1
English project:
Whodunit
Group members:
Larissa Huitema Aniek Norder Tessa Oudman
Class: D3H
School: H.N. Werkman College Dalton / Groningen / The Netherlands 2
Chapter 1 Nathalie is a twenty-one year old women and lives in Amsterdam. She moved to Amsterdam when she was seventeen to study for detective. She just past her exams, but until now she has not found a job as detective. To pay for her study and to go out in the weekends, she works in a bookstore in the poorest neighbourhood of Amsterdam. Not a nice place to work. Last week her wallet was robbed when she was walking home at night..... Nathalie walks into the room and sees the newspaper on the table. The front page is full of pictures of missing children. All girls with an age of fifteen, Horrible. She reads on. The parents of the children are in a shock. They all live in the neighbourhood she is working. She hates the neighbourhood so much. It looks like all of the children have been kidnapped when they were home alone. The next day Nathalie is working in the bookstore. Nobody has come into the bookstore this morning. Not even Mr Lewis, the owner of the shop. Since he divorced his wife a half year ago, he has been very lonely. His wife was always very nice and had a lot of friends. Mr. Lewis really misses her. He is a loner and the friends of his wife don’t like him very much. He was spending a lot of time in the basement of the bookstore. He said he needed time for himself. And also he was making the basement empty of all the clothes and blankets his wife collected. A lot he threw away in garbage bags and put them in the back of his car. Nathalie was surprised how mysterious her boss Mr Lewis was about the basement. Nobody was allowed to go in there, but no one knew why. Mr Lewis also didn’t want to say why. Well, he said that it was about the centuries-old work of art that no one was allowed to touch. Nathalie didn’t believe him because when he talked about the basement he was very unpunctually about it and looked away. Maybe one day she could go to the basement without Mr Lewis knowing it... She went outside, took her bike and cycled away. What a boring day it was today. It had been raining all day, and nobody had come to the store. When she was home she went to her bedroom immediately. She grabbed her phone and she called her good friend Enshley. They have to get to know each other at the detective school. Enshley did find work in the detective business but Nathalie didn’t. When Enshley picked up her phone, Nathalie told her everything about Mr Lewis, the bookstore, the robbery and the articles about the missing children she read in the news paper. Enshley already started investigating the case of the missing girls, but of course she could not tell this to Nathalie. Instead she advised her to look for another job. A few days later Nathalie quit at the 3
bookstore. She didn’t even want to work there anymore because of the robbery and the missing girls in the area. She could be the next.... Weeks later, just when Nathalie was writing letters to apply for a new job, Enshley called her. Her colleague was moving to Canada, so she asked Nathalie if she wanted to apply for that job. Nathalie was head over heels. She could work with her best friend and do what she loves the most, solve murders. Of course she applied for the job. The job interview went very well and a few days later she got a call that she was hired and could start tomorrow.
Chapter 2 The next day she went to the office for her first day of work. Enshley showed Nathalie round the office, to meet her colleagues. But they had no time to waste and had to start working right away. She told her that there were a lot of missing children. Nathalie knew about this from the newspaper. Eleven girls were missing. Enshley asked her what she knew about the people living in the neighbourhood of bookstore she worked. She told her about Mr Lewis’ basement, but also about the butcher and the gardener. Sometimes she saw them at the bookstore of Mr Lewis. They were always very quiet and mysterious when they talked in the office in the back of the bookstore. They decided to have a look at some of the stores in that area of Amsterdam. That day they went to the bookstore. It was a strange feeling for Nathalie because she didn’t work at the store anymore. Right now there was another girl standing behind the cash desk. She was also a year or fifteen. Nathalie and Enshley saw a paper on the window of the shop asking for new personnel:
HELP WANTED ARE YOU A STUDENT (MAX 16 YEARS) LOOKING FOR A PARTTIME JOB IN OUR BOOKSHOP NO DIPLOMAS REQUIRED CONTACT MR LEWIS TEL. 0522-5148
4
They saw a new girl at the cash desk so they went inside and they asked her a few questions about her job and her employer. The girl, Katie, told them she worked there for only a short time and that she liked it. Enshley saw that Katie was lying because she looked away and you could see the tears in her eyes glisten. Nathalie asked her if she would rather go with them to the detective agency to talk. She nodded yes and they made an appointment the next day at nine o’clock. After that, they went to the butcher. There was another thing that Nathalie knew, the butcher was busy with a new sort of meat, but he wouldn’t tell anyone what it was made from. The only thing he wanted to tell was that it was made from a special kind of meat. He wanted to get Dutch Champion with it. They went in the store and asked the girls behind the counter if the butcher was in. Nathalie was wearing a large coat and a big scarf. She hoped that the butcher would not recognize her. The butcher was in and they had to go to the very cold room
where he was busy with a big knife in half a cow. He looked very angry that they disturbed him in his work. He was covered with blood. They asked him what he was working on. He told them that next week there was a big contest and he was very busy with that. He told about the special sausage he made for that contest. The skin of the sausage just exploded and he had to make it all over again and he had no time. When they started asking what het sausage was made of he turned red of rage and yelled he had no time now. Quickly they went away and said they would come back over a week. On the other side of the bookstore there was a gardener. Mr Greek, the owner of the company, was already known to that he liked young girls. He was always flirting with girls. Nathalie also knew that Mr Greek, Mr Lewis and Mr Hu (the butcher) all are good friends and that they will do everything for each other to help. In the back of the shop was a beautiful garden with garden plants. As they could not find Mr Greek they walked to the garden. In the corner they saw Mr Greek. He was digging a very deep hole. They greeted him and he stopped digging immediately. “How can I help you beautiful girls?” he asked. Enshley asked what he was doing. He told her he was making a well to water the plants in the garden. 5
“Would you like some advice about the plants?” he asked. We explained we came to investigate if he had seen something strange in the neighbourhood as so many girls are missing here. He looked away and said he had no idea. Then he told us to ask the butcher. He had been acting strange lately; maybe he had seen something he was worried about.
Outside they discussed the things they heard and saw. Something strange is going on here, Enshley said. The butcher was a very angry person and mysterious about his meat, Mr Greek was digging such a deep hole, he could bury everything in it. And what about the bookstore? The girl was very nervous, I hope we will find out more tomorrow.
Chapter 3 Half an hour late, the young girl came in the office of the detective agency. They went to a private room. Katie told them that she was very afraid. Katie told them that she was being raped en abused. Every night another girl had to lie to their parents that they had to work late. There was a schedule when who had to do a ‘’night shift ‘’. When someone wouldn’t come, or tells it to his/her parents or to the police and the man would find out, you’ll get killed. ‘’I applied together with a friend and she wouldn’t come at night to the bookstore. The next night we went to the bookstore together and he shoot her in front of my eyes and brought her to the basement. He shouted at me that if I EVER would tell this to someone I would get killed too. It could have been Mr Lewis, but I’m not sure. He was wearing a balaclava and it was dark...’’ Nathalie and Enshley were shocked about this. They told Katie she wouldn’t have to worry about it and that they only wanted Mr Lewis’ phone number. When Enshley calls Mr Lewis, she tells him that she wanted to talk to him about the bookstore. Nathalie was scared he would ask why, but he didn’t and the next day he would come to the office.
6
That evening Nathalie was at home. The whole day she was thinking about to go down in the basement of the bookstore. At about seven o’clock she knew what to do. She would go and look in the bookstore alone. The bookstore was closed. She grabbed the key from the front door. She still had it from the times she had to close the shop herself. She had to lock everything and change and the security cameras on at eight o’clock. When she locked all of the doors, she went downstairs. It was a long stairway and it was beeping and cracking. Then she finally arrived at the door and it was kind of hard to open it.
She pushed down the light-switch. The light was stuttering but finally went on. There were many white blankets in the basement with human-figured objects under them. Nathalie raised one of the blankets and saw a thigh were the flesh was ripped off and the skin from the kneecap was already rot away. She raised the blanket further and saw a head of a teenager which eyes were pulled out. She almost had to throw up. It was genuinely sickening. She put the blanket back and ran away. She went outside, took her bike and cycled away. How could she tell this to Enshley? Now she knows who did it, but if she tells it, she is sure that she’s going to get fired....
Chapter 4
7
When Mr Lewis came in, the examination could almost begin. An agent from the local police put him at a lie detector immediately. Mr Lewis wasn’t really enchanted of it and he made them well aware of this as well. Enshley en Nathalie told him that passers-by were saying that there were only young people working at the bookstore. Mr Lewis answered crabby: ‘’So what? What’s wrong about that? ‘’. Enshley told him that it doesn’t matter who he is hiring, but it’s kind of weird that the advert says that there is a soft spot for people under sixteen. ‘’They’re just cheap’’ says Mr Lewis. Nathalie told him that people in the neighbourhood hear strange sounds from the bookstore and sometimes gun shots. Mr Lewis refuses and says he doesn’t know anything about that. All his reactions were checked by the lie detector. It was a long conversation with many, very many lies. At a certain moment Nathalie said: “If you tell one more lie, you’ll have to go in jail anyway!” It was almost sure that Mr Lewis was the perpetrator, until he told a story about his friends. Mr Lewis told that he was good friends with the butcher next to him. He had a criminal past for children abuse, but that was twenty years ago. The only thing I know of him now is that he wants to win a contest very much. Only the butcher himself knows what he is putting in the meat. This is really a big secret. He wanted to store the secret ingredient in the basement of my bookstore. I made it all empty and through everything what was in there away. I was not allowed to tell anybody that he is using my basement to keep his secret ingredient. And also I could really not tell anything to anybody, because then he would kill me. So I have done everything to keep the secret safe. I knew something wasn’t right, but I was so afraid to say this to anybody. The reason that I gave him permission to store this, is because I recently divorced my wife. We have had financial problems for more than 10 years. I rather not allowed him to store it in my basement, but he paid me much money, very much. So if this secret did not come out for three months longer, I could pay off all my debts. And I could have started a new life. I had so many financial problems because nowadays people buy those stupid iPads, where they can buy a digital book for only a few Euros. Only real readers come to my bookstore. My wife also left me because I had so many financial problems. I hoped we could come back together again, but she does not want to come back to me. There was a long silence, and after like 2 minutes Mr. Lewis asked if he could go. Nathalie let him go. Chapter 5 Nathalie and Enshley went to the butcher the next day together. 8
They came in the butcher’s shop and they heard him roaring along with the music. He had the volume really high, so he didn’t hear they came into the shop. Nathalie pushed the bell like a hundred times and almost finished the entire national anthem, before he finally saw them. He turned the music down, washed his hands and said: ‘’Hello there, what could I do for these two beautiful ladies?’’ Then Enshley asked: ‘’Have you already heard of the Dutch Championship sausages making?’’ The butcher told them very proud that he already was taking part of it. He also told them full of self confidence that he was going to win. Enshley could barely contain her laughter, everything went according to plan. Nathalie asked him why he was so sure he was going to win the contest. He told them that he added secret ingredient. Nathalie looked at him very curious and asked immediately: ‘’so what is your secret ingredient?’’ Which the butcher giggly responded: ’’If I would tell you, it wouldn’t be secret anymore.’’ Enshley react very shocking: ’’We know more than you would guess.’’
The butcher looked confused at them. ‘’What do you know, if I may ask?’’ ‘’Well, we spoke to Mr. Lewis. He told us that you used the basement of the bookstore.’’ ‘’So, could you please go with us to the detective office?’’ ‘’But who are you two anyway?’’ the butcher asked. He apparently got so incredibly mad the last time that he doesn’t recognize them anymore. ‘’We’re from detective agency Van Dijsen.’’ Nathalie already turned the sign and said:’’ The shop is closed, you have to come with us to the detective office.’’ The butcher finally takes his apron off and went with the two ladies outside. Once they were at the office, Mr. Hu tries to escape. Enshley holds him firmly. She let him almost go because he pulls very hard on her hand. Nathalie gives him a knee and says:’’ you’re going inside, or I’ll pull out my pepper spray!’’ Mr. Hu obeyed. When they reach the interrogation room, they put one of the hands of Mr. Hu at a lie detector, and handcuffed his other hand to the chair. Nathalie started the examination. She asked Mr. Hu what the real story was. He tells her that he wants to win the championship sausage making for like 15 years. ´´Every time I was so close to win, but just not. ´´Right now I´m working on something very special, I want to win so badly this time! So that´s why I put a special ingredient into the sausages. As you two could have seen, the butcher´s shop is very small, so that´s why I use the basement of the bookstore. I knew that there is a good security in there, so I put the secret ingredient there. The lie detector bolted. For a little time, he was already a while less reliable but this was a real peak. Nathalie looked mysterious at Enshley, one look was enough. Nathalie said imminent: 9
´´ If you won´t tell us the truth, you will get to prison your whole life!´´ The butcher looked at them, he didn´t saw it coming. There was a long silence. Both girls looked at him expectantly. He took a deep breath: ‘’Okay I can’t do this anymore; I did my best for Mr. Lewis. Enshley looked at him questioningly. ‘’I didn’t murder anyone. Listen, fifteen years ago I learned to know Mr. Lewis. He stood full in live, and was very happy with his wife. He got a kid, the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. Two years later, I got addicted to cocaine. I got so addicted that my wife left me. In like three years I did nothing. I was so sad about what I did to her, that I couldn’t do a thing. On a day, Mr. Lewis came to my house. He heard about my divorce, and stood in front of the door with a huge fruit basket. I have told my story to him. After that conversation, I could go on with my life. I started a Butcher’s shop. The first five years were fantastic. There were many customers who always bought their meat at my shop. But one day, Mr. Lewis’ sun sat in a car with an older friend. After a night out, his friend went driving while he was drunk. They drove into a tree and they were both immediately dead.
When Mr. Lewis heard of it, he became so sad, he wanted to kill himself he saw it no longer be. His wife has kept him going. Till a while ago. She was done with his depressive behavior and left him. He was home alone and had an own store. The bookstore. When he was home alone, he had much time to think. He was still mad about the fact his son died, so all of the teenagers with an age of fifteen had to be dead. For that plan he used the bookstore. He let them work there, and on a day that they trust him they were going to eat at his house. He raped and killed them. I was the only one who knows about it. I couldn’t tell anyone. I lost a bet. The bet was: ‘You know everything, but you can’t tell anything’ If I would tell anyone he would kill me. Also he could blame me for all of his problems. So that is what he told you. I can’t lie as good as Mr. Lewis. He also has a technological past. He knows where the lie detector checks on. He knows exactly how he must lie if he wants to let the lie detector believe that he is speaking the truth. So he did it himself. I could not keep my mouth shut.’’ The butcher looks relieved. He had to keep this secret with him for so long. He couldn’t tell anyone, but right now he is very relieved. Nathalie asked the butcher if he had any idea where Mr. Lewis could be. He is silent. But the lie detector indicates that he actually does know. Nathalie and Enshley watch him threatening. Again the butcher doesn’t say a word. But finally he says: ‘’Yesterday I spoke to Mr. Lewis. He said he was packing all of his food and that he was going into the woods till anyone would find him.’’ Also at the end of this examination there was a long silence. Mr. Hu asks if he could go home. Nathalie doesn’t let him go and brings him to his cell. He has to wait there till the real offender was found. 10
Chapter 6 The day after the examination of the butcher Nathalie was exhausted. She’s alone in her bedroom. She didn’t think that the examination of two people could be so exhaustive. On the other side, she could hit herself on her head because she believed Mr. Lewis and let him go. But she had learned from that decision. Noa knocks at her door. ‘’Can I come in honey?’’ he said. ‘’Yes, come in‘’ Noa made her a board full of delicious fruit. ‘’You need it at the moment, it will be good for you.’’ Also Nathalie’s daughter Sarah came in. She made her a beautiful drawing with on it: ‘’you’re the best mom someone could have wished for!’’ Nathalie got a bit emotional and hugged her daughter and husband. The next day she went together with Enshley to the forest to look for Mr. Lewis. What Mr. Hu didn’t told them was that when Mr. Lewis was young he was with the scouting. He knows how to make an underground cabin. So that is what Mr. Lewis did. He made an underground cabin. He was just waiting there until they would stop looking for him, or until his bookstore was aged. So he made it himself a bit comfortable. From two chairs he made a sofa. He has its holiday stove connected to a bottle of gas and he had bought a TV during the examination of Mr. Hu, so he can watch TV underground. Under the ground it was very cold but he had brought enough blankets to keep himself warm. Nathalie and Enshley were looking for him for two hours and still didn’t found him. Nathalie got a plan. ‘’what if we just would get a tracking dog?’’ she said. Enshley doubted equally but eventually she thought it was a good plan. Within ten minutes the dog arrived. The gardener, Mr Greek, was watching them and he made sure they wouldn’t see him. Mr. Lewis needed to know if they were in the neighborhood of his cabin. But he didn’t want to say why. But Mr. Greek just did what he asked him. Mr. Greek was the only one who knew where Mr. Lewis was, because the butcher was locked up and couldn’t have any contact with other persons. That’s why Mr. Lewis asked the gardener. He was walking on proper distance and he called with Mr. Lewis where they were at the same time. The tracking dog already had a suspicion. Nathalie and Enshley walked almost straight to the place where Mr. Lewis was hiding. Mr. Greek called him immediately. Mr. Lewis tells the gardener that he has to have much fun in his further life and that he has to say the same to Mr. Hu, the butcher. The gardener wanted to ask why but Mr. Lewis already hanged. Every time he called Mr. Lewis, he got the voicemail. Meanwhile, Nathalie and Enshley walked in the right direction. When they were almost there they heard something drip. They looked around. ‘’It’s there!’’ calls Nathalie. They first 11
thought it was just water, but when they got closer they saw it was blood and when they looked up, they saw Mr. Lewis. He had hanged himself. He also left a note:
12