FLASH FICTION: 'THE PERFECT HOST'

“I wouldn’t press that if I were you.”

I looked down at the big red button I was about to push and paused. It wasn’t time yet. I gave the authoritative figure a solemn nod and took a step back. It was my birthday – 30th to be exact - and things weren’t going quite as I had anticipated.

The air was thick with the stench of deceit. My sister Cecilia had organised a surprise party for me, inviting a gang of alumni that I had absolutely no desire to see. We had spent almost 15 years coping just fine without being involved in each other’s lives, which was exactly how I liked it. And now, thanks to my meddling sibling, one of them was dead. The house was on lockdown until we could figure out who the perpetrator was. We couldn’t call the police – someone had conveniently disconnected all the house phones and we were in the middle of the woods, with no reception. I looked around at the gaggle of misfits that had once been my classmates and realised that one of these people was in fact, a murderer.

It’s always the quiet one. Or was it the loud and obnoxious class clown?

“Up here!” A shrill, irritating voice called from the bedroom. Cathy White. She had been the school dux, topping the grades in the state and was now working as a foreign correspondent with ASIO. Had the pressure finally gotten to her? I ran up to the room that was illuminated with black lights to find Cathy holding my car keys. Oh, that’s where they went.

“Cathy. It’s nothing, just my cars keys I must’ve dropped earlier this evening.” Looking deflated she avoided my glance as I swiftly moved to the next room.

I ran my fingers carefully along all the surfaces in the upstairs library, feeling for any clues. That’s weird. There was fresh candle wax on the mantle above the fireplace, and stuck in the arms of a Spanish dancer figurine were the remnants of a fabric that appeared to be gauze. Then it suddenly clicked.

“Cecilia,” I whispered, tightly grasping my sister’s hand. “I think I know who it is.” Her almond hazel eyes widened as a grin suddenly exploded onto her freckled face. “I knew you’d be into this.” I rolled my eyes and gave her a wink.

“NOW JOANNE. PRESS IT NOW.” I frantically ran down the stairs, skid across the marble floor and collided with the table where the switch was sitting. This time I didn’t hesitate, raising my hands high in the air and slamming down the button.

In a split second all the lights turned on and the front door flew open. A uniformed man strutted in, clipboard in hand.

“Well?” he asked impatiently. “Do you have an answer for me?”

I looked up at the event host from where I had collapsed on the floor and gasped.

“It was Doctor Brown, in the library with the candlestick.”