A Play by Milan Kruger, age 13

SCENE 1

(Three girls enter the stage with movie snacks in their hands.)

Lexi: Movie night, here we come!

Lisa: I cannot wait!

Lexi: Why’s it so dark in here?

Robin: (Switches on lights, then gasps.)

(A dead body lies on the ground with blood [tomato sauce] on his face.)

(All three girls rush towards the body.)

Lexi: (Reaches out to touch the dead body.)

Lexi: (Feels the pulse, then shakes her head.)

Lisa: Let’s inspect the scene and tick off a few questions. Starting with, do we know who this

person is? (Ticks off a finger.)

Robin: No (shakes her head).

Lisa: Do we think he was murdered? (Ticks off a second finger.)

Lexi: (Nods) I think so. There are bruises on one side of his face, showing that he had been struck multiple times.

Lisa: Why would anyone do this? (Ticks off a third finger.)

Lexi: Well, let’s start by finding out who the victim is. (Everyone looks around the room.)

Robin: What’s this? (Picks up a folder.)

Lisa: (Looks over Robin’s shoulder) It’s a list of names. Lila Beut, Joice Kiy, Avelina Fregi, Sam Heerd, Alice Adre, and Anne Vold.

Lexi: There’s a profile of each person. Maybe the victim found out something that he shouldn’t have. Maybe one of these people is the murderer!

Robin: Let’s call the police. (Gets out a phone.)

SCENE 2

(The next day. Girls sitting together [bedroom?])

Robin: I can’t believe that the police think it was an accident!

Lisa: We need to find out who committed the murder!

Lexi: How do we know it was a murder?

Robin: We don’t, but what if it was? We should split up individually and each choose two people from the file to investigate. At least the police gave us a copy of it.

Lexi: At least we know who the dead person was. Sir John Delb. He was knighted two days before his murder. He works at the cinemas on Mondays. That was yesterday.

Lisa: What was he knighted for?

Robin: For his murder mystery books.

Lexi: Coincidence?

(Pause.)

Lisa: (Shrugs.) Let’s start with the plan. I’ll take Lila Beut and Joice Kiy.

Robin: I’ll take Anne Vold and Alice Adre.

Lexi: That leaves me with Sam Heerd and Avelina Fregi.

Lisa: Remember, we’re looking for motive, alibi, and opportunity.

Robin: We’ll meet back here in two hours.

SCENE 3

(Lisa knocks on Lila’s door. Lila opens it.)

Lisa: Hi, my name is Lisa. I’m a reporter for my school. May I interview you?

Lila: Yes, of course. Come in. Would you like some tea or coffee?

Lisa: No, thanks. I’ll only be a minute. (Sits down at the table.) Tell me about yourself.

Lila: I’m an author and I’ve won quite a few awards. Make sure to put that in your newspaper. My most recent book is On the Verge of Death. It’s such a good title, don’t you think?

Lisa: Oh yes. It must be quite an achievement having all those awards. Do you have any challenges in your writing currently?

Lila: It’s funny you should ask. My former illustrator, Sir John Delb, quit a few months ago to draft his own books. He wasn’t knighted then. So, I’m having trouble drafting the last book in my series. But don’t put that in your newspaper. You probably want to hear how many trophies I have. Around 7 or 8.

Lisa: (Trying not to look excited at the mention of John.) That is impressive! I should probably go now. Just one last question. Where were you on Monday?

Lila: I was here, working on my book. Why?

Lisa: No reason. Thanks for your time!

(Back in room after two hours. Lisa just finished telling her story about Lila to her Robin and Lexi.)

Lisa: That’s Miss Lila. Proud and arrogant. She has a reason for wanting to kill Sir John. And she was alone on Monday. No alibi.

Robin: She seems a likely suspect. She only lives five minutes away from the theatre.

Lexi: How did it go with Miss Joice?

Lisa: Wait until you hear that story…

(Lisa knocks on Joice’s apartment door. Nobody answers.)

Joice: Can I help you? (Asks from behind Lisa.)

Lisa: (Turns around, surprised.) Yes. I need to speak with Miss Joice.

Joice: I am she. What do you want?

Lisa: I’m a junior reporter, and I want to ask a few questions, if I may.

Joice: Sure. But come inside first. (Unlocks her door, then steps inside with Lisa.)

Lisa: I’m writing a report on Sir John Delb. He was knighted a few months ago.

Joice: Why don’t you go speak to Sir John then?

Lisa: Uh, because I already did, and wanted to get other people’s point of view. (Grimacing because she had to lie.)

Joice: Oh, okay. You’re in luck because I know Sir John. I was actually there when he got knighted. He and I met at my friend’s birthday party.

Lisa: Do you know where he works?

Joice: Everybody who knows him does. He boasts about it even though it’s not something to boast about. He works at the cinemas.

Lisa: And when was the last time when you saw him?

Joice: Yesterday morning, before my work.

Lisa: Thank you. I’ll come back with my article. (Heads to the door.)

Joice: Is that all? (Surprised.)

Lisa: Yes. Have a good day.

(Back in room.)

Robin: So, Sir John was murdered in the afternoon, or at least after Joice went to visit him.

Lexi: But Joice could be lying.

Lisa: (Nods.) Yes. We don’t know for sure. Tell us about Anne and Alice, Robin.

Robin: Okay. My interview was really interesting, especially the one with Alice…

(The scene shifts to Robin’s interview with Alice Adre.)

Robin: (Knocks on door. Alice answers.) Hi, my name is Robin, and I know what you did!

Alice: I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! You better come inside.

(Back in room.)

Lexi: Why were you so blunt? (Groaning.)

Lisa: Did she tell you just like that?

Robin: Wait. Let me finish my story. I went into the house and sat next to Alice on a bench…

(The scene shifts again to Robin’s interview with Alice.)

Alice: Ever since our breakup… (Tears streaming down her face.)

Robin: Breakup? (Stopping Alice in the middle of her sentence.)

Alice: (Nodding.) Me and John were together until I found out that he was in a fight with my brother. Naturally, I sided with my brother. Don’t worry, I heard both sides of the story first. Anyways, I confronted him about it, trying to tell him that I still liked him, but didn’t think that what he fought for was right. John got all angry and decided that if I sided with my brother, then maybe we shouldn’t be together. So, we broke up.

Robin: What was it that your brother and your ex-boyfriend fought about?

Alice: They were arguing about who authored the best books and who will be knighted.

Robin: Knighted? (Excited.)

Alice: Yes. They both went to this thing where the winner got to be knighted.

Robin: (Even more excited.) What’s your boyfriend’s name?

Alice: John. He ended up getting knighted.

Robin: No way, no way, no way. (Under her breath.)

Alice: What? (Confused.)

Robin: Nothing. (Shakes her head.) What was your brother’s name?

Alice: Sam Heder—why?

Robin: No reason. Thank you! (Rushes out of the house.)

(Back in room.)

Lexi: Hold on. Wait just a moment. I can’t believe you did that, Robin!

Lisa: I can’t believe that she broke down like that.

Robin: I know, right? She could have murdered Sir John, but by the way her tears were streaming down her face, I gathered that she is either a really good actor, or innocent. Now listen to Anne’s story…

(The scene shifts. Robin knocks on door. Anne opens it.)

Anne: Yes?

Robin: Hi, my name’s Robin. May I come in? I have a really important question to ask you.

Anne: (Doesn’t let Robin enter.) What could be so important that a child would ask me at 3:00 pm? (Sarcastic.)

Robin: (Angry that Anne is so rude.) Where were you on Monday?

Anne: I was at my brother’s house from Monday until a few minutes ago. Why?

Robin: There’s been a murder.

Anne: A murder? (Really sarcastic.) And let me guess. I’m the murderer, and you’re the child playing detective.

Robin: (Regretting that she’d got Anne to investigate.) Who’s your brother?

Anne: Why? (Demanding.)

Robin: If you tell me, I’ll go away.

Anne: Sam Heerd. (Starts to close door.)

Robin: Wait! Just one more question. Are, or were, you married?

Anne: No. (Closes door.)

(Back in room.)

Lexi: Sam Heerd? That’s not a coincidence!

Lisa: That woman was so rude!

Lexi: Here’s an interesting thing. I was at Sam Heerd’s house and the housekeeper answered. She said Sam wasn’t there; he had left four hours ago on a business trip! I asked her if she knew Anne Vold. She said no.

(Phone rings. Robin picks it up and puts it on speakerphone.)

Robin: Hello?

Carl: This is Carl from the police department. We have analysed the body, and it turns out that it looks like he really was murdered.

Lisa: We knew it!

Carl: Here’s the interesting thing about it: there were bruises on his arms from ropes. It looks like he was being held captive.

Lisa: Really?

Carl: That’s all I wanted to tell you girls. Well done. We’ll go interview the people on that list ASAP.

Robin: Actually…

Carl: You didn’t?

Lexi: We not only did, but we also found out who was the murderer! Or should I say, murderers!

SCENE 4: The Revelation

Robin: We did? (Whispers.)

Lexi: Yes. It was two people! Alice Adre and Anne Vold.

Carl: What? How do you know that?

Lexi: Simple. Alice was sore at John because he broke off their relationship. She definitely had a motive, and she used Sam as an excuse, but just used Heder, an anagram of Heerd, as his last name. Anne also used Sam as an excuse because she knew he wasn’t in on it and hoped to put the blame on him just like Alice did! He must have been at that knighting thing. If Anne had nothing to hide, then she wouldn’t have lied about Sam being her brother.

Carl: (Whistles.) Wow. You have it all figured out! We only need a bit more proof for Alice, and then we’ll go arrest those two.

(Girls high-five.)

Carl: How old are you girls anyway?

Robin: Fourteen.

Carl: You kids should join the police force in a couple of years.

Lisa: Thank you, officer. (Ends call.)

Robin: You know what we should do in celebration?

Lexi: What?

Robin: Watch that mystery movie that we never got to watch!

(Girls laugh, then exit stage.)