Deceitful Death

Deceitful Death

Yvonne was making breakfast when she heard a frenzied knocking at her door.
She walked to the door, speculating over who it could be. When she opened the door, she was greeted with a wail of despair.
“Sara! What happened?” Yvonne asked, her eyes widening in concern. Her best friend was covering her face, shoulders shaking as sobs escaped from between her fingers.
“J-Jon Whilton d-died six d-days a-ago,” Sara replied, looking up at bewildered Yvonne with red and swollen teary eyes. “H-help m-me solve t-the m-mystery!”
“You mean the famous movie star you’re crazy about?” Yvonne asked, flabbergasted.
Sara passed Yvonne a newspaper and sniveled miserably. “Y-yes. M-most p-people suspect t-that K-Kathy Serene or R-Ray Whilton m-murdered him.”

CELEBRITY KICKS THE BUCKET
May 19, 2009
by Lucy Montigue

MOVIE TO BE MADE OF RENOWNED CELEBRITY, NOW DEAD. FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED

Jon Whilton was announced to have died yesterday morning. His company, Whilton Works, is filming a movie about his last days, leading up to his death.
Whilton died in his home in Hollywood yesterday morning. No details are disclosed, and the public is prevented from entering the mansion, but most detectives hint at the possibility of foul play.
"We certainly won't rule that possibility out," said Detective Fronko McQuelle. "The reason for his death is still unclear, but we are undergoing investigation.
Meanwhile, Whilton Works are filming a reality movie which will be entitled "I Kicked the Bucket" about Whilton's life, all the way to his death.
"It's meant as a tribute to the great Jon Whilton, whose talents will live on forever in our hearts. When fans catch this movie, they will be reminded of all the wonderful times when he was here," says George Lou, who will be directing the movie. "We believe that Jon would support this decision and encourage his fans to catch it.

Yvonne scanned the article.
“Intriguing,” she grinned. “I’ll solve it.”
-
Yvonne got out of her car and gazed at the giant marble mansion before her-Jon Whilton’s home. Yvonne was sure she could find some clues there.
“Excuse me, I’m a private investigator,” she explained to the security guarding the gates. “May I conduct a search?”
“No,” he answered curtly.
Yvonne protested, but the security’s glare never wavered.
Yvonne left in frustration and headed to a nearby internet café to find out more about Jon and draw up a possible list of suspects.
-
Yvonne found herself engrossed as she read Jon’s biographies while sipping cappuccino. Yvonne came up with a suspect list of two- Ray Whilton, Jon’s elder brother, who was jealous of Jon’s achievements and had attempted to harm him before, and Kathy Serene, a celebrity who had a famous rivalry with Jon.
Suddenly, she stumbled upon a website sponsored by Jon’s company, Whilton Works.

JON’S FUNERAL
16th May
Many have been debating over the location of Jon’s funeral, but it’s confirmed to be held at Black Street Auditorium on 24th May.

Yvonne furrowed her eyebrows and made some notes. It was the twenty-fourth, the day of Jon’s funeral.
-
Yvonne struggled to the front of the auditorium.
“Ma’am, do you have tickets?” asked a man dressed in uniform.
“No, but how much is one?” Yvonne inquired.
“A few thousand dollars, depending on your row,” the man replied.
A few thousand dollars?! Yvonne gaped at the man.
“No tickets?” The man pointed to a crowd. “That’s the free spot.”
How could the price for a ticket be so expensive? And tickets to a funeral? She shook her head and joined the throng of people who were squeezing their way through.
-
Yvonne felt claustrophobic, sweaty and hot. Those with no tickets had been squashed into a corner with no seats and hardly any ventilation. However, those with tickets were seated at plush seats, with cool air conditioning.
The funeral was elaborately and carefully planned. A closed coffin lay on the center-stage with a framed picture of Jon atop it.
As they queued up to pay their final respects to Jon, Yvonne took a glance at Jon’s family.
Jon’s parents seemed to be sobbing. They dabbed their eyes theatrically with handkerchiefs, but strangely, their faces were dry.
“Move!” bellowed a man next to them, and Yvonne was pushed away.
Yvonne’s temper arose, but she bit her lip and walked away. That was when she spotted Ray Whilton in the shadows.
Yvonne took a deep breath, walked up to Ray and started a conversation.
“Are you the famous Ray Whilton? I’m a Jon-hater, just like you,” Yvonne lied, smiling.
Ray turned to her. Guilt flashed through his eyes as he faced Yvonne.
“Look, I don’t hate Jon anymore,” Ray spoke quietly. “You shouldn’t hate him. I have to go.”
As Ray walked away, she felt a tug on her sleeve and turned around.
“I overheard your conversation with Ray,” a female spoke. “Continue hating Jon. He doesn’t deserve your sympathy. I’m glad he died.”
“What’s your name?” Yvonne enquired.
“I’m Elise Simton,” she replied, smiling.
-
“Elise Simton was a crazed stalker of Jon’s, but Jon rejected her,” Yvonne read aloud from her computer screen. “Another suspect,” Yvonne yawned. Detective work was tiring. Maybe she should take a break.
Yvonne grabbed a magazine and started to flip through it. Expectedly, it was all about Jon’s death and some comments from friends close to him caught her eye.
‘If he wasn’t dead, he would have been overjoyed-his movies have become bestsellers again.’
‘It was devastating for us to have discovered the body.’
Questions raced through Yvonne’s mind.
Yvonne flipped through the pages. There was a feature on Kathy Serene.
It’s the 18th of May, the day before Kathy Serene’s birthday, and she has taken some of her valuable time to talk to us, and even agreed to have a photoshoot with us for the whole day.
How do you feel being accused as the murderer of Jon Whilton?
KS: I feel extremely hurt…I’ve lost a lot of my fans…it’s also taken a toll on my movie sales…
Yvonne’s head snapped up, and she decided to pull some strings and locate Jon’s friends for some answers.
-
The group of men laughing heartily didn’t even notice Yvonne’s presence until she coughed.
“I’m from ‘Celebrity’ Magazine. Can I ask you some questions about Jon’s death? Our readers would really like to find out what happened,” Yvonne explained.
Yvonne noticed a stranger with glasses and a hat shifting uncomfortably as all the others nodded.
“Where exactly did you find the body?”
They shrugged. “He was lying on the floor of his living room.”
Yvonne faced the stranger. “Were you there?”
“He wasn’t,” the others replied.
“What’s your full name?’ she asked the stranger.
“Bill Lucas White,” someone else spoke up hesitantly.
“Okay,” Yvonne gave a strained smile, but the stranger kept silent.
-
“I told you, you are not allowed to enter,” the security Yvonne had met before insisted.
Yvonne had returned, hoping that they had decided to let the public enter. Apparently, her wish was not granted.
Yvonne walked away, irritated. How else was she to obtain more clues? Who was Bill Lucas White, anyway? She could not find a match at the national registry under that name. Why did he seem so familiar?
That was when Yvonne decided that drastic times called for drastic measures.
Yvonne was going to break into Jon’s house.
-
When Yvonne finally entered the mansion, she let out a breath she had not known she was holding. It was heavily guarded, but Yvonne was known for her stealth.
She found herself in Jon’s bedroom. She knew she didn’t have a lot of time, so she quickly surveyed the room. It was clean and tidy, but the bed seemed to have been slept in. She noticed a letter on Jon’s desk, and she scanned over it, her eyes widening.
Yvonne stuffed the letter into her pocket, and quickly stole out of the room.
-
“I hope you know what you’re doing. I followed your instructions and called all the suspects, Jon’s friends and family and invited them here, telling them you have solved Jon’s mystery death,” Sara said. “It was hard convincing them, especially Bill.”
“Good,” Yvonne smiled. “Don’t worry- all will be revealed.”

The people in her living room were looking puzzled, confused and uneasy.
“I called you here, because I have solved Jon’s mystery death,” Yvonne announced as she walked into the room.
Bill suddenly got up and tried to make for the door, but Yvonne blocked him. With an aura of triumph, she pulled off the wig and glasses to reveal the supposedly dead celebrity.
A collective gasp echoed around the room.
“I found your letter to your parents, dated yesterday, the twenty-third,” Yvonne smiled, radiating triumph. “That gave me the final clue I needed. You were faking your death all along, with your company helping you. First, there was that company sponsored website, which had news of your death, before you ‘died’. Then, I noticed your parents did not cry at the funeral, which was too well planned. Lastly, you and your friends were acting too suspiciously. I just want to know why you did it.”
“My career was failing, I needed publicity and I was desperate for money. I had to do something,” Jon admitted miserably.
“So you conned your fans into paying huge amounts of money,” Yvonne berated, “conspired with your friends, family and company, and even bribed people to help you cover up your fraud!”
Jon nodded, casting his eyes onto the floor to try to conceal the humiliation in his eyes. “I hired people to act as doctors and policemen to certify my death.”
“Now everything makes sense!”
“The police have arrived,” Sara spoke up. “And so has the media.”
Yvonne smiled and got up. “They can have Jon. My work here is done.”
Camera flashes lit up everywhere. The media jostled with the policemen, trying desperately to elicit a comment from a shamefaced Jon and a front page close-up picture of him as the policemen led him through the chaos.

The next day, splashed all over the headlines was the caption, ‘Jon Whilton- Still Alive!’. Yvonne smiled, reading the article.
All of a sudden, she heard a frenzied knocking at her door.
“Here we go again,” Yvonne murmured under her breath as she went to see who it was.

A/N: Our major assignment of the term last year was to write a mystery story. This story was partially inspired by Michael Jackson's death- not that I don't believe he died, of course! I was just playing around with ideas in my head, and this was what I cooked up.
I hope you enjoyed it! :)