Peppe P.'s Monastery Murder Case
The telephone rang.
Startled by the sudden noise, Detective Peppe P. who was just about to doze off in his office, looked confused.
The telephone? The telephone! Where is the damn telephone?!
His weary gaze meandered around his desk, which was an awful mess of books, bills, a horde of empty donut bags and old socks. When Peppe finally found the telephone lying next to his half-eaten lunch on the floor, it had already rung for the seventh time.
“Yeah?“
“Is there Peppe's detective office?”, asked a raspy voice.
“Yeah...”
“Your service is needed. I'd appreciate, if you would come to the abbey on the edge of the town, right now.”
Peppe couldn't help, but look bugged. Don't tell me, it's another lost cat?
“Right now? Can't this wait untill tomorrow?”
“I'm afraid not. I really need your help, or I might get arrested for murder.”
That aroused Peppe's interest.
“Murder? Wait, I'll be right there!”
​
​
A few minutes later Peppe was on his way to the abbey. Since it was not far away from Peppe's detective office (and because Peppe didn't own a vehicle), he decided to walk.
While he struggled to climb up the hill to where the old abbey was, he thought about the man who had called him.
If Peppe got it right, that man was the salesman of the abbey's art gallery.
They had met each other once, when Peppe was searching for a lost cat (that constantly tried to get away from it's pet owner, who therefore happened to be one of Peppe's most regular clients – the 'fat-old-lady' kind of client).
The salesman seemed very obsesed with detective stories, which lead Peppe to leave his card with him.
A good decision!
When Peppe arrived at the top of the hill completely out of breath, he took a second to have a look at the amazing landscape. But instead of the wide colorful fields and villages, a heavy fog covered the ground.
How disappointing!, thought Peppe, gathered the rest of his breath and entered the abbey.
​
A group of policemen was standing around the four mourning willows in the middle of the yard.
Peppe ignored them and went straight to the trees.
The four mourning willows were special, not only because you couldn't find mourning trees anywhere else in the whole area, but their dense brushes also provide perfect curtains to commit a crime without being seen by anyone.
And Peppe was right:
in the middle of the four trees a corpse was lying on the ground.
It was a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, black hair, some piercings and a compulsory red hole in his back.
Seems like he was shot from behind...
​
The man's wallet was still in his pockets, on the ground were a cigarette and a cigarette lighter.
Peppe was about to search the other pockets of the man's clothing, when someone grabed him by his shoulders.
„Hey, you! Who are you?“
A rather short man with an unusual deep voice dragged Peppe away from the crime scene.
It was superintendent Weidel, who was in charge of the murder.
Just by looking at him and his moustache, Peppe could tell that he was a strict man.
„Mister Peppe? Is that you?“
When he heard his name, Peppe turned around and saw the salesman standing next to one of the policemen.
„Thank god, you're here. The superintendent suspects one of us to be the murderer! You have to prove him wrong.“
„Us?“, asked Peppe confused. „Who is us?“
Superintendent Weidel seemed not pleased about the salesman's comment and interfered immediately:
“Including him, there were only five people near the abbey when the murder happened. We searched the whole area, but there is no one else around, who could have commited the crime. So of course, he is a suspect.”
Only five people?, wondered Peppe and took a careful look around.
The abbey seemed completely deserted. That's when Peppe remembered that the restaurant had closed a few weeks ago.
The art gallery was still open, but Peppe couldn't think of anyone, who would come to buy metal figures of dying hawks or paintings of arguing old men.
Furthermore the sky was all grey, the atmosphere was heavy and the first small raindrops were falling to the ground.
So, there shouldn't be many walkers outside, either. Considering that, five people are actually quiet many.
“Then I'd like to have a talk with those five people.”
Superintendent Weidel was reluctant about Peppe's request, but shortly gave in when the salesman started a wave of fine speeches to support Peppe's investigation.
“I've been inside the art gallery for the whole day. The rearrangement of the exhibits took the whole day, so I didn't leave the gallery, even for lunch. But then there was this sudden noise that sounded like gunfire. At first I was hesistant to go outside, but then my curiosity prevailed and I saw the young photographer and the couple standing in front of the mourning willows. When I asked what was going on, they showed me the body. I've been standing here ever since.”
“We've been sitting in front of the restaurant and were chatting. I think we sat there for an hour, before we heard the noise. When we went to have a look at what's going on, the guy with the camera has already been here and told us to stay away and call the police. We did as we were told. Oh, and we were together the whole time, so none of us can be the culprit, right?”
“I've been on a walk with my doggy, Balto. We walked around outside of the abbey, playing around in the gras. We actually didn't enter the abbey, until we heard the gunfire. Balto was pretty unsettled by the noise, right Balto? Anyway, when we got to the yard, the others were already standing there calling the police. It took me a while to realise, what was going on.”
“I came here to take some pictures of the tower and the basilica. I was just about to take a photo, when I heard a gun. Of course I instantly rushed over there and found the body. And yeah, I took a picture of the body. I'm a photographer after all. I don't have a mobile phone with me, so I told the couple to call the police. Exept for me, no one went to the middle of the mourning willows, so I guess I'm the only one who really saw the corpse. Well, beside the murderer that is, because I didn't do it!”
“So, are you happy now, mister detective?”, asked superintendent Weidel in a sharp tone.
Peppe gave the superintendent a confident smile.
One of the suspects was obviously lying.
Do you know who it was?