Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mag 24



"Sergeant, what do you suppose happened here?"

"G-g-g-god only knows, sir. The house was locked with a deadbolt. We had to b-b-b-break a bay window downstairs to get in."

"Sergeant, will you try to get yourself under control and stop shaking!"

"Y-y-y-yes s-s-s-sir."

The detective stared at the bed, rumpled with sheets and blankets tossed about, the impression of two heads still imposed on the pillows. There was no blood, no signs of any violence at all. But the occupants of the room, of the home, were missing.

He stared at the window above the bed, locked shut . . as were the windows along the wall. The house seemed to be an impenetrable fortress but Mr. and Mrs. ___________ were nowhere to be found. His men had searched from this room on the upper floor throughout the house, down to the basement. He, himself, had explored the walls, knocking to see if a hidden compartment existed. But there was nothing. No sign of the couple at all.

They were known throughout the village but no one knew them well. They had kept to themselves, made no friends. No one knew the source of their income or where they had come from before moving to the house barely seven months before. They had come in the night, at first creating gossip that they might be vampires. But when they were seen outside in the daylight, that rumor died.

Now they had disappeared.

The alarm had been sounded by a gardener at a nearby home, who had seen no sign of their existence for several days and notified the police. And now, having entered the home by force when no response came to the bell or to repeated knocks on the doors, the detective stood alone in the room, staring at the bed.

The only clue came from a night watchman at a nearby factory, who claimed he had seen a bright light in the sky, hovering over the house, a few nights previous. But he was the only one who had noticed anything at all out of the ordinary.

Now it was up to the detective to solve the mystery of the disappearance and, quite frankly, he didn’t have the vaguest idea about it.

Do you?

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Mysterious Willow has posted the photo prompt and invited others to write from their memories or their imaginations about it. My tale is totally imaginary. You can read others by clicking on Magpie Tales.

25 comments:

  1. A fitting mystery for such a great photo. Perhaps it was an alien abduction, perpetrated with the aid of that wonderful star viewing window.

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  2. Clearly they were of the Chosen Ones and have been gathered up to Heaven. Bugger! I thought I was in with a chance!

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  3. ooooohhh .. the glow from the Mother Ship is all the evidence we need!

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  4. Oh the comments...that Stafford Ray..what a card...anyway
    can't a couple just go away for a little vacation?
    and there will be hell to pay for that break in

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  5. Suz - The door was dead-bolted from the inside!

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  6. They might have made the bed before they left!

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  7. You have a great sense of the mystery in life. Love this tale.

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  8. And what an imaginary tale that is -- a good read, will there be a sequel?

    It is a mystery to me what to write for this magpie.

    Joanny

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  9. What a great mystery. Really liked the cops chilling behavior! Nice twist, placing a cold fear in an authority figure. Well done.

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  10. Great story, they either have been abducted by aliens or just popped out to buy a matching bed-side lamp, so annoying when you are both readers and there's only one.

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  11. it's a mystery...no chimney to scamper up? Great story!

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  12. they disappeared into each other's love....sigh... NO?!

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  13. I have some rather strange neighbors - send that blue light this way, eh?

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  14. Very intriguing, the possibilities are so many... I love open endings.

    nice Magpie

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  15. Very creative to hint about the UFO. Great Magpie!

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  16. I have to with aliens...they never leave a trace....great magpie..bkm

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  17. I can only guess that an alien abduction has taken place, due to the bright light - but can we trust the night watchman to tell the truth?

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  18. What a fun story! I want to read more - will it be a Dean Koontz tale, or a Dr. Seuss one?

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  19. Did the detective check the floor? There could be a tunnel under there.

    www.angiemuresan.com

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  20. Dear Catalyst: Love detective stories! You think that maybe the couple were sinister greys? Or they were axe-murdered by the Texas Chain saw massacre dude? I think we think alike (which you might not like) as we both saw gmen in the bedroom. How sexy is that!

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  21. They must have been plucked away by giant Hitchcockian magpies!

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