Week 12 Storytelling: The Mysterious Murderer

Author's Note:   My following story, The Mysterious Murderer, is based on the old English tale, Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox is about Lady Mary, who is in love with Mr. Fox and eventually they decide to get married. Mr. Fox asked her to live with him but never asks Lady Mary to come see it so she decides to take matters into her own hands. One night, as Mr. Fox was "away on business" she decides to go to this castle. The castle is in the forest and has high walls and as she walks in, she sees a sign that says "be bold, be bold, but not too bold, Lest that your heart's blood should run cold. She keeps walking and opens a door and sees a pile of dead bodies and skeletons. As she was running out of the castle, she sees Mr. Fox dragging another dead woman into his castle. He does not see Lady Mary, as she ran home and didn't mention it until the next day, which happened to be their wedding day. I liked this tale because it reminded me of one of those murder mystery shows/movies and those are my favorite types of movies. 

The Mysterious Murderer

The Fall

There once was a man named Mark, who lived a normal life. A man with a wife, two kids, one boy and one girl, a normal job working as a banker at his local bank. Mark's wife, Amy, was in love with Mark and thought she lived a perfect life until one night. Mark and Amy would always go to bed together, sometimes earlier, sometimes later but what Amy didn't know was that Mark didn't stay in bed. One morning, Amy is having breakfast and coffee and watching the news as the news was talking about multiple murders that have happened over the last few nights. The news anchor then said the area of which these murders took place and it was less than a mile from their home. Then, a sketch of the suspect came up on the TV, fitting every characteristic of Mark. Amy looked at Mark but thought nothing of it, as Mark rushed down the stairs saying bye, grabbing his coffee as if he were late for work but really he was shocked to see that the news had found out about the murders. As the day went on, Amy thought more and more about the sketch and how similar it looked to Mark. Later that night, Mark got home and they went about their normal routine. Mark read the kids their bedtime story while Amy watched the news again and had a glass of wine. Mark was tired so he went to bed a little earlier than Amy. Amy, suspecting something suspicious was going on then decides to act as if she was going to sleep. She walks into her bedroom, wakes Mark up to tell him goodnight so that he would think she was actually going to sleep. An hour passed and Amy was still awake as she heard Mark stand up from the bed and quietly walk out of the door. She heard some commotion downstairs, as if Mark was getting ready to go somewhere. She peaked out her door only to see Mark dressed in all black clothes and a black mask, walking out the door. Her heart is pounding, her blood pressure spikes as she thinks to herself, this can't be true. My husband cannot be a murderer. She decides to follow him quietly as Mark walks to a nearby house of a single woman who Mark and Amy are friends with. She witnesses through the window Mark go into their friends room and kill her. Amy stands there in absolute shock. She could not believe her eyes. She runs back to the house and gets in bed, acting as if she is still asleep, as she has no clue what to do about this. The next morning, after not much sleep, Amy refuses to believe what she saw until the news comes on once again, talking about a murder at the exact same house she witnessed Mark murder their friend. She then grabs the phone, runs into the other room and quietly calls the police. The police arrive shortly after the call and arrest Mark for multiple first degree murders. 

English Fairy Tales, Mr. Fox by Joseph Jacobs (1890)