single mystery in this town, so whatever made you think I couldn’t solve this one? You see, I always suspected that you didn’t like me, but I have to say those childish pranks were low of you. At first, I wondered who would play such pranks on me. But the very first thing that I noticed was that the pranks were quite juvenile, so I knew that they weren’t something an adult would do. That was what led me to think it might be a teenager, which led me to guess that it might be a student because the only teenagers around here all attend the school.
Another thing I noticed was that these pranks always occurred every Monday, Wednesday and Friday around the early evening or close to that time. Now, the school lets out well before that, but the afterschool clubs and sports don’t. So I checked the schedules. While there is no club or sport that meets all three days, that led me to look at the lists of every member of those clubs and, May, you and one other student were the only ones on all three lists. This other student was actually at a school meeting with me on one of the nights you pranked me, so it obviously wasn’t her. That leaves you. When I went through my notes of all the mysteries I've solved, the case of the orchard came up, so your motive was obviously what happened at the orchard."
"You take notes of all your mysteries?" "Of course. It's good research for my books."
Jessica continued, "The town librarian is also a good friend of mine and she casually mentioned last week that you must be a fan of mine because she'd seen you reading several of my books in the reading room on a constant basis. That really made everything mesh for me. All I had to do tonight was to go to the town meeting, then pretend that I wasn't feeling well and then return here to capture you,”
May couldn’t stop looking at the pistol. The strange thing was that Jessica didn’t seem angry. She was actually speaking in a very calm tone now. “Now, May, let’s say that after you played those pranks, that was when I acted on the assumption that since all these pranks happened around my home, you must have been checking out my house, so it was obvious that you were planning something bigger. You're a girl who likes revenge. I should know - I'm like that, too. Let’s say that I got a screwdriver and loosened that little window latch just enough, so the window wouldn't close. I picked a window that was big enough for you to get through and I didn't want you to hurt yourself getting in, so I left the kitchen light on for you. You see, I’m not all bad. And then when I saw you watching me, shadowing me, I started dropping little hints into my spoken conversations every now and then for you to overhear. All I had to do was wait for you to take me up on the hints I dropped. I've been keeping a covert eye on my house ever since. I have to say that I've been waiting for you for a while now. I wanted to give you the chance to change your mind. But you didn’t and here we are. Now, if you please, put the box back, drop your backpack on the floor and then put your hands up.”
May was sweating again, but this time it was from sheer fear. With shaking hands, she removed the necklace, put it in the box, closed it and put the box back in the drawer before closing it, dropping her backpack on the floor and slowly raising her hands until they were at a suitable distance over her head.
“Very good. Now, please sit down in that armchair.” May’s knees were so weak, it was almost a relief to sink down into the chair because it supported her.
Keeping the gun aimed at her, Jessica carefully approached her and sat down in another armchair a couple of metres away from May.
“You may be wondering why I let you break into my house tonight and why I orchestrated this charade?” May nodded.
To her surprise, Jessica set her briefcase on her lap and opened the latches with her right hand. She withdrew several typed pieces of paper that had been clipped together that had small notes scrawled in the margins and said “Read these. It’s a plot outline for a new book I’m doing. I want to hear what you think.” She tossed them over to May.
May’s hands were shaking, but she still managed to catch the pages. She was quite a quick reader, so she managed to read through the pages in a few minutes, with her hands leaving sweaty palm prints on them as she did so.
When she was done, she said, “It….it’s a book…about a kidnapped schoolgirl. A schoolgirl who gets caught…stealing and then she’s kidnapped and….tied up and gagged…”
“Yes, but what do you think?” To May’s surprise, Jessica sounded sincere this time. Not malicious, arrogant or superior, but quite sincere. “Well…well…I suppose it’s good, but I’m not a writer and I don't do very well at English in school, so I don’t really know…” “No, I’m not talking about the style. I'm talking about the content. I’m talking about doing a deal with you.” “A deal?”
“Yes,” Jessica nodded. Her tone become quite earnest. “You see, I have a lot of experience writing mysteries, but this is my first one about a kidnapping. Now…now…I usually have no trouble writing, but I’m really stuck with this one. You see, I started this book because it was something different from what I usually do. I ran into stumbling blocks because I have no idea of what it is like to be kidnapped or how a kidnap victim or kidnapper would feel. What would they say and do? I'll be damned if I know. Then when you started those silly pranks and I started figuring things out, I realized that maybe…just maybe…I could find out for myself and I could get the material that I need for this book. Therefore, I’m willing to do a deal with you. Either you let me place you under citizen’s arrest, which I can easily do with my gun and I call the police, which would be quite serious for you. An arrest would not look good on your record and it would not be good for your future."
"I'll deny it," May said. "Yes, you can, but I think the police will find your fingerprints on the windowsill and also on that box. They will also question, how exactly you ended up in my house with me pointing a gun at you if you did nothing wrong." May paled. jessica was right. There was no way out.
"Or…you can let me tie you up and gag you for the duration of the town meeting. The deal is this…it is now 6.45pm. I should be able to get you all tied up by 7pm and the town meeting finishes at 10pm. I know your mother works nights and won’t be home till much later. If you can manage to escape at or before 10pm, I will pay you $500, for your time, but in return, I want you to complete an interview with me and for you to tell me about every single emotion and thought that you have, I want the full details – that should be more than enough material for my book. What I propose is that I tie you up and leave you here. I will work in the kitchen and if you can manage to escape, all you have to do is come and find me. We will do the interview there, I will then pay you and you can go on home.
However, it won't be easy. We have three hours and every hour I will check on you to make sure that you are all right, but I will also add something else to your bondage, so that it will gradually become harder to escape. Therefore, if you escape, you should do it in the first of these three hours.”
“What if I don’t escape?” May asked shakily. Jessica smiled. “This is where it gets interesting. If you don’t escape by 10pm, then keep in mind that it is Friday night and I will keep you tied up and gagged all weekend. You will not be harmed and you will be safely back at school on Monday morning. No-one will be any the wiser. I will still pay you for your time – it will be more money for the extended stay, naturally and I will tell your mother you are staying with friends, so that she won't worry and you will still provide me with my book material. However, I think that this experience will deter you from making trouble with me in the future. Keep in mind that if you choose for me to call the police, then the citizen’s arrest will also involve you being tied up and gagged until the police arrive.”
May went beet red. Being arrested would be awful, but being tied up and gagged for the police to see would be worse. There was a cute sheriff's deputy that she had a crush on and there was no way that she wanted to be seen like that in public.
May said, “If you tie me up, what if I go public with it and tell people what you’ve done?” “May, I am Jessica Fletcher. I have police connections and who do you think would believe you? I’m Cabot Cove’s number one law-abiding citizen, remember?”
May knew that she had no choice. In a shaking voice, she said. “I suppose so.” “You suppose what? You're not being very clear.” “I’ll be…I’ll be tied up.”
Jessica smiled. “Very good. I really am appreciative of this, May. I think that you made the right choice.” She reached under the armchair that she was sitting on and drew out a box filled with loops of rope while still keeping the gun aimed at May. “Now, get off the chair, kneel on the floor and cross your wrists behind your back.”
May did as she was told, but she trembled as she felt Jessica loop the rope around her wrists and pull it tight. She was surprised at how firm the rope felt as Jessica tied her wrists into a crossed position behind her back. After that, Jessica walked May over to one of the two wooden chairs seated at the dining table and forced her to sit on it.
To May’s shock, Jessica reached under her skirt. “What are you doing? That wasn’t part of…” “Relax, May, I have no interest in that. The only thing I want is your underpants.” With a deft flick, Jessica peeled off May’s underpants in one go. May went red upon seeing her bikini baby blue underpants with the white lace frill around the legs sitting in Jessica’s hand. Jessica ignored May’s blushing and rolled the underpants into a ball, then removed both of May’s shoes and then her knee-high socks. The shoes were placed neatly on the floor while Jessica kept hold of the socks. “What do you want those for?” “Tied and gagged, remember?” “No way, that’s fu***** disgusting.” “If you like, I could use my own underwear and socks? I've got a few of them in the washing basket.” May’s shouted protest was cut off as Jessica stuffed her underpants into her mouth and tied them in by pairing the socks and then stretching both of them into one long and thick piece of cloth. The gag was secured with several knots being tied at the back of May's head. It was very tight and all May could do was watch as Jessica tied her ankles, knees and thighs together with three separate loops of rope. Another length of rope was then used to tie her thighs to the chair.
Jessica then moved behind May and tied her elbows together. One long piece of rope was then wrapped under May’s breasts and went under and over her breasts multiple times before being wound under and over her arms and shoulders to create a harness. One last piece of rope was used to secure May’s stomach to the back of the chair. When she had finished, Jessica stepped back to admire her work.
“I must say I like you much better like that. Nice and quiet. It is 7pm and your time starts now…. I’ll go and work in the kitchen and wait for you to escape...if you can.” Jessica pasued. "By the way, just so you know...That jewelry is fake. Good looking fakes, but still fake. I'm surprised you didn't, at least, guess that part. I'll be back at 8pm to check on you and to add the next piece of bondage."
Jessica left the room, while May started struggling against the ropes….
My name is Headmistress and I was a member of the old forum. I actually thought it had been taken offline until I recently came across it again.
I have been watching "Murder, She Wrote" and decided to try and write something along the lines of the show. It is not graphic, so I thought it would be OK to post it in the board for everyone. Hopefully, people will enjoy it.
May Browning, a pretty 16-year-old student, from Cabot Cove High School was sitting in a clump sweating. But it wasn’t from fear. It was from excitement. She was a tall, willowy girl with a slim, yet athletic build, tan skin, long brown hair that was currently secured in a messy ponytail and eyes that were such a deep, dark brown that they were almost black. At the moment, she was wearing her school uniform of a red blazer with gold buttons over a white blouse and red tie, a red, white and green tartan skirt, white socks and black shoes. Her uniform was slightly crumpled because May was the kind of girl who could never quite seem to keep her clothes crisp and clean. At that precise moment, May was standing in a house that she had always seen from afar, but never gone inside - until now. It was Jessica Fletcher’s house.
May was a popular girl who was well-liked and had a lot of friends in the school and the town in general, but she had always hated Jessica with a passion. Jessica Fletcher was an older woman who was a mystery writer and a longtime resident of Cabot Cove. Jessica was slightly shorter than May with soft, creamy blonde hair that was kept fairly short, pale skin and was always dressed in either a jogging suit or casual jeans with a sweater or blouse. On occasion, she wore a modest dress. While she was older, she had a nice figure, lovely skin and very fine, delicate features that made her good-looking. Jessica was also extremely intelligent, which added to her allure and May knew that there were quite a few older men who admired Jessica from afar.
However, Jessica’s best ability was also her biggest flaw (at least, it seemed that way to May). Being a mystery writer and intelligent, Jessica was, unfortunately, also very nosey and gossipy and always took it upon herself to solve all the "mysteries" that happened around Cabot Cove – no matter how small they were. Somehow, she always seemed to find time in her schedule to do it and to unmask the cause or culprit(s). Whenever Jessica solved a "mystery", she never hesitated in making it public knowledge afterwards. May had no idea why, but she suspected it was because Jessica thrived on attention and showing off her intellect. That had never bothered May because she did not know Jessica well and had very little to do with Jessica and her mysteries.
However, one day, Jessica had decided to solve the mystery of who had been stealing apples from the apple trees in Cabot Cove's orchard and selling them for a profit. Unfortunately, for May, Jessica had placed the orchard under surveillance without her being aware of it and May had been busted with a full bucket of apples. That would not have been so bad, but Jessica had promptly told May’s mother and May had been grounded for two weeks with no pocket money. To top it off, Jessica had told the school as well. As a result, May had also been suspended for a week and missed a fabulous school weekend away, which she had been dying to go to. It had made it worse when all her friends had spent the following week talking about it and how much fun they had had.
That was when May had decided to get her revenge on Jessica. She had spent a lot of time wondering what she could do that would really get to Jessica. In the meantime, she had amused herself by going to Jessica’s place after school, every now and then, and playing little pranks on her that she thought of as “build-up pranks”. They were small things like putting glue on the seat of Jessica’s bicycle, just before she was due to go out for her afternoon ride, egging her house at night and the like. From town gossip, May knew that Jessica was getting increasingly annoyed with the pranks. Finally, May had come up with the perfect revenge.
She was going to create a mystery that Jessica Fletcher couldn’t possibly solve. However, she needed some help, so she had gone to the library several times after school over the past few weeks and spent several hours sitting in the big overstuffed armchair in the reading room reading several of Jessica’s books and poring over all the little details. After reading through many of them, May thought she had finally established how Jessica’s mind worked.
May had also spent a few weeks covertly hanging out at all of the local town events and she always stayed as close to Jessica as possible, so she could listen to any conversations she was having. The week before, she had heard Jessica tell Seth Hazlitt, the town doctor and her best friend, that she had some antique jewelry in her house that she wanted him to get valued for her. Apparently, the jewelry was worth a lot of money and it was in an antique wooden jewelry box.
When she had heard that, May had decided that she would steal the jewelry. She would hide it for a few weeks, maybe a month and then put it somewhere completely random where it would be likely to be found. Now, that would surprise Jessica Fletcher! The jewelry was of no interest to May. It was the thought of driving Jessica crazy by presenting her with a mystery that she couldn't solve that appealed to her. Jessica was intelligent, but she was also slightly vain when it came to proving her superiority in solving mysteries, which meant that it was also a weakness of hers.
May had then hung around Jessica’s house the next day until she had seen her go out and then she had done a quick lap around the house. A quick examination of each door and window had revealed that there was a small window in the back of the house with a loose latch that didn’t quite close properly and it was just big enough for May to fit through.
The perfect opportunity to search the house to steal the box had come up the very next day. Cabot Cove was having a town meeting and everyone always went to the town meetings because they were one of the few big events that Cabot Cove had regularly. May also knew that Jessica always attended the meetings because she was on the PTA and sat on several boards, so her presence could always be counted on.
May’s mother was a single mother who worked nights, so May had told her that she was going to the town meeting after school. The town meeting started in the early evening, so May had first walked home from school, had a snack and then completed the 15-minute walk over to Jessica’s house. She had hidden in a large clump of bushes just across the road from the house, and checked every now and then to make sure that nobody was about. At about six o’clock, Jessica emerged from the house wearing a smart and tailored brown tweed suit over a white blouse and black boots. With a briefcase in her hand, she had gotten on her bicycle, fastened the briefcase to the back of it and rode off into the distance.
May was wearing a large funky wristwatch, so she let it tick through 15 minutes just to make sure that Jessica didn’t return in case she had forgotten something. She had bought her black school backpack with her to store the jewelry in and this backpack was slung around her shoulder like a burglar’s sack of swag would have been.
When the last minute finished, May slipped out of the bushes and darted to the house, jumped over the small side gate, went around the house and cautiously made her way to the backyard. Fortunately, for her Jessica’s backyard was large, bushy, had a lot of dense overgrowth and was surrounded by a high wooden fence, so there was no chance of being noticed.
May found the little window with the loose latch and jiggled it. When she peeked in, she realised it led to the kitchen because the light had been left on, so she could make it out quite well. The window slid open noiselessly and May grabbed the sill, got a leg up and went smoothly through the window. She had to lie down on her stomach and clamber over one of the wooden kitchen counters to get all the way in, but managed it easily and dropped to the tiled floor. The kitchen was a nice room with old fashioned polished wooden counters, a metal sink with two dainty taps, a black and white tiled floor and it was neat and tidy and well put-together like Jessica herself.
The reason May had chosen this night was because in several of Jessica’s books, May had noticed that the chief suspect(s) or villian(s) always acted when all the other possible suspects were elsewhere, so that no-one would have a solid alibi. With so many people who always attended the town hall where the meetings were held, there would be no way to verify who had and hadn’t been there as nobody ever did a count. May also planned to finish her crime quickly and make a quick appearance at the town hall after changing her clothes and hiding the jewelry, so that someone would be able to verify that she’d turned up.
Since the kitchen was the first room she had arrived at, May decided to start her search there and then move to the other rooms. A quick search of every counter and cupboard revealed no jewelry, but she reasoned that a kitchen would be a silly place to put such a thing. A better option would be the lounge room or Jessica’s bedroom. The lounge was next to the kitchen, separated only by the entry hall and located on the bottom level of the house. The house's layout and the staircase that was at the end of the entry hall indicated that the bedroom must be upstairs, so May decided to try the lounge before moving to the bedroom.
After turning the lounge room light on, May took a quick look around. The lounge room was decorated just like a bed and breakfast inn would have been. The walls had been wallpapered with a creamy, stripy sort of paper. The windows were old-fashioned wooden windows made up of small square panes of glass that opened and closed with small golden latches. There were several pieces of classic wooden furniture, such as a coffee table and two chairs sitting at a round, higher wooden table that was obviously a dining table. The other end of the room held two overstuffed armchairs and a cabinet that consisted of several drawers sitting under a cupboard.
May moved to the cabinet because it was the largest piece of furniture and it stood out to her. Opening the first drawer revealed nothing but old letters, envelopes, writing paper and a few pens. She closed it and opened the second drawer. That was when she saw a medium-sized wooden box with a circle of flowered engravings around the top and a hinged lid. Drawing in her breath, May took hold of the box with both hands and opened it.
She gasped out loud when she saw the collection of jewelry. Glittering rubies and sapphires and topaz and other precious stones sat in a collection of necklaces and rings. It was truly beautiful. For a second, a shadow of doubt went through May’s mind. Stealing had seemed like a small crime, especially since she had planned to return the goods, but now she wasn’t so sure.
But May assured herself that it wouldn’t be so bad since she had no intention of really stealing it. However, one of the lovely necklaces – silver with topaz stones caught her eye. May was not the type of girl who wore jewelry, but she found herself removing it from the box and putting it on while admiring the weight of the necklace. She caught a quick glimpse of herself reflected in one of the window panes and found herself looking at her reflection holding the necklace. She stroked it with two fingers, admiring the look of it. “Beautiful”, she said. Just as she was about to remove the necklace and return it to the box, so that she could put it in her backpack and leave, something happened that sent chills up her spine.
A voice spoke:
“It is indeed, Miss Browning. Now, I suggest that you take off that necklace, return it to the box and put the box back in the drawer, then put your hands up.”
May gasped in shock as Jessica Fletcher emerged from the darkened entry hall from the direction of the front door. She looked the same as she always did, elegant, classy, carrying her well-worn briefcase in her right hand, but what really made her tremble was the gun in Jessica’s other hand. Jessica had also donned a pair of dark brown leather gloves which she hadn’t been wearing before and the gun was in her left hand. May noticed that the dark brown leather gloves perfectly matched the chocolate brown in the tweed pattern of Jessica's suit, which was the annoying kind of precise detail that Jessica always seemed to employ. But what really drew May's attention was the gun. May had never seen a gun before, but the cold, metallic barrel with the dark hole at the end was extremely frightening.
She said the first thing that came into her mind:
“How did you know?”
Jessica smiled slightly. It was the kind of smile that May hated. It wasn’t a proper smile – it was smug and condescending. It was the smile she had had when she had busted May at the orchard and it always came out whenever she solved one of her “mysteries”. There was also a slight note of arrogance in it.
“May. I’m Jessica Fletcher. I’ve solved every single mystery in this town, so whatever made you think I couldn’t solve this one? You see, I always suspected that you didn’t like me, but I have to say those childish pranks were low of you. At first, I wondered who would play such pranks on me. But the very first thing that I noticed was that the pranks were quite juvenile, so I knew that they weren’t something an adult would do. That was what led me to think it might be a teenager, which led me to guess that it might be a student because the only teenagers around here all attend the school.
Another thing I noticed was that these pranks always occurred every Monday, Wednesday and Friday around the early evening or close to that time. Now, the school lets out well before that, but the afterschool clubs and sports don’t. So I checked the schedules. While there is no club or sport that meets all three days, that led me to look at the lists of every member of those clubs and, May, you and one other student were the only ones on all three lists. This other student was actually at a school meeting with me on one of the nights you pranked me, so it obviously wasn’t her. That leaves you. When I went through my notes of all the mysteries I've solved, the case of the orchard came up, so your motive was obviously what happened at the orchard."
"You take notes of all your mysteries?" "Of course. It's good research for my books."
Jessica continued, "The town librarian is also a good friend of mine and she casually mentioned last week that you must be a fan of mine because she'd seen you reading several of my books in the reading room on a constant basis. That really made everything mesh for me. All I had to do tonight was to go to the town meeting, then pretend that I wasn't feeling well and then return here to capture you,”
May couldn’t stop looking at the pistol. The strange thing was that Jessica didn’t seem angry. She was actually speaking in a very calm tone now. “Now, May, let’s say that after you played those pranks, that was when I acted on the assumption that since all these pranks happened around my home, you must have been checking out my house, so it was obvious that you were planning something bigger. You're a girl who likes revenge. I should know - I'm like that, too. Let’s say that I got a screwdriver and loosened that little window latch just enough, so the window wouldn't close. I picked a window that was big enough for you to get through and I didn't want you to hurt yourself getting in, so I left the kitchen light on for you. You see, I’m not all bad. And then when I saw you watching me, shadowing me, I started dropping little hints into my spoken conversations every now and then for you to overhear. All I had to do was wait for you to take me up on the hints I dropped. I've been keeping a covert eye on my house ever since. I have to say that I've been waiting for you for a while now. I wanted to give you the chance to change your mind. But you didn’t and here we are. Now, if you please, put the box back, drop your backpack on the floor and then put your hands up.”
May was sweating again, but this time it was from sheer fear. With shaking hands, she removed the necklace, put it in the box, closed it and put the box back in the drawer before closing it, dropping her backpack on the floor and slowly raising her hands until they were at a suitable distance over her head.
“Very good. Now, please sit down in that armchair.” May’s knees were so weak, it was almost a relief to sink down into the chair because it supported her.
Keeping the gun aimed at her, Jessica carefully approached her and sat down in another armchair a couple of metres away from May.
“You may be wondering why I let you break into my house tonight and why I orchestrated this charade?” May nodded.
To her surprise, Jessica set her briefcase on her lap and opened the latches with her right hand. She withdrew several typed pieces of paper that had been clipped together that had small notes scrawled in the margins and said “Read these. It’s a plot outline for a new book I’m doing. I want to hear what you think.” She tossed them over to May.
May’s hands were shaking, but she still managed to catch the pages. She was quite a quick reader, so she managed to read through the pages in a few minutes, with her hands leaving sweaty palm prints on them as she did so.
When she was done, she said, “It….it’s a book…about a kidnapped schoolgirl. A schoolgirl who gets caught…stealing and then she’s kidnapped and….tied up and gagged…”
“Yes, but what do you think?” To May’s surprise, Jessica sounded sincere this time. Not malicious, arrogant or superior, but quite sincere. “Well…well…I suppose it’s good, but I’m not a writer and I don't do very well at English in school, so I don’t really know…” “No, I’m not talking about the style. I'm talking about the content. I’m talking about doing a deal with you.” “A deal?”
“Yes,” Jessica nodded. Her tone become quite earnest. “You see, I have a lot of experience writing mysteries, but this is my first one about a kidnapping. Now…now…I usually have no trouble writing, but I’m really stuck with this one. You see, I started this book because it was something different from what I usually do. I ran into stumbling blocks because I have no idea of what it is like to be kidnapped or how a kidnap victim or kidnapper would feel. What would they say and do? I'll be damned if I know. Then when you started those silly pranks and I started figuring things out, I realized that maybe…just maybe…I could find out for myself and I could get the material that I need for this book. Therefore, I’m willing to do a deal with you. Either you let me place you under citizen’s arrest, which I can easily do with my gun and I call the police, which would be quite serious for you. An arrest would not look good on your record and it would not be good for your future."
"I'll deny it," May said. "Yes, you can, but I think the police will find your fingerprints on the windowsill and also on that box. They will also question, how exactly you ended up in my house with me pointing a gun at you if you did nothing wrong." May paled. jessica was right. There was no way out.
"Or…you can let me tie you up and gag you for the duration of the town meeting. The deal is this…it is now 6.45pm. I should be able to get you all tied up by 7pm and the town meeting finishes at 10pm. I know your mother works nights and won’t be home till much later. If you can manage to escape at or before 10pm, I will pay you $500, for your time, but in return, I want you to complete an interview with me and for you to tell me about every single emotion and thought that you have, I want the full details – that should be more than enough material for my book. What I propose is that I tie you up and leave you here. I will work in the kitchen and if you can manage to escape, all you have to do is come and find me. We will do the interview there, I will then pay you and you can go on home.
However, it won't be easy. We have three hours and every hour I will check on you to make sure that you are all right, but I will also add something else to your bondage, so that it will gradually become harder to escape. Therefore, if you escape, you should do it in the first of these three hours.”
“What if I don’t escape?” May asked shakily. Jessica smiled. “This is where it gets interesting. If you don’t escape by 10pm, then keep in mind that it is Friday night and I will keep you tied up and gagged all weekend. You will not be harmed and you will be safely back at school on Monday morning. No-one will be any the wiser. I will still pay you for your time – it will be more money for the extended stay, naturally and I will tell your mother you are staying with friends, so that she won't worry and you will still provide me with my book material. However, I think that this experience will deter you from making trouble with me in the future. Keep in mind that if you choose for me to call the police, then the citizen’s arrest will also involve you being tied up and gagged until the police arrive.”
May went beet red. Being arrested would be awful, but being tied up and gagged for the police to see would be worse. There was a cute sheriff's deputy that she had a crush on and there was no way that she wanted to be seen like that in public.
May said, “If you tie me up, what if I go public with it and tell people what you’ve done?” “May, I am Jessica Fletcher. I have police connections and who do you think would believe you? I’m Cabot Cove’s number one law-abiding citizen, remember?”
May knew that she had no choice. In a shaking voice, she said. “I suppose so.” “You suppose what? You're not being very clear.” “I’ll be…I’ll be tied up.”
Jessica smiled. “Very good. I really am appreciative of this, May. I think that you made the right choice.” She reached under the armchair that she was sitting on and drew out a box filled with loops of rope while still keeping the gun aimed at May. “Now, get off the chair, kneel on the floor and cross your wrists behind your back.”
May did as she was told, but she trembled as she felt Jessica loop the rope around her wrists and pull it tight. She was surprised at how firm the rope felt as Jessica tied her wrists into a crossed position behind her back. After that, Jessica walked May over to one of the two wooden chairs seated at the dining table and forced her to sit on it.
To May’s shock, Jessica reached under her skirt. “What are you doing? That wasn’t part of…” “Relax, May, I have no interest in that. The only thing I want is your underpants.” With a deft flick, Jessica peeled off May’s underpants in one go. May went red upon seeing her bikini baby blue underpants with the white lace frill around the legs sitting in Jessica’s hand. Jessica ignored May’s blushing and rolled the underpants into a ball, then removed both of May’s shoes and then her knee-high socks. The shoes were placed neatly on the floor while Jessica kept hold of the socks. “What do you want those for?” “Tied and gagged, remember?” “No way, that’s fu***** disgusting.” “If you like, I could use my own underwear and socks? I've got a few of them in the washing basket.” May’s shouted protest was cut off as Jessica stuffed her underpants into her mouth and tied them in by pairing the socks and then stretching both of them into one long and thick piece of cloth. The gag was secured with several knots being tied at the back of May's head. It was very tight and all May could do was watch as Jessica tied her ankles, knees and thighs together with three separate loops of rope. Another length of rope was then used to tie her thighs to the chair.
Jessica then moved behind May and tied her elbows together. One long piece of rope was then wrapped under May’s breasts and went under and over her breasts multiple times before being wound under and over her arms and shoulders to create a harness. One last piece of rope was used to secure May’s stomach to the back of the chair. When she had finished, Jessica stepped back to admire her work.
“I must say I like you much better like that. Nice and quiet. It is 7pm and your time starts now…. I’ll go and work in the kitchen and wait for you to escape...if you can.” Jessica pasued. "By the way, just so you know...That jewelry is fake. Good looking fakes, but still fake. I'm surprised you didn't, at least, guess that part. I'll be back at 8pm to check on you and to add the next piece of bondage."
Jessica left the room, while May started struggling against the ropes….