Murder, She Wrote - The Schoolgirl and Jessica Fletcher's Revenge F/f (Completed).

[Headmistress]

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….

[quietman]

this normally isn’t my niche but you did a great job! Never thought I’d read about Jessica Fletcher on this board haha. It really read like a real episode, Jessica always two steps ahead and in control.

Only thing I should add is that the gender tag should be F/f. I think it is “ pg13” enough to leave it that way, but I’m not a moderator. Just a friendly heads up!

[Blackfox74077]

Im glad your back headmistress i always liked your stories!!

[gaggednbarefoot]

Excellent story. I've seen your work elsewhere in sure. KP Presents?

I particularly liked it when you removed her shoes and socks to gag her.

[boundking79]

Good work and enjoying the read on this one. Great story, the details are nice.
Poor May, she really is helpless now.

[Gaggedgeekgirl]

She's in big trouble.

[TomYi]

Headmistress? Do my eyes deceive?

I remember you! You had some excellent stories on the old forum and I'm so happy to see you've returned!

And what a story to kick things off! It's no mystery that May's not getting out of this, but we're all looking forward to seeing what Jessica will do next

[banshee]

Headmistress!? I can't believe there's a new story from you, I have read your old stories on the archives and I loved them, I'm sure you wont disappoint with this new one.

[smooth_talker45]

Very well written , thankyou

[Headmistress]

Hi all,

Wow! I never expected so much positive feedback on this post, so thank you all for your kind words. I'm glad that you all like it, so far. Right now, I am editing Chapter 1 as I made a few mistakes here and there, but I am working on Chapter 2 too and should have that up by tomorrow.

My friend actually gave me a Murder, She Wrote box set for Christmas and after watching a few episodes, the first thing I noticed is that Jessica is indeed always two steps ahead and in control, which was what was the basis for my story idea.

I actually had to make a new account here with my old user name as my old one didn't seem to work, but I have got it working now, so all good.

To the person who asked me about KP Presents. I can only recall writing on this board, but i do remember a user called KP Presents. I will also fix the F/f thing in the title when I finish editing Chapter 1 as I didn't realise that I wrote it incorrectly.

[bondagefreak]

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.

Oh god, that's sad. We were only offline for under two weeks before this latest incarnation of the forum was established over three years ago.
I can't help but wonder how many others from the old board still have no idea we've been up and running this whole time.

In any case, welcome back [mention]Headmistress[/mention]!

Not sure why [mention]KP Presents[/mention]'s username was brought up though.
KP has been here for three years already, has hundreds of posts under his belt and publishes new stories every couple weeks.
https://tugstories.com/memberlist.php?m ... file&u=104

[Headmistress]

Hi,

Sorry about the confusion - one of the other posts up above said that they had seen my work before and asked about KP Presents - so I assumed that they were asking me if I had put any of my work on KP Presents' page or if I had worked with KP Presents.

What I meant was that while I do remember them and I know who KP Presents is, I don't think I've done any work on their site or worked with them previously, but I didn't explain that very well.

Thanks for the welcome back.

[bondagefreak]

Sorry about the confusion - one of the other posts up above said that they had seen my work before and asked about KP Presents - so I assumed that they were asking me if I had put any of my work on KP Presents' page or if I had worked with KP Presents.

There was no confusion until now [mention]Headmistress[/mention]
I saw [mention]gaggednbarefoot[/mention]'s comment and wondered why he thought you were KP when KP is among one of the more active members on this board.

In any case, we're just glad to have you back.

[Headmistress]

Chapter 2.

May quickly discovered that while the ropes weren’t too tight or uncomfortable, they were firm and secure. The second problem was her school blazer. While May had a very good body, the school uniform was not particularly well-cut. May was also one of those girls who was unfortunately “between sizes” when it came to the school uniform, so she always had to settle for one that was slightly too small or big. She always opted for the bigger one because she didn’t mind wearing oversized clothes and they were quite comfortable plus the bigger clothes could always be taken in or altered if needed. Her blazer’s sleeves were always slightly too long and hung over her hands slightly, so she always rolled them up whenever she wore it. When Jessica had tied her wrists together, she had unrolled May’s blazer sleeves, so that she could secure the rope over the blazer cuffs. As a result, the blazer material was now getting in the way because it was now all rucked up. The rope around May’s stomach also meant that her arms were behind her back and pressing into the back of the chair.

After struggling and squirming into a variety of different positions all over the chair, May managed to move her wrists slightly to her right side. When she saw her wrists, she realized that Jessica had tied the rope up right at the top of them where she was unable to reach it. May’s feet were not tied down, so she decided to try and move the chair over to see if she could get to any of the other pieces of furniture or to another room to find scissors or something else to cut the ropes. However, when she attempted to move the chair, she discovered that while it looked dainty and was well-made, the wood was actually extremely thick and heavy and even by using all of her body weight and moving as much as she could, she could only move the chair about an inch in one go. The shaggy carpet in the room was also plush and thick, which made it even harder to move the chair.

But May was still determined to keep trying. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

At 8pm, when Jessica re-entered the room, May was breathing hard, sweaty and she had only managed to move the chair about 10 inches across the room, which had gotten her absolutely nowhere and it had used up all her energy. Jessica smiled when she saw May.

“I really have to admire your effort. But I’m afraid that an hour is now up, which means that I have to add to your bondage.” That was when May noticed that Jessica was carrying a roll of duct tape and one piece of rope. Jessica moved around behind May, took the rope and looped it around the rope tied around May’s wrists before threading it through the wooden rails that made up the back of the chair and dragging it down to the stems that connected the four legs of the chair. The rope was then threaded through the back and front stems and bought out to May’s ankles. The other end of the rope was then threaded between May’s ankles and then tied to the rope that bound May’s ankles. When she did this, Jessica pushed May’s ankles back and made sure that the rope was pulled back tightly before she tied it, so May’s legs were bent, her ankles were now fastened to the chair and she now had no more movement of her wrists. Jessica then took the roll of duct tape and tore off a piece and plastered it over May’s lips on top of her gag. She then continued this until the whole lower half of May’s face was covered in layers of tape. May noticed how Jessica seemed to take great pleasure in securing and smoothing down each piece of tape and how she had used much more tape than she had needed to.

When Jessica was done, she said, “You’ve got another hour before I return. However, this time I’m going to lock you in here, but I will leave the key in the lock. That means if you come and find me, you also have to work out how to leave this room. I’ll just close the curtains and leave you to it.” Jessica drew the curtains for every window and then walked out of the room. A moment later, the door closed and May heard the key turn in the lock.

That was when May knew that she was done for. Jessica had clearly never intended to give her a proper chance to escape and it was very obvious that she was going to be here all weekend. Despite knowing that, she began kicking and squirming in the chair as hard as she could, but her restricted movement and struggling soon had her completely worn-out.

That was when May noticed something. While Jessica had closed all the curtains, she had not quite closed one pair all the way. The set that faced the front of the house were slightly open. Jessica’s house had a small lamp outside that had been switched on and the wicker fence, gate and the path that led to the front door were perfectly illuminated now in the darkness. May knew it was unlikely that anyone would see her, but her chair was positioned quite close to the window. With more squirming and thrashing, she managed to inch the chair a few inches closer to the window. May had now made up her mind that she no longer wanted to participate in this kidnapping scenario, but it was obvious that Jessica was not going to let her go until she was done with her “book research”, so the only chance she had left was to try and get someone’s attention.

That was when May saw something that horrified her. A tall, slim girl was walking down the path that ran alongside Jessica’s house. She stopped at the wicker fence, looked at the gate, hesitated and then opened it. What had shocked May was that the girl was her best friend from school, Alison Reynolds.

May tried to scream into her gag, “Alison! Alison!” However, the gag was now so thick and had so many layers that absolutely nothing came out.

Alison was a pretty, sixteen-year-old blonde girl with ivory white skin, brown eyes and full lips that had a touch of the exotic about them. She was wearing jeans with a sky-blue sweatshirt, white socks and Nike sneakers. Her long blonde hair was hanging loose in a silky sheet that cascaded down her back and she was carrying a small bag and what looked like a hardcover book in her right hand.

As Alison walked up to Jessica Fletcher’s door, she was completely unaware of her surroundings because she had a set of headphones in and was listening to music. When she got to the front door, she switched the music off, took the headphones off, put them and her IPod in her bag and knocked at the door. A few moments later, Jessica opened the door with a smile on her face.

“Hello.” Alison smiled, “Mrs. Fletcher, I’m Alison Reynolds. You don’t know me, but you know my mother. You led her a copy of one of your books last week and she knew that I was going out to the town meeting tonight – I’m a bit late actually, so she asked me to return it on my way there. I was going to pop it into your letterbox, but then I saw your lights were on, so I decided to drop it off personally.” “Hello, Alison, I actually do know you. I came home from the meeting because I was not feeling well. While we haven’t officially met, I’ve seen you around town with that friend of yours, May Browning.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that you knew May.” “Well, I didn’t know her very well to start with, but I think that May and I will eventually get to know each other much better. You know, Alison, you look hungry. Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea, maybe a biscuit or two?”

While May was still locked in the lounge room, the walls were quite thin and both Jessica and Alison were speaking clearly, so she could hear every word.

Alison smiled, “I’d love to if it’s not too much trouble.” “Not at all. Come in and I’ll fix you up.” As they walked past the lounge room, Alison thought she heard a thump. “Mrs. Fletcher?” “Yes, what is it? Oh, and you can call me Jessica, if you like.” “I thought I heard something in there. A sort of thumping?” “Oh, that’s a broken window latch – the kitchen window has a broken latch too. I really must get those fixed. Now, let’s go and have that tea and biscuits.”

Alison followed Jessica into the kitchen where Jessica motioned for her to sit down at a chair at the dining table. Jessica took a plate and a packet of biscuits out of a cupboard, arranged a few biscuits on the plate and handed it to Alison. When she did so, Alison noticed her dark brown leather gloves. “Those are nice gloves, Jessica, but isn’t it a bit too hot to wear those?” “Thank you, Alison. They’re new and I was just trying them on for size. I’ll just put the kettle on for you.” Alison said, “What stands out to me about those gloves is that they look like the sort that a kidnapper would wear. Sort of like you would see in a movie or a book.” Jessica smiled, “That is an interesting comment, Alison. Well, if these look like gloves that belong to a kidnapper, then they are suited to a mystery writer like me.” Alison smiled in response and started nibbling at a biscuit.

Jessica took the kettle, filled it with water and switched it on. Alison stood up to stretch her legs and that was when she noticed something lying on one of the kitchen counters. It was a scrunchie. But it wasn’t just any scrunchie. It belonged to May. Alison knew that because she had bought the scrunchie for May for a birthday present and it had an extremely distinctive pattern of blue, orange and green gingham. Alison had bought it specially for May because May liked unique colour combinations. That was when she saw the loose kitchen latch almost hanging off the window. “Jessica?” “Yes?” “Isn’t that May’s scrunchie?” “Oh, I didn’t know who it belonged to. I found it on the path this morning, just outside my house and I was going to take it to the lost and found tomorrow, so it’s good you know who it belongs to. You may as well take it and give it back to May.” Jessica took the scrunchie off the counter and handed it to Alison who took it and put it into the pocket of her jeans.

“Thanks. By the way, do you mind if I use your bathroom while I wait for you to make the tea?” “No problem. Go upstairs and turn left. It’ll be the second door.” Alison slipped out of the kitchen and went upstairs while Jessica leaned against the kitchen counter breathing hard. The funny thing is the rush of adrenaline that was going through her body felt quite exciting. She felt just like a proper kidnapper now. Having a guest in her house that had no knowledge of what was going on was thrilling. Even her hands were sweating inside her gloves. It was perfect material for the book. However, she would have to be more cautious because she hadn’t noticed the scrunchie when she had gone into the kitchen. She’d been too absorbed with writing her book.

Jessica slipped out of the kitchen and into the hall before picking up a scarf that was draped across the hall stand. After a quick glance at the staircase, she unlocked the lounge room door and slipped in. When she saw May, she noticed that May had been struggling a lot because she was now completely soaked in sweat. Even her thighs and legs were covered in sweat, which made them look shiny and smooth.

Jessica leaned down to stare directly into May's face. “Listen, I have no intention of having two kidnap victims this weekend, so if you don’t want dear, sweet little Alison to end up here with you, then you’d better be quiet. Understand?” May nodded. “Good. Now, I have to go and entertain Alison for a while, so you’ve lucked out for round three, but I’ll still be seeing you at 10pm. In the meantime, here’s something else for you that should keep you nice and calm.”

Jessica took the scarf, folded it into one long strip that was a few inches wide and then leaned it over and tied it around May’s eyes, so that it acted as a blindfold. May was now plunged into darkness and could only see a slight strip of light around the bottom of the blindfold.

Jessica slipped out, locked the lounge room door and stealthily crept back into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Alison had just used the toilet and was now washing her hands. Alison was also currently in a strange frame of mind. Something small was bothering her that had been niggling at her after she’d entered Mrs. Fletcher’s house. it was something that had been done or said, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Jessica’s bathroom was a nice old-fashioned bathroom with a black and white tiled floor, a pale pink bathtub, which was round and deep, set into the floor and looked luxurious and a shower that was tiled all in white. Pink towels were draped on two metail rails that sat on one of the walls. The skin was a dainty white basin with old-fashioned wrought iron taps and there were two cupboards - one above and one below the basin. Alison looked around for a bar of soap.

There was none on the side of the sink, so she decided to try the cupboard above the sink. She opened it and saw a new pink bar of soap on the bottom shelf wrapped in stripy paper, so she removed it, unwrapped it and placed the paper in the small wastepaper basket that sat next to the basin and that was when she saw something odd in the cupboard. It was on the top shelf, and it was partially obscured by a bottle of shampoo, but it was still visible.

She reached it out, took it down and looked at it in puzzlement. It was a slightly dingy large red ball with what looked like a strap and buckle threaded through it. She had heard of them before, but never actually seen one. She stared at it in disbelief and said, “Why would Mrs. Fletcher need a ball gag?”

Absently, her hand reached into the pocket of her jeans and that was when she felt the material of the scrunchie. That was when she realized what had been bothering her. Jessica had said that she had found the scrunchie that morning outside her house. But May had been wearing the scrunchie to school that very day. It was very noticeable. Also, May didn’t walk past Jessica’s house on the way to school because it was in the opposite direction and not part of her route. So, if May had not dropped the scrunchie that morning, she must have dropped it somewhere else. And hadn’t the window latch in the kitchen been broken?

Alison shook her head. Paranoia was obviously getting to her. Alison had always wanted to be a mystery writer herself. The real reason she had knocked on Jessica’s door instead of leaving the book in the letterbox was because Jessica was an inspiration to her and she had been hoping to see her, which was why she had jumped at the chance to have tea and biscuits with her, but she had to admit that the direction that her thoughts were going in was very far-fetched.

But even so, why would Mrs. Fletcher need a ball gag? Then again, Jessica had been single for a very long time, so perhaps she needed something to spice up things. Yes, that must be it. Alison smiled. Fancy letting such thoughts occur to her! Everyone knew that Jessica Fletcher was the number one law-abiding citizen in Cabot Cove who had solved dozens of mysteries and gotten many, many people arrested or forced them to face the consequences of their actions.

Humming to herself, Alison began washing her hands with the soap, creating a nice mass of suds as she did so. When she was finished, she also washed the ball gag with the soap, so that it was clean and put it back in the cupboard in its original position before setting the soap down on the sink. She clearly needed to mind her own business and not to let such thoughts get to her…..

[Headmistress]

Chapter 3.

Just as Alison was about to leave the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirrored door of the high cabinet and her gaze then fell on the cabinet under the basin. Alison had always been a naturally curious girl and she decided to have a quick look in the bottom cabinet. If Jessica was indeed kinky as she suspected, then she might find something even more interesting in there….

While Alison knew that she shouldn’t be snooping, a part of her was thrilled at finding out something so scandalous. Mrs. Fletcher obviously had another side to her and Alison wanted to know more.

Alison went back and pulled on the cabinet door, but it didn’t open. That was when she saw the small keyhole in the door and realized that unlike the top cabinet, it had a lock.

“Bugger,” she said out loud.

Suddenly something occurred to her. She had read several of Jessica’s novels and in them, people had a habit of usually hiding their spare keys close to where the locks were. Jessica had also claimed several times that she wrote what she knew. Alison took a quick look around the room. She reopened the top cabinet and looked. There was nothing in there but regular bathroom things like soap, shampoo, conditioner and little odds and ends. The only thing that could really be considered out of the ordinary was the ball gag.

There weren’t very much other hiding places in the room. The toilet looked promising, but when Alison lifted the lid off the cistern, she found nothing. A quick look at the walls revealed that they were solid tiles and there were no secret compartments. Alison tried running her fingers along the top of the cabinet, but the only thing she came away with was a slight gathering of dust. The shower also revealed nothing and the same thing happened with the bath. Just as Alison was about to give up in frustration, that was when she suddenly noticed the thick wooden doorframe that enclosed the door.

“Of course!” she said. She went over to the door, stood on tiptoe and ran her fingers along the edges. She nearly shouted out loud with excitement when she touched what felt like cool metal and retrieved a small golden key from the top of the frame.

Rushing back over to the cabinet, Alison knelt on the floor and jammed the key into the lock. It turned and the cabinet door opened smoothly.

Alison stared at the contents of the cabinet in disbelief. There were numerous loops of rope, a variety of gags, rolls of tape and at least a dozen scarves in the cabinet and what looked like some sort of photo album that was slightly tatty with a red cover.

“Wow! I thought that she might be kinky, but this is something else!” She pulled the ragged album out and opened it. To her shock, she was presented with a collection of clippings and magazine pictures of bound and gagged women in all sorts of different positions. That was when she saw a crushed-up piece of notebook paper that had been jammed into the back of the cupboard.

She pulled it out and smoothed it out, so she could read it. It said:

KIDNAPPING SCENARIO: THINGS TO DO:

Buy and wear leather gloves (they must be black or dark brown).
Read the website called “Stories of Tie-Up Games” for ideas.
Victim: May Browning.
Motive: The orchard/May’s pranks.
Get gun.
My Alibi: Pretend to be sick and do not attend the town meeting that is being held on Friday night.'

The list went on for quite a bit, but Alison had already read enough. Her hands were shaking. She knew now, that under that cool composure, Mrs. Fletcher had a dark side that nobody had ever seen and it explained where the scrunchie had come from and how it had ended up in her kitchen.

Alison hastily folded up the list and slipped it into her jeans pocket. She had taken her bag into the bathroom because it went everywhere that she did and she had placed it on the edge of the bathtub when she had gone to the toilet. Her phone was in her bag, so she darted over, took it out, switched it on and took several photos of the cupboard’s contents and photo album. She now had some evidence. Alison decided that, now, she had to leave as quickly as possible and get some help. While Alison wanted to find May, she had no idea where May was as it was possible that Jessica had her stashed somewhere else, so it was best to go and find help instead.

She tossed her phone back into her bag, locked the cabinet and hastily put the key back on top of the doorframe.

With that done, Alison dashed downstairs, so fast, that her feet almost didn’t touch the floor.

Mrs. Fletcher was still sitting in the kitchen drinking her cup of tea. She still looked completely normal and was smiling slightly. Alison told herself not to be nervous. But she had to marvel at what a good actress Mrs. Fletcher was. Nobody would have ever guessed that there was a kidnapper under that calm air that she had about her. Mrs. Fletcher spoke:

“Alison?”

“Yes?”

“Your mother just called here to ask if you had bought back my book and I told her that you had and that you were having tea here. She also said to tell you that she and your father have gone away for the weekend, so they will not be home when you get home.”

“Yes, yes, I forgot about that,” Alison said in a shaky tone. Her hands were sweating, so she hastily wiped them on her jeans and tried to compose herself. Mrs. Fletcher pointed to a cup of tea sitting on the table and said, “There’s your tea. Sit down with me and have some.”

Alison was so nervous that she plonked herself down in the chair and drank several large gulps of tea. It was so hot that it was almost scalding, but she barely noticed it.

Alison ended up draining the whole cup of tea and Mrs. Fletcher said, “Goodness me, Alison, you must have been thirsty. Look, it’s getting late and I think that you’ve missed most of the town meeting now, so I’ll give you a lift home.”

“I thought that you didn’t have a car?” Alison said nervously. “I don’t, but Seth came over this afternoon for a drink. He had a few too many, so he walked home and left his car here, so I can drive you back as while I don’t have a car, I do have a licence. Unless you have some reason for not wanting me to drive you home?” Alison hesitated. A slightly hard look had crept into Jessica’s eyes just then. It was the sort of look that she got when she was sniffing out a mystery. It was making Alison very nervous. “Anyway, I don’t think you should be walking home in the dark. Not at this time of night.”

Alison knew that she now had to let Mrs. Fletcher drive her home because it was obvious that she was getting suspicious from the tone of her voice. “All right, let’s go”, she said quickly. Mrs. Fletcher smiled. “All right, but I need to grab the car keys. I’ve got them somewhere upstairs. Hang on a minute while I go and find them.”

Mrs. Fletcher disappeared upstairs while Alison sat in the chair. After a couple of minutes, she reappeared with the car keys and a large black purse. “I found them. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

As if in a dream, Alison numbly followed Jessica out of the house and to the small garage that sat at the right side of her house. Jessica opened the rolling garage door to reveal a small red car. Alison dropped her bag on the floor of the passenger seat before sliding into the seat, and Jessica got into the driver’s seat. The small red car was smoothly backed out of the garage, into the driveway, drove onto the road and started winding down the long, lonely roads that led to Alison’s house. Alison was so caught up in her thoughts, that she barely noticed when Jessica stopped and parked the car on a small deserted road where the only sign of life was a deserted beach and a few trees.

But Jessica got Alison’s attention very quickly when she pulled a gun out of her purse. Before Alison could scream, the leather gloved hand that was not holding the gun was quickly clamped over her mouth.

When Jessica spoke next, she sounded quite calm. “My dear Alison. You seem like a nice girl and I’m not going to hurt you. But you have to promise not to scream and you have to do as I say. Do you understand? Can I remove my hand?”

Alison nodded numbly. The gloved hand was removed and Alison said the first thing that came into her head:

“How did you know?”

Jessica smiled arrogantly.

“I knew I’d slipped up as soon as I mentioned the scrunchie. It was obvious that May wouldn’t have dropped it here. I knew I’d slipped, and I really should have thought of a better excuse. I know that you’re a clever girl, but I wasn’t quite sure if you’d caught it or not. However, you then took a very long time in the bathroom, which aroused my curiosity. So, when I went to get the car keys, I slipped in and had a quick look around.

When you came downstairs, Alison, your hands were still wet as you'd not bothered to dry them. I found the new bar of soap that I had bought on the edge of the sink, which was not where it was before. The wrapper was in the bin and then I noticed that the ball gag in the cupboard was also wet. You know, Alison, I have plenty of towels in the bathroom. You could, at least, have dried it. I also noticed water drops and moisture on the door of the lower cabinet, which means that someone with wet hands had been tampering with it. The cincher was the key to the cabinet. I always hide it on the right side of the doorframe and you put it back on the left. But I must say I have to admire your thinking. Maybe one day, you will be a mystery writer like me. But my sleuthing skills are second to none, which is how I knew all about what you were up to. Yes, I did kidnap your friend, May, for the weekend, and, now, I am going to kidnap you too.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Jessica laughed. “Oh, that’s very good! That’s exactly the sort of thing a kidnap victim would say. I like it and I think I may put it in one of my books sometime. The answer is that I’ve already done it. There’s a saying, “Don’t take candy from strangers, but, in our case, it should be “Don’t take tea from strangers”. When you went to the bathroom, I drugged your cup of tea. The drug will not harm you and it will have no lasting effects. It’s something that I picked up when I was researching one of my books. I won’t tell you the name of it, but in a short while, you will be asleep and when you do wake up, which will be tomorrow morning, you will have no memory of these events. This drug is powerful and amnesia-inducing. But, in the meantime, I am going to have to tie you up and gag you. Please don’t take it personally, Alison. But I may as well have some fun first. Now, off with your jumper.”

“What?” Alison cried. Jessica smiled grimly. “Take it off.” She pointed the gun at Alison’s chest.

Alison reluctantly reached for the hem of her jumper and peeled it off to reveal a sky-blue bra that was almost exactly the same colour as her jumper. To her shock, Jessica reached over and ran a gloved hand over Alison’s breasts and toned stomach.” “What are you doing?!” “Research for my book. It’s refreshing to see how much power that a kidnapper has.” Jessica caressed Alison’s breasts and stomach before saying while Alison sat absolutely still, “Hmm, firm.” She then ran her gloved hands over Alison’s bra a few more times before she reached back into her purse.

To Alison’s shock, Jessica pulled out a Polaroid camera and took a photograph of her and then said, “Now, off with the jeans.” A shaking Alison unbuttoned, then unzipped her jeans, untied her sneakers, took them off and peeled her jeans off to reveal a pair of bikini sky-blue underwear that matched her bra. She turned red as Jessica ran her eyes over her body and took another picture. “Why are you taking pictures of me?” “I have read that kidnappers collect mementos and this happens to be mine. Now, I had to get you to take your clothes off because when I bring you home, I will put you to bed and I will obviously have to put you in a nightgown, so this makes it a bit easier.”

Jessica dug into her purse and withdrew the ball gag that Alison had seen in the bathroom. “Now, unbuckle your seat belt, turn around and open your mouth, and then raise your hands, so that I can see them.” Alison did as Jessica said and trembled as she felt the large red ball slide into her mouth.

Jessica then buckled the strap behind Alison’s head, making sure to pull and fasten it tightly, so that the large ball now sat securely inside Alison’s mouth.

“Now, please lower your arms and put them behind your back.” Alison slowly lowered her arms and then moved them, so that they were now positioned behind her back. Jessica retrieved a pair of silver handcuffs from her purse and a key. Unlocking the cuffs, she fastened one cuff and then the other around Alison’s wrists where they closed with a metallic click.

Alison was now completely helpless. The large red ball forced her mouth open and she couldn’t make a sound. Jessica then picked Alison’s bag off the floor of the car and opened it. She smiled when she turned Alison’s phone on. After going through it for a few minutes, she found the photos that Alison had taken. She swiftly deleted each one and then she turned her attention to Alison’s jeans and sweater where she quickly discovered the list that she had written and placed it into her purse as well.

“Your evidence is now completely gone, Alison. What do you think of that?”

“BBBBBmmmmmhhhhh.”

“Yes, my dear Alison, I am a bitch. But, just for that, you can get out of the car and sit in the backseat. I was going to let you sit in the front, but now I won’t.”

Jessica got out of the car with her purse, walked around and opened the passenger door, then dragged Alison out where she stood shivering in the night air. Jessica then opened the back door of the car and said curtly.

“Get into the back seat and lie down on your stomach.”

Alison reluctantly got into the backseat and wriggled her way in until she was lying flat on the backseat and resting on her stomach. Jessica took a loop of rope out of her purse and then tied Alison’s ankles into a crossed position, but left a long end of rope that was about two feet long after she tied the last knot. This end was then pulled up to Alison’s cuffs, threaded through them and bought back to her ankles where it was tied off tightly. Alison was now in a strict hogtie.

To Alison’s shock, Jessica got into the backseat and sat next to her.

Alison realized that she was starting to feel dizzy and realized that the drug that Jessica had told her about was starting to take effect. Jessica leaned over to stroke Alison’s hair and Alison tried to wriggle away, but Jessica was not to be deterred and kept stroking her hair before speaking in a sultry voice.

“Don’t worry, Alison. It won’t be long now and this will all be forgotten when you wake up. It will be nothing but the remains of a dream and then it will be the remembrance of the remains and then it will be nothing. By the way, there is one more thing I should tell you. There’s no harm in it now. This is a real gun, but it is not loaded. It never is. I actually don’t know how to shoot and I don’t want to injure someone, but I like having it because it helps me to get what I want. And now I’ve got a second kidnapped schoolgirl.”

Alison tried struggling against the cuffs, but she was gently restrained by Jessica who held her firmly. “Don’t do that, dear Alison. You will only injure yourself. Her eyelids felt heavier and heavier and she tried to force them open, but it was gradually becoming harder and harder. Jessica was still talking to her, but her voice was becoming softer and sultrier and her voice sounded as if it was fading into the distance. With a groan, Alison finally closed her eyes.

When Alison had dropped into a deep sleep, Jessica leaned over and gently kissed her on the forehead.

She was extremely relieved that Alison’s parents were away as it now made her next task much easier.

Jessica drove the rest of the way to Alison’s house with her heart beating in her chest. When she had envisioned this kidnapping scenario, she hadn’t imagined that it would be this exciting and she knew that she would have no problem writing her book after this. While her hands were trembling inside her leather gloves, it was a good feeling. It also felt good to be able to do what she wanted, for once, instead of being just the vanilla mystery writer who solved crimes that was a perfect, well-behaved, law-abiding citizen.

When Jessica got to Alison’s house, which was a modest two-level house, she found out that the garage of the house opened and closed with a simple rolling door that had been left unlocked. As a result, she was easily able to park Seth’s car inside it before she slung her purse over her shoulder and went to get Alison.

When she dragged Alison out of the car, Jessica discovered that there was a small door in the garage that led to the rest of the house. While this door had been locked, a quick search of Alison's bag led Jessica to retrieve her house keys. Alison was a slim girl and Jessica was quite fit, but she still found herself struggling to carry her, so she untied the rope that held her in the hogtie to make it easier. Unfortunately for Jessica, she had never been inside Alison’s house before, despite having walked past it many times, and she was dismayed to find out after she entered the house that Alison’s bedroom was on the second level and that it was located at the top of the stairs.

Jessica had no other choice left, so she grabbed Alison’s ankles and slowly dragged her across the floor and up the stairs to her bedroom. It took quite a bit of time and effort, and Jessica had to stop and rest a couple of times, but she finally got Alison into her bedroom. As soon as she got inside, Jessica closed the door, dumped Alison on the floor, removed the ball gag, rope and cuffs, placed them into her purse and then went to look for a nightgown.

She found an apricot satin slip one that she thought looked nice, so she quickly dressed Alison in it and dragged her up on to the bed and then tucked her in. When Alison was safely in bed, Jessica took her camera out of her purse and took one last photograph. When she was done, she put the photograph and camera in her purse and then collected Alison's clothes and bag from the car and put them on the floor in Alison's befroom. When she was done, she took a deep breath.

Being a kidnapper was hard work, but she could handle it.

Now, she had to go back and take care of May.....

[Alisonlovesropes]

Oh and I thought Alison (me) would have a staring role all tied up gagged and blindfold.

Great story

[Bondwriter]

Glad to see Headmistress is back. With a great story!

[quietman]

This story was such a great idea. You really nailed Jessica’s character too!

Maybe she can borrow the lie detector machine from sheriff Amos and test it out?

Whatever you do, looking forward to the next part, you’re writing is really great.

[Headmistress]

Lol, thanks.

I am working on Part 4 now.

I have only seen two wpisodes that were set in Cabot Cove so far, so I am kind of getting inspiration as I go along.

When I get to the lie detector, I might try and write it in somehow.

[quietman]

Haha I can’t even remember if sheriff Tupper even had a lie detector, it was just an idea for a plot device. Please, use whatever you’d like, it’s a great story!

[Risperdaltied]

Great story - would have watch more episodes had they involved tying up and gagging victims!!

[Headmistress]

Lol. I think Sheriff Tupper did have a lie detector because I have vague memories of one being in the TV show when it used to play on TV. But I could be wrong.

I haven't seen any victims tied uo and gaged in the show yet . Maybe later that will come.....

[Headmistress]

May had now been sitting on her chair for several hours struggling to no avail. All the ropes were too restrictive and she couldn’t break free. The gag in her mouth tasted horrible and all the tape that Jessica had added was making her sweat, but it wasn’t getting any looser. The blindfold was also frustrating because she had no idea if Jessica was still there or if she had left or even what had happened to Alison and it was very tight, so there was no way that she could slide it off.

It was almost a relief when she heard the lounge room door swing open and a pair of boots come into the room. The sound of the firm, yet timely steps told her that it was Jessica who had returned.

“Hello, Miss Browning. Did you miss me? I think we both know the answer to that question, so I won’t wait for your reply.”

The footsteps approached and then went around behind May where a pair of gloved hands removed her blindfold. May flushed when she saw the look of smug satisfaction on Jessica’s face and knew that she was thoroughly enjoying the position that she had May in. “Now, May, you look tired and I know you’ve been tied up for much longer than expected. I apologise for that, but I had some business to take care of with Alison.”

“Mmmmmpphhhhh!”

“Relax. Dear, sweet little Alison is just fine and you’ll see her at school on Monday. Now, as I said, you look tired and you could probably do with some dinner. Here’s the deal. I’m prepared to fully untie and ungag you to take you to the kitchen. But your hands will still stay tied behind your back and if you make any fuss or cause any trouble, then the ropes and gag both go back on and you won’t get any dinner at all. What do you say? Can I remove your gag?”

May nodded wearily.

Jessica removed her right glove and carefully eased her fingers under one side of the thick layer of tape that sealed May’s mouth. When she had gotten them some way under it, she ripped it off in one large piece.

May screamed into her gag as the tape came off. “Sorry, but it was better than trying to remove all of those pieces.” Jessica untied the socks around May’s mouth, then put her glove back on and May spit the sodden underwear out into Jessica’s gloved hand. Jessica then placed the underwear and socks on a table.

May groaned as soon as the gag was out. The underwear and socks had tasted just plain nasty and her mouth now had an awful taste all through it. “You bitch.” It was just a whispered mumble, but Jessica had obviously heard it. Her fine skin reddened rapidly. The next thing May knew was that a hard slap hit her directly across the face that sent her reeling in shock. A gloved hand then grabbed her chin in a hard grip and held her mouth closed.

Jessica said sweetly, “May, I want you to understand this. Now, I have no desire to make you uncomfortable. In fact, if you’re good and behave well for me, then this weekend does not have to be an unpleasant one at all. But, I have rules here for my guests. One rule that applies here in my house is no swearing or being disrespectful. Do that again and you’ll immediately be gagged and tied up again. Understand?”

Jessica lifted May’s chin, so she was forced to look into Jessica’s eyes. May hastily nodded.

“Good.”

Just as she had promised, Jessica untied all the ropes that held May, but left her wrists bound behind her back, picked up one of the discarded pieces of rope, pulled her gun out of the waistband of her pants and then said:

“Come.”

It was a clear command and not a question. May attempted to stand up, but her legs and thighs had now become so cramped that she was wobbly on her feet. To assist May, Jessica hooked one hand through her elbow and gently guided her into the kitchen. There was a variety of stools and chairs around a wooden breakfast bar that sat adjacent to the dining table. Jessica guided May over to one stool and helped her to hop up on it. As soon as May was safely seated, Jessica took the loop of rope threaded it under the seat of the stool and crisscrossed it several times over her lap and back under the stool before tying it off under the stool. May was now secured to the seat of the stool, but it was a lot more comfortable than her previous position had been and she was now able to stretch a bit.

Jessica placed the gun on a kitchen counter, turned to the stove and started to cook something using various things from the cupboards. While Jessica was distracted, May tried squirming against the wrist ropes. She didn’t think Jessica had noticed until Jessica said, “May, those ropes are tied off where you can’t reach them and I have my gun, remember?”

May stopped struggling. “Good girl.” Jessica resumed cooking while May sat sullenly at the breakfast bar. The thing she hated the most about being tied up was Jessica’s air of superiority. She clearly enjoyed the power that she now had over May and she was going to make the most of it.

After some time, Jessica had prepared two full meal of meat and vegetables with cutlery set alongside the plates on two trays with a glass of wine for herself and a glass of orange juice for May. She carried the two trays over to May and set May’s tray down in front of May and one tray in front of the stool that sat directly across from May.

“How can I eat if my hands are tied like this?” May asked nervously. In response, Jessica sat down next to her, picked the fork off May’s tray and placed some vegetables onto the fork and held it up to May’s mouth. That was when May realized that Jessica was going to feed her. She felt embarrassed, but she was really hungry, so she accepted the food without question. After May had finished her dinner, Jessica gave her the glass of juice, which May gulped down gratefully. The juice helped to get the disgusting taste of the gag out of her mouth, which she was grateful for.

Jessica than moved away from May, went over to the kitchen counter and picked up a notebook and pen that were lying there and then sat back down at her plate across from May. She uncapped the pen and opened the notebook.

“While I eat, I thought that now would be a good time to start our first interview.”

“Now, I’ve got rather a lot of questions. Firstly of all, when I captured you, what were your first thoughts?” “I was scared because I didn’t…I didn’t know what I was going to do….or what was going to happen to me.” Jessica nodded and scribbled something down in the notebook. “Interesting. Your friend, Alison, said something similar. Now, when I left you here and went to spend some time with Alison, what thoughts were going through your mind?” “I…I struggled a lot because I didn’t know where you were. And I had some awful thoughts. I wondered what would happen if you didn’t come back and I was stuck here without anyone knowing where I was.” May really struggled to get the last sentence out. Jessica nodded and scribbled something else down.

“May, I’m going to ask you some more personal questions now. Consider this to be dialogue between the kidnapper and victim. Have you ever known heartbreak?” May nodded. “What happened?” “One time, I went to summer camp. It wasn’t long ago, the camp was just for a few weeks and it was about a year ago and I met a boy. We had a thing, a sort of camp fling. It wasn’t serious, but at that time, just for a short time, he loved me and I loved him. And when I left, I knew that it was over and it upset me. I knew it wasn’t serious and that it wasn’t meant to last, but it still upset me. And after I got home, he wrote me several letters over the past few months. Theyu were beautiful letters. I read them all and I kept them all, but I never responded to them because I felt like I couldn’t. I felt like if I did it’d spoil the memories. That was when I realised that I mattered more to him than he mattered to me. I don’t know if that’s heartbreak, but I think it was pretty close to it. Have you known it?”

To May’s surprise, Jessica nodded. “I’ve known it twice.” The first time, it was when my husband, Frank, died. The second time was when I realized how many people in this town commit crimes. That was when I knew that someone had to act to save them.” “I didn’t commit a crime. I only stole a few apples.” “Yes, it was just a few apples….at first, but then that crime led to you breaking into my house, which is a lot more serious. Now, why don’t you tell me a bit more about me kidnapping you?”

The interview went on for over an hour while Jessica wrote numerous things down in her notebook. Finally, she closed the notebook and put the pen down. “I think we have enough material for tonight. You did very well, May. As a result, I’m going to make a wager with you.”

“A wager?”

Jessica nodded. Now, I cannot tell you what it will be. All I can say is that it involves us playing a card game and if you win, you will gain a big advantage in this kidnapping, but if you lose, you get a big disadvantage. However, you have to agree to play first before I tell you what the prize will be.

May had no idea what Jessica could possibly be talking about, but she was exhausted, and gaining any kind of advantage for herself currently sounded like a brilliant idea, so she nodded.

“You agree to play the game?”

“Yes.”

Jessica smiled. She got up, went over to a kitchen cupboard and returned with a pack of cards.

She said, “The game is this.

I’m going to spread out a square of cards on this table. You tell me which card you want to choose and I will pick it out and put it in your stack. I’ll then choose one and so on. We will choose five cards each and then one-by-one, we will show each other our cards – I’ll turn yours over for you. The person who gets the higher card the most times will gain the advantage.

If you win and get the most number of high cards, then I will take one day off your kidnapping situation and you will get to go home tomorrow night. But you should know that the next activity is bath time because I’ve got to put your uniform in the wash, find you something to wear and you could probably use a soak after tonight. You will still be tied up and gagged. However, I have already decided how you will be tied up in the bath. I would say that it is fairly moderate. If you win, I will change it to something more comfortable, but if you lose, I’m going to choose something much more strict.”

May gulped. However, she had agreed to the game, so there was not much she could do to change it. Jessica took the cards and dealt them out into several rows that formed a perfect square.

When she was done, she said, “Which card do you want?”

Seven was May’s lucky number, so she said, “The seventh one from the left in the seventh row.”

Jessica picked the card out and then chose one for herself. They continued this until both of them had a small stack of five cards.

Jessica took a deep breath and said:

“Now, it’s time to show our cards.”

[Risperdaltied]

Can’t wait to see how May is tied when she loses..

[AllTapedUp]

I wish I was May right now! What a great story