The Amusement Park Murders

It all started with a press conference. Mr. Samuels was opening another amusement park but this one was going to be in his small hometown. People had mixed reactions about the theme park - some were very happy and that it would boost the economy while others said it would boost the crime rate and pollution levels. Mr. Samuels was a middle-aged man and was a heavy man. He had thinning, light brown short hair, a matching mustache, and was shorter than the average man, only measuring in height at about 5'8". He wore a powder blue suit today while addressing the media. His suits pretty much mirrored his personality, a bit out of date and a little sad. His wife stood like a statue beside him. She never talked very much and when she did talk, was frigid and unyielding. Many people described her as an "ice queen." She was slightly taller than her husband and very thin. Mrs. Samuels always wore the color gray, never anything brightly colored or vibrant. Her hair matched her outfit and was pulled back in a neat, tight bun. She was middle aged as well but looked so much older than her forty-eight years.

Their only child, a daughter, stood with them and was bored out of her mind. The daughter's name was Dawn but she went by her middle name, Quinn. She was heavy for her sixteen years and shorter than her parents at 5'4". She had wild and unruly long brown hair that hung loose halfway down her back. She usually wore dark colors and today was no different. Quinn wore a black baby doll shirt with her favorite band on it, a short black skirt, black leggings, and a pair of black, thigh high boots. She had three piercings in each ear, all filled currently with silver earrings. She wore a lot of rings on her fingers and a pierced nose. Additionally, she wore body charms, which were really popular with teenagers. Under her left eye, she wore a silver and purple-stripped yellow jacket with a long needle for a stinger. A bonding agent attached this to her vertically, under her eye, so that the body charm looked like a teardrop escaping from her eye.

Lastly, Mr. Samuel's assistant stood with the family. James was a former basketball player in high school, towering over everyone at a stoic 6'4" with very prominent features. He was a light skinned, handsome man in his early 20's, who worked closely with Mr. Samuels and happened to be currently single because he threw himself into his work. He had been Mr. Samuel's assistant for the past three years, working closely with the amusement park mogul. He was hoping that he would receive a promotion or the opportunity of being a partner in this new amusement park that he helped to put together. James was a very ambitious young man and very driven, sometimes a bit too driven. Mr. Samuels put his right hand on James' shoulder while addressing the press and James smiled. Mr. Samuels called for a quick break for the press conference and approached James.

"Don't worry, this is almost over. Thank you for being so patient. After the conference, would you care to accompany me for a drink? I need to discuss some business with you."

James smiled. Maybe he was finally going to be made a partner!

"I was hoping to speak to you as well, Mr. Samuels. I have to stop by my uncle's first. He needs someone to run his deposits to the bank but I'm free after that."

Mr. Samuels nodded.

"That sounds agreeable, James. Meet at Malero's at seven? Oh, the vultures are back. We'd better get back to it, eh?" Mr. Samuels said gesturing towards the cameras. "Come on, James, let's demonstrate the Ferris wheel. As always, you can have the window seat."

This was an inside joke between Mr. Samuels and James. When James had first met Mr. Samuels, it was in the Ferris wheel line. There was only one seat left, so James leaned behind him and offered Mr. Samuels the window seat. Mr. Samuels liked James and offered him a job right then and there.

After the press conference, James got into his car and drove to Caskets and More, his uncle's business. His uncle was a very successful businessman and had branches of his store all over the state. The store stood alone and had green parking, which was unusual in downtown. On the outside, it was a lovely older brick building with a dark, stucco roof. The sign was plain and very tastefully done.

James parked in the parking lot and walked into the store through the double glass doors. He passed by the current showpiece in the bay window area, which almost looked like a private sunroom. The store had rich, hardwood floors, and several different rooms with differently priced caskets in each room. Instead of a counter with a cash register, there was an office in the back to handle the sales. There was also a small station set up in a tiny kitchen across from the office, out of the view of the merchandise that had a hot tea and coffee station for customers. His uncle's storm was full of class and compassion for those grieving over loved ones.

James went into the back office and saw that Dan was behind the desk that evening. Dan was going to be promoted to a manager soon, James remembered.

"Hey! I came by to grab the deposits." James said, just in case his uncle had been a bit absent minded.

"Oh, hey James, yeah. Let me put those together for you. It'll be a few minutes. Why don't you grab some coffee and I'll bring them to you once I get done cashing out for tonight?" Dan replied, smiling.

James nodded and went back out into the store to the coffee and hot tea station. He didn't see all of the cars pull up in the parking lot or the men who got out of those cars with guns. The men, wearing black suits and built like line backers, got out of the cars and headed into the store while James was adding cream to his coffee. They stormed in and yelled,

"Samuels said that you could have a permanent window seat!"

They proceeded to open fire and unload their automatic weapons into James and Dan. One of the guys looked up and winked at the security camera. After the men ran out of rounds, they ran out of the store and laughed about a job well done.

Meanwhile, Samuels was at the amusement park working on a last few minute touches before his meeting.

James' uncle, Mark, saw the security camera footage while waiting for the police. Now, Mark was a successful businessman as well and had a lot of connections. He had a friend bring a burner phone from the store. This was a phone call that Mark hoped he never had to make but it was definitely a call he couldn't make from his own phone.

Samuels would be sorry.

Samuels called his wife and asked her to bring Quinn back to the amusement park because he wanted to show them a surprise before his meeting. His wife gave an exasperated sigh.

"Darling, it's getting late and Quinn has violin class at seven. Can't it wait?"

His wife smirked into the phone but Samuels couldn't see a smirk.

"Nope! It can't." Samuels said, smiling, and hung up the phone.

His wife sighed again and pressed a button on the intercom telling her daughter to grab her things, that they had a surprise to look forward to.

The call that Mark made across town was to a gang, who were getting a well-earned reputation around town lately. He offered them a couple of thousand if they could take care of someone for him. Being a businessman himself, Vix, the head of the gang, agreed to Mark's terms. After all, they killed people a lot and mostly for free. The gang finished setting up the last charge on the roller coaster, after receiving a tip that Samuels was going to ride it that night, as per tradition, when he opened a new amusement park. Vix smiled as he held the detonation button. Mark couldn't say they weren't artists, he thought. Now, to wait for Samuels.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Samuels arrived with Quinn at the amusement park. The sun was setting which painted the sky in rich purple and pink hues. The few clouds in the sky almost looked as if they had been made in a cotton candy machine. Mr. Samuels met them in the parking lot and told his family he had a surprise for them.

"Stay right here and watch the roller coaster." He said, happily gesturing at the structure.

His wife sighed again and his daughter nodded. He kissed them both on the cheeks and into the amusement park, where Vix was waiting.

Samuels got into the roller coaster and hit a button. The car started rolling and the structure lit up into white, shiny bulbs spelling out, "I retire" on the side of the roller coaster. Vix pressed the detonation button as soon as he saw the car start to move.

Quinn and Mrs. Samuels looked on in horror as the structure for the roller coaster started to collapse.

Samuels looked down and realized what was happening. He was both scared and a bit sad.

"But, I was retiring and giving this to James."

Those were his last thoughts. The structure and foundation completely collapsed, piece-by-piece, and finally taking Mr. Samuels with it.

Quinn watched in utter shock and horror as the structure collapsed on top of her father. She screamed and tried to run towards where the roller coaster used to be, but her mom grabbed her and held on. Loud, random sobs escaped from her throat and rocked her body. All she could think was, "who would do this?"

After making sure that her mother was safe in bed, Quinn made sure that the house security was strong tonight. She also answered endless questions from the police and family members until finally, she got a moment to herself. Quinn sat at the kitchen counter over a mug of hot tea. She just received the news that James had died tonight as well and was told her father was a suspect in the murder. Her best friend Emma had a father who served as a police officer. Emma's father happened to be working when what appeared to be a robbery gone badly, until her father found the security tapes and deposit money. Emma felt like Quinn should know. Quinn was thinking of what Emily told her on the phone,

"It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

Truer words were never spoken.

Quinn gave her mother a sedative that the doctors prescribed to her earlier and put her to bed. Her mom didn't even know about James yet. She put her head in her hands and that's how Emma found her. Emma walked into the kitchen, walked up to Quinn, and put her arms around Quinn while Quinn just sobbed. Quinn felt like she had lost two family members today, three if you count her useless ice queen of a mother, Emma thought.

Emma was short in stature and very petite at 5'3". She was hardly a hundred pounds soaking wet. Emma loved wide legged jeans and small, cute tops. She had light brown hair with auburn streaks and hazel eyes. She and Quinn had been best friends since kindergarten, so Emma was very close to Quinn's family. She made Quinn take a shower, picked out nightclothes for her, and tucked her into bed. Basically, Emma thought, doing what her mother should be doing for her and not the other way around. Emma stayed next to Quinn until Quinn fell asleep.

Something about all of this didn't really add up to Emma. Why would Samuels want to kill James if the police found legal documentation that he was going to make James a partner and a majority shareholder of the new amusement park when Samuels retired? If anything, Mrs. Samuels (or as Emma affectionately referred to her, "ice queen") would actually be the one to gain the most in the deaths of both Mr. Samuels and James. The ice queen would stand to inherit her husband's entire empire and fortune, that is, before he signed over one of his amusement parks to someone who wasn't a relative. Plus, the ice queen had taken out two life insurance policies on her husband that totaled more than ten million dollars. The ice queen would also inherit their enormous ten-bedroom house, the life insurance policies, and the income and royalties from the amusement parks. Emma wondered if they had ever been happily married because during her seventeen years, she hadn't seen Mrs. Samuels show the slightest bit of affection towards her husband. They even had separate bedrooms.

The next evening, Mrs. Samuels was busy prepping to play her newly found role of a widow. The wake for her husband was to be held in the most expensive ballroom in the downtown area. Mrs. Samuels made sure to call in the cavalry - the make up artists, stylists, and hair experts. Mrs. Samuels ordered the teams to work on Quinn and Emma because, as she put it, it was going to be the social event of the year. Her words. They disturbed Quinn deeply.

Emma grew more and more suspicious but had to hide it around the ice queen. If the ice queen was behind all of those murders, Emma thought, it wouldn't take much to wipe her family off of the map if they stood in her way. She smiled at the people doing her hair and looked down at the short, black dress she chose. It was a one-piece dress, fashioned simply. It had a tight fitting bust, with a gentle neckline, and a skirt that flared out, almost like a 50's poodle skirt. It was a vintage dress that the stylist found for her that was cut above the knee. The stylist smiled at Emma in the dress and handed Emma a pair of red stilettos along with a red clutch.

Quinn was across the room in a long, black, expensive satin strapless gown. It fit to her curves and had a slit on the side of her dress up to her knee. Her ears, nose, and fingers were naked for the first time in years. The stylist put her hair halfway up in a bun and left the rest to curl down her back. Quinn looked radiant for someone so sad. The stylist finished off Quinn's attire, with her mother's approval of course, with black stilettos that had black straps that wrapped around her legs up to her knees and a silky black clutch. Mrs. Samuels came over and fluttered around Quinn. She added a huge, cold, diamond bracelet to Quinn's wrist, along with diamond teardrops to her ears, and declared that Quinn was finally beautiful. That was the first time Quinn had heard her mom say anything remotely nice about her appearance in years.

Mrs. Samuels never worse anything other than gray, and she wasn't about to change her ways for her husband's death. She worse a satin, gray gown that stopped at her knees. It was a spaghetti strapped gown with a short, silvery coat over the charcoal gray dress. The gown had a low neckline, so Mrs. Samuels wore a choker of several strands of gray pearls, along with a matching gray pearl bracelet. Her hair was French braided with a few strands loose and curled to frame her face. She wore silver shoes to match her coat and carried a silver clutch. Emma looked down at her phone.

"Mrs. Samuels?" She asked.

Mrs. Samuels looked over at her and replied with a hurried, "Yes, my dear?"

Emma backed up towards the door.

"I have to go home to retrieve my father's debit card. I'm afraid he left it on the nightstand while he was getting ready for work and doesn't have a way to pay for dinner tonight. Would you mind terribly if I met you and Quinn at the wake?"

Emma cast her eyes down, just in case Mrs. Samuels was trying to detect the lie. Quinn looked at her mother. A slow smile spread across Mrs. Samuels' face.

"Of course, dear. Think nothing of it. Tell Carl to hire you a car for the evening. There's no reason for you to drive and mess up that gorgeous dress. The team of stylists worked so ever hard for tonights ... engagement. Just try not to be too late, my dear. Quinn may need you."

Her eyes sparkled and Emma finally saw the fire behind the ice.

"Come along, Quinn." Mrs. Samuels ordered.

Emma squeezed Quinn's hand before she let go. Emma hoped that she got to see Quinn again.

Emma made her way downstairs and slid past most of the household staff that were working on the house and the wake for tonight. It was a very busy house. Finally, after some searching, Emma found Carl outside by the fountain in the front yard. She relayed Mrs. Samuels' request and Carl found a limo and driver for her for the night. The limo driver was offered a handsome bonus if he could take Emma to her house and make it look like an accident. Carl made sure the limo driver knew just how much of a bonus he would receive.

The driver took Emma to her house. Upon seeing her house, she flew out of the limo and ran inside and ran right smack dab into her father.

"I know who killed them." She said and told her dad everything she suspected and found out while staying at the Samuels' house. Her dad called the police station and they picked up Mark for questioning and later, picked up Vix.

While waiting on the warrant to search Mark's home and businesses, the police working the case told Mark about Mr. Samuel's legal documents granting James partnership in his business. One of the officers gave the disbelieving Mark a copy of the document and Mark just sat there in stunned silence. There it was, in black and white. What had he done? He put his face in his hands and started crying. He told the police everything.

Emma went outside and released the limo driver for the remainder of the night. She told him that her dad was at home ill, so she would be unable to attend Mr. Samuel's wake after all. She thanked him and paid him a four thousand dollar tip. She knew that was the going rate of her death, which she found out about from Carl. Carl told her everything because she had been like family to the Samuels and he was grateful of her care for Quinn these past few days. The limo driver just nodded, thanked Emma, told her that he would prepare a lie on her behalf, and left. Emma and her dad headed downtown, in the direction of the hotel, which was holding the wake of her best friend's father.

This hotel, like all others after 2020, had what people called a "judgment" room. If you were caught committing a crime, you were placed in this room. The room was made up of solid glass doors and walls, at least that's how it appeared on the outside of the room. On the inside of the room, there was dark red wallpaper that stopped halfway down each side of the wall. The other lower half of the wall was finished with maple, down to the floor. The room had hardwood floors and several different T-junctions. It was a big room with lots of corners and junctions made for running. There were also decorative lamps on the walls, not really for lighting, just for show. The room's lighting was a bit dark, almost if a fireplace lighted the room. That made the running a bit more challenging. There were also objects in the hallways of the "judgment" room like benches, small tables, small couches, plants, and art.

Outside of the hotel, on the streets, were touch screen signs. Now, each of these touch screen signs had a list of punishments and the prices listed next to each punishment offered. People would swipe their credit cards, once they had received an alert on their phone about someone being held in the judgment room - you could be on a mailing list, and then pay for the punishment they felt fit the crime. For example, a successful lawyer may pay $1,000.00 for the punishment of a pack of hungry, ravenous wolves to chase the prisoner and eat them alive. The lawyer might have picked that punishment because the lawyer thought that fit the crime of the prisoner's which was embezzling from the federal programs set up to help the poor, or it could be because the lawyer had a bad day at work and wanted amusement. Sometimes, the prisoners lived but most died. It was up to the crowd to decide the punishment and fate of that prisoner. What often transpired was that the person with the biggest wallet had control over the life and death of the prisoner.

An angry mob had formed outside of the hotel by the touch screen signs. Emma knew this was bad. If a mob had control of the punishment, it was going to get very ugly, and very quickly. The mob had already made Vix suffer by buying a floor replacement - with needles - as well as paying for him to be tied to a chair after a while of walking on the "floor" and being eaten alive by carnivorous ants. The last purchase was courtesy of Mrs. Samuels. To Emma's horror, she saw that James' Uncle Mark was up next.

Mrs. Samuels was at the wake, accompanied by her good "friend" Jackson. He told everyone that Mark was the one to blame for Mr. Samuels' murder and that they should pick the worst possible punishment for him. Mark just stood in the room, his eyes red and swollen from crying. The crowd decided that Mark's punishment to fit the crime was to be buried alive. Jackson bought this punishment for almost $500,000.00 to make sure that the way Mark was buried that his death would last for days and be broadcasted for all of those to see. Mark was trapped in a silent scream as he was placed into the transparent prison in which he would die. Emma's dad shoved his way through the crowd trying to reach the signs to enter his override code, but could not reach the sign in time. The staff buried Mark under the "judgment" room with a live feed that would be broadcasted live. Emma's dad was furious that this happened before he had gotten here to control it. He knew that Jackson was Mrs. Samuels' lover and had been for years. He thought the woman incapable of love, so he wasn't sure what she was using Jackson for, just yet. There was nothing more they could do here, so they made their way into the hotel to reach the wake.

Emma got there just as Mrs. Samuels turned to give a toast to her late husband. Emma interrupted her.

"Stop! SHE'S the killer!" Emma shouted and pointed to Mrs. Samuels, and Emma continued, "She hired men to kill James and me! She was also involved in orchestrating her late husband's murder to prevent him from signing his amusement park over to James! She just wanted the money and you've just let her kill TWO MORE PEOPLE!"

The crowd in the ballroom turned to Emma in shock and then turned to Mrs. Samuels who smiled a slow, evil smile.

"Prove it." She hissed.

Quinn stepped forward.

"She doesn't have to, I have the proof right here. Daddy thought this might happen and wrote a letter to write you out of the will. I am the sole heir."

Quinn passed the letter to Emma's father who nodded after reading it.

"It's all here and completely legal and binding." He said.

Mrs. Samuels' smile froze and disappeared. She snatched the letter away from Emma's father and went pale.

Jackson lunged forward with his gun drawn and aimed at Emma when Emma's dad had already pulled the trigger on his gun, shooting Jackson right between the eyes before Jackson had a chance to react.

Jackson dropped to the floor, dead.

The crowd screamed and dispersed. Mrs. Samuels went for Quinn.

The next few events happened as if in slow motion.

Quinn, seeing her mother cross the room towards her, removed the purple and silver stripped yellow jacket from her face. She kissed the top of it and threw it at her mother. The yellow jacket flew true, striking Mrs. Samuels between the eyes. The needle pierced her skin and she fell, with the yellow jacket's needle, like a stinger, embedded into her forehead. The yellow jacket body charm had been laced with poison that would kill an adult in a few seconds, and that's all it took to kill Mrs. Samuels. Her cold eyes went glossy and rolled to the back of her head.

Quinn could only let one tear escape for her mother. That's all she could give.

Emma went over and gave her a hug. Emma's dad crossed the ballroom to both of them and gave them a fierce hug, while moving them away from the bodies growing cold on the dance floor.

Emma looked at Quinn and said, "I don't know about you Quinn, but I think that was the event of the year, how about you?"

Quinn gave her a smile and said, "You were right - it did get worse before it got better ... but it will get a lot better now."