Introduction
There was a man walking on L Street. It was a dark night, and as cold as regular winter. It was a pretty quiet night, and he thought he was alone until he saw two men in clown masks, holding knives and looking at him. The man was holding a suitcase. It was full of money.
The man started to turn away, but then one of the men in the clown mask ran behind him and stabbed the man in the neck. Then, all two men in clown masks ran away.
***
A kid woke up. His name was James. His alarm ringed, and he read the newspaper. He saw there was a murder. He ran to the police station. James was a detective. He solved many mysteries. His dad worked at the police station, and his mom was a doctor.
James got to the police station and asked his dad, “Where should I start working on the case?”
His dad said, “The murder was on L Street. The body is still on L Street. I need you to work on it to see if there are any fingerprints.”
James said, “Okay.”
James drove to L Street and got off. He saw the body. He was working on the body. He didn’t see any dust. No fingerprints. He didn’t have a clue. He didn’t have any suspects. He was clueless at the moment. He was thinking, who would want to kill an innocent man? He drove back to the police station, and told his dad he didn’t have anything.
James was still thinking. What suspects would kill a man? What could he have done to someone?
***
James was taking the case still. He thought it could’ve been someone who robbed a bank recently, or someone who had done a lot of crimes, but no one had escaped jail yet. It was weird. Maybe it could’ve been someone else. Maybe it could’ve been no one, maybe it could have been an accident, maybe he tripped and died.
I am stumped. I don’t know who would do this crime.
James got out of the police station and went to his house.
Hi, I am Hendrix. I am going to tell you the murder–
–Then a bullet shot right in the ground, right near James. James ran, and ran, and ran, and forgot that he had a baton, but the person who shot him was almost gone. James suspected that it could have been the person who killed the man on L Street. But then, James saw a man with a gun, wearing a ski mask. He chased him, but then the man took a fast car and drove off. James couldn’t see where the masked man drove, because he took a lot of turns and lost James. James was on his tail, but it didn’t last long. James ran back into the police station and told his dad he saw the murderer’s mask.
“He had a ski mask and a gun. I chased him, but then he drove away.”
His dad said, “Did you see the car’s plate number?”
“I only saw a six. It was so fast, but I know it was a Tesla.”
Then his dad said, “Take my car, and see if he comes again. Get him and catch him. Then call me, and I’ll come. We have a trap for him.”
James said, “But how do you know where he’ll strike next?”
His dad said, “There’ll be chaos in a spot, and then you’ll just have to drive there.”
James said, “Good point. I guess I’ll just get in a car. Wait,” he asked his dad, “What car do I get?”
“A police car.”
James was walking toward the police car and saw a six on a license plate on a Tesla. He almost saw the man’s face, but he was wearing a ski mask again, and shot James in the ankle. James fell down and passed out.
***
He woke up five hours later. He was in the hospital.
James woke up and said, “Where am I? Ow, ow, ow. What is that?”
The doctor said, “You got shot in the ankle. Don’t you remember?”
“I kinda do remember. I saw the man’s second number on his car plate. It started with six-two. That’s all I saw. I still know it’s a Tesla, it’s gotta be. That’s all I remember… and getting shot. Well, I guess I’m not gonna stop chasing him.”
“We haven’t even fixed you up. It’s not good. Not yet,” said the doctor.
They stopped and brought him to the doctor’s room.
***
James woke up in two boring, deadly boring, hurtful hours. He got up, but he couldn’t walk. He had to use crutches. He was using them for four months. It was getting really, really boring. His leg got fixed fully. He still had his police car nice and good. That was the good news. The bad news was he got shot. He got up, got in the police car, and drove. He saw the car again, but this time, he kept a gun in his hand. He took the man out of the car and arrested him. He took him to the police station and took off the mask. It was a dummy with a bomb on it. James threw it on the street, and it exploded.
James said, “I almost got him, but I got his car.”
He took the car now, but the bad news was that the guy was going to be looking for cars.
“We have to track every place that sells cars in this city.”
All the police cars took off, and James took the Tesla and took off. James went to five Tesla places. The robber wasn’t there. Well, he didn’t know how his face looked, but then he saw a Tesla store. The robber was in there. He had a ski mask. The man with the ski mask was holding a gun in front of someone’s face. He shot him. There was a big hole through his head. It was like a river of blood. There was blood everywhere.
James jumped out of the car, crashed through the glass, and went in. He forgot he didn’t have his gun. He took a baton, and almost knocked out the robber, but then the robber almost shot James. But then James took his car and hit the robber. The robber was wearing body armor. He got up, ran away, and took a Tesla. James got in his Tesla and chased him, and shot him in the car about seven times. He couldn’t get a good aim, he was going too fast, and then James hit a random pole. Stupid car, shit!
His car flipped over on the wrong side. James got out and didn’t call 911. He was okay-ish… not really. He kept on shooting the robber, shooting him in the head. The robber let go of the gas and fell down. James was really, really angry. He took the guy’s head. It was another dummy. James was so angry, he shot the dummy in the head. But then he took off the mask. It was a real person. An innocent man.
James went back to the police station. He checked the cameras to see if he had any suspects, but he didn’t have any yet. But then he searched. He had cameras on L Street. He searched all the cameras. He saw four people, right near the man who died. He had some suspects now. He knew where the first suspect was. He lived in Brooklyn. James got out of the police station, into his car, and drove to Brooklyn.
He went to Brooklyn and found the house. There were flower pots right near the door. The top was made out of gold. I think he probably did it. He robbed the man and killed him, but why?
James rang the doorbell. A man opened the door.
James said, “Hi, I am James.”
The man said, “Who the hell are you?”
“I am a detective. I have been on a case. There has been a murder, a man got shot.”
The man said, “Why did you come to me?”
James said, “What’s your name?”
The man said, “My name is Tragic Tragic.”
James said, “That’s a very bad name.”
The man said, “I take that offensively.”
James said, “I don’t care. I’m a detective, it’s my job. Okay, I’m done here. You’re on my suspect list for killing a man who had a suitcase with $585,000.”
James left and went to Greenwich. James saw a house. It was the house of a different suspect. James rang the doorbell again, and again, and again. Then, finally, the doorknob opened. It was a person. He was just like the other guy, except his house was made out of gold. The man looked at James.
James said, “Hi, I’m James. Who are you?”
“My name is Tech Gold.”
James said, “Okay, I’ve been on a very important case. I see you are a part of the case, because you are a suspect of mine.”
The man said, “What do you think I did?”
“I think you shot a man, in the head, who had $585,000.”
Tech said, “That’s mega crazy. I would never do anything like this! I already have a gold house, and I’m rich already. So, it doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t know about this.”
“How do you not know about this? It’s on every newspaper in the world.”
The man said, “I don’t read newspapers.”
“Oh, sure, you don’t read newspapers. Then why is the newspaper on your stairs?”
“Oh, I didn’t even see that.”
“But you said you don’t read any newspapers.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Get out of my house!”
The man slammed the door right on James’s foot. He could not close the door, James’s foot was stuck. Then James pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
James said, “Open the door right now.”
The man opened the door and put his hands up. James got his handcuffs and put them around Tech’s hands, because James thought he probably did it. But he still had to check one more suspect. First, James headed to the police station and dropped him off.
James said, “He’s a very, very close suspect of the crime. It makes sense why his house is made of gold. He needed the $585,000. But I still can’t accuse him. I have to see my last suspect.”
James drove to Stanford. He rang on the person’s doorbell.
The person opened the door and said, “Hi, my name is Shadow Tragic.”
James was surprised. “Are you by any chance related to Tragic Tragic?”
”Man, I really wanna kill that guy.”
James said, “Why?”
“Because he ripped me off. He took all my money.”
“That is a crime.”
James went with Shadow to Tragic Tragic’s house. James got out of the car and rang the doorbell 58 times. He still didn’t answer. James took a big metal thing out of his car and hit the door again and again, and then it fell off and broke. James put the thing back in there. He took his flashlight, turned it on, and got his gun. Tragic was right there, and he was sitting. James punched him. Tragic got up.
James yelled, “You stole Shadow’s money! Why did you take his money? He needed that money to buy a house!”
“‘Cause I was broke!” cried Tragic. “I just like stealing ‘cause it’s my hobby.”
Tragic took a gun, put it right near his head, and shot himself. There was blood everywhere.
“He kinda deserved to do that to himself,” said James. “Okay, I guess the mystery is solved. I guess we’re done.”
***
James searched the house, breaking everything in search of the money. But James found nothing. He was stunned. Tragic killed himself, so he must have done it. But the money was nowhere to be found. Then a thing-a-ma-jiggy flew out of his pocket. It looked like a mini helicopter. It was a drone that could scan for any hidden objects.
James said to the drone, “Search for money.”
It scanned no money. James saw a car. Someone threw a note. It said this: Your case is not over.
James got into his car and chased the man who threw the note. James hit him. He took off the mask. It was not a dummy. It was a police officer.
James said, “That is really weird. I’m twisted. So is the book that you’re reading. Stop reading this! You’re the worst readers ever. It’s not funny! What’s your problem, Hendrix? What is your problem?”
You’re a book character, it doesn’t matter.
James said, “Anyway, I really hate that kid. I wish I could murder him. Well, that’s still a crime, so let’s get back to the book.”
James got into his car, drove to the police station, went to his dad, and told him the information that Tragic killed himself, and that he ran over a police officer who tried to kill him. James got out of the police station, went home, ate dinner, and slept.
***
He woke up with his timer ringing. He shot it and got out of his bed. He ate breakfast, got in his car, and drove to the police station. But then, at that moment, James hit a car. His car flipped over.
James said, “That damn car! Damn. The car got messed up. That really hurt.”
James got out of his car. He went to the guy’s car who crashed into him and said, “Did you do that on purpose?”
“I’m not telling.”
James took him in the police station and put him in a chair. The chief of police sat and took out a lie detector.
He did something and said, “Did you do it on purpose?”
He still didn’t tell. The chief left. James was right behind the criminal. He took his head and slammed it on the table. James took the man’s hand, and hit his elbow on it. The man’s hand broke.
The criminal said, “Ah! What the hell is your problem?”
“You.”
“It wasn’t really a question,” the criminal said.
“Well, I took it as a question. Tell me, did you do it on purpose?”
He still wouldn’t tell. James hit the man’s back on the chair. His back broke. James took him and threw him on the ground, and he kept on punching him.
And, again, James said, “Did you do it on purpose?”
He said, “I’m not telling.”
James took a knife and put it in his mouth. James sliced his mouth. He died.
James said, “I didn’t really care about that guy,” to the chief, “but I think he did it on purpose. His car is pretty good, so I’ll take it since he messed up mine.”
James went on the rooftop of the police headquarters, put a thing-a-ma-jiggy on his back, and jumped off. He fell and gilded. He fell on a car, alive because he had a glider thing-a-ma-jiggy. James got off, took that criminal guy’s car, and hot-wired it. Oh wait, but then he saw the keys.
He drove to the ramen place to eat. James ate. He went to his car and drove to his home. James slept, and then he woke up. He ate breakfast. He drove to the police station.
James said to his dad, “I’m going to see for more clues because I still think there is a mystery. When Tragic killed himself, there was a note saying, ‘Your case is not over.’”
“That is really weird,” said James’ dad.
James went outside, got in his car, and went to L street.
James said, “This is really weird. There has to be more than one person responsible for this. Probably Tragic and someone else did it.”
James thought that it was probably someone he knew. And then the entire story paused. And then, someone else was talking. His name is Hendrix. And this is what the writer said:
This is a very hard mystery, but here is a clue. He was running out of money.
And then the story unpaused.
James said, “Hendrix just gave me a clue.”
15 hours later…
James was still thinking, I am stunned.
“Wait, I’ll first go to my house to see if anyone is running out of money.”
James went home and asked all of his neighbors if they were running out of money. None of them were. James went to his home and ate lunch. James went to sleep and woke up.
James ate breakfast and drove to the police station.
The story paused and someone else was talking. His name is Hendrix, the writer. I think you saw that about twelve sentences ago.
So, I’m Hendrix. By the way, James’s dad’s name is Vortex. James checked the cameras on L Street again and saw three more people he didn’t know about.
One lived in Long Island, another lived in Brooklyn, and one lived in Jamaica, Queens. James went to Long Island first. He drove there with his car, it only took about an hour, or two, or three, or four. Anyway, back to the story!
James got there. He rang the doorbell, and the door opened.
The man who opened the door said, “Who the heck are you? What do you want? Get away.”
James said, “I’m a detective.”
“Okay, yeah, what do you have to say, weirdo?”
“That’s actually pretty mean.”
James took a gun from his pocket and aimed it at his head.
The guy said, “Okay, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
First James said, “What’s your name?”
“V.”
“And your last name?”
V said, “V.”
“I’m guessing your middle name is V?”
“You’re psychic!” the man said.
“I’m a detective, it’s what I do. Obviously. Second, were you on L street recently?”
V said, “Yes.”
“Okay, let’s get more information. Do you know anything about the man who died on L street?”
“It’s on every single newspaper, you weir-”
The story paused again, and someone else is talking. Hendrix, again, the writer.
Oh, by the way, it is 1895.
Anyways, going back to the story.
“-do. Oh, huh? What happened?” V said.
“The entire story paused. Hendrix is writing us. It sucks when he does that.”
“Yeah, it kinda does.”
James took his gun, put it in his pocket, got in the car, and drove to Jamaica, Queens. James got there and rang the doorbell. The door did not open. James checked if anyone was there, and someone was, but then he came and opened the door.
The man stepped out and said, “Who are you? What do you want? Get away.”
“Man, a lot of people say that,” said James.
James took a gun, pointed it at the guy’s head, and said, “Okay, I’m a detective. Question number one: what’s your name?”
The man said, “I am Vengeance.”
“That sounds pretty mean.”
“It is,” Vengeance said.
“Question number two: were you on L street recently?”
“Yeah, a few days ago,” said Vengeance.
“Okay,” James said, “that’s enough information, I think. Wait. What were you doing on L Street?”
The man said, “There was a restaurant on L Street, and I was meeting my friend there.”
James took his gun and put it in his pocket, got in the car, and went to Brooklyn. James rang the doorbell, and the door opened.
The guy said, “Get the heck out of my house. Get away, weirdo.”
“Man, I am psychic,” James said.
James took his gun and pointed it at the guy’s head.
The guy said, “Okay I’ll tell you all of the information you need. Who are you?”
“I’m a detective, my name is James. What’s your name?”
“Victor.”
“Were you recently on L Street?”
Victor said, “Yes.”
James said, “Why?”
The guy said, “Um, my friend Vengeance was going to dinner, and I went.”
“Vengeance?” James said, “I just checked him from my suspect list. Hm, okay, that’s all the information I need.”
James got in his car and drove to the police station. It took five hours to get there.
James went to his dad and said, “I know the first letter of the killer’s name. It is V.”
James got handcuffs and put them on his dad.
“You are under arrest,” said James.
Why did he do it? He wanted to be rich.