A Murder Commences By John W. Rutherford & Marshall L. Ross ...

A Murder Commences

By

John W. Rutherford & Marshall L. Ross

2017 248-203-3580

1.

Characters:

Mrs. Patricia Johnson, mother of Charlie, Cheryl and Cherry,

wife of Burt. Mid 40’s.

Mr. Burt Johnson, father of Charlie, Cheryl, and Cherry,

husband of Patty. Late 40’s.

Charlie Johnson, 18 year old high school graduate, popular,

wealthy, president of Student Government, attending

Hillsdale college

Cheryl Johnson, 20 year old college student at Oakland

University, older sister to Charlie, studying elementary

education

Cherry Johnson, 14 year old younger sister to Charlie, 8th

grade

Detective Cartwright, for the East Hills police force

Officer Polzin, a police officer with the East Hills police

force

Kendra Wallis, 19 year old daughter of Margery Wallis of

Wallis Catering service, former classmate of Cheryl and

Charlie

Jenny Finkleman, 16 year old junior who attends high school

with Charlie, working as a catering assistant

Bobby Stedman, 24 year old, not attending college, working

for Wallis Catering

Libby Potts, senior, attending UM with an international

business major. Member of the tennis team and dating

Charlie.

Holly Rover, junior. Member of the tennis team. Best friend

with Libby.

Ronda Carlton, senior. Been accepted to Hillsdale. Member of

the lacrosse team

Brian Zeeb, senior. Charlie’s best friend. Dating Ronda.

Zack Rodgers, senior. Attending EMU. Known Charlie since 1st

grade. Active in Student Government.

Isaac Sterling, sophomore. Popular, smart, all around nice

guy. Has a crush on Cheryl.

Kayla Brown, senior. Vice President of Student Government.

Commencement speaker. Attending NYU.

Teddy Hall, sophomore, friend to everyone. Funny and very

like-able.

Mrs. Lustenberg, neighbor to the Johnson family, a bit of

nosy neighbor, 60 years old.

2.

ACT 1

Setting: The family home of Charlie Johnson

At the high school graduation party of Charlie Johnson.

Early evening

Time Period: Present

The sound of strong wind and crack

of thunder is heard, lightning and

rain. A summer storm has come up

out of nowhere and the outdoor

party has to be moved inside.

Everyone is running in from the

outside holding trays of food,

decorations, folding chairs, gifts,

photo collages and a decorated

graduation cake.

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh my goodness, that storm came out of absolutely nowhere.

KENDRA

I’ve been keeping track of the weather on my phone for the

past couple days and there hasn’t even been mention of a

possible storm today.

BOBBY

You can’t trust Doppler.

KENDRA

Can’t trust what?

BOBBY

It’s the weather radar thing.

KENDRA

That’s what that’s called?

MR.JOHNSON

That’s Michigan for you. Four seasons in one day. You never

know what to expect.

CHERYL

I hate Michigan. At least it got all the ’adults’ to go

home. They sure know how to make a party boring.

MRS. JOHNSON

Cheryl they’re your family and friends!

CHARLIE

Talk about some weather, but I swear if I had to talk to one

more uncle I didn’t even know I had I would have snapped. Do

you think they know that their conversations are as boring

as watching grass grow?

3.

TEDDY

Doubt it, but I bet you racked in some serious cash. I mean

did you see some of the cars they had out front? They had to

be loaded.

ISAAC

Wait, all those people are your uncles? That’s a lot of

uncles.

CHARLIE

What? No Isaac, they’re not all my uncles.

RONDA

My grad party I got a quilt my Aunt Pat made for me, with

little kittens on it. She wants me to take it with me to

Hillsdale in the fall, I think you should consider yourself

lucky.

ZACK

My friend Trisha was telling me last year she was able to

pull $2000 out of her party. That’s not too bad. For that, I

think I could handle being nice to some extended family for

a couple of hours.

CHARLIE

It wasn’t just a couple of hours though, the party started

at 3:00 and this is the first break I’ve gotten from ’What

are you planning on majoring in?’ since.

TEDDY

Oh, you poor baby. That’s like 5 hours of pretending to

being nice to people. Must have been a real challenge.

ZACK

Challenge? Yeah right,Charlie’s been doing that his whole

life.

CHARLIE

Oh come on Zack. Lighten up.

MRS. JOHNSON

Thank goodness you kids were here to help bring all of this

stuff inside. Just set it on the table over here. Mr.

Johnson and I will clean up and get everything ready, you

kids go have fun.

MR.JOHNSON

Sweetheart, we have caterers. We are paying them for a

reason.

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh you’re right. I guess I am just so used to do everything

myself.

4.

CHERRY

But they’ve been here all day, mom. God.

MR.JOHNSON

Cherry, be nice. You’re mother is under a little extra

stress today.

KENDRA

It’s fine Mrs. Johnson, we’ve got this handled. (To the

guests) Charlie said you weren’t fussy, so we just have some

sub sandwiches and snack foods. We did bring some special

desserts though. Give us a few minutes to get that all

organized.

MR.JOHNSON

Charlie!

CHARLIE

Yeah?

MR.JOHNSON

Have you told everyone where the drinks are?

CHARLIE

No not yet dad, sorry.

MR.JOHNSON

(sighs) I guess I’ll have to do it.

CHARLIE

No dad, it’s fine I can-

MR.JOHNSON

Hey kids! We just brought the drinks in from outside.

There’s specialty sodas, sparkling waters, organic tea and

an assortment of Root Beer.

ZACK

Oh yeah we all know how much Charlie loves his ’Root Beer.’

Classic Charlie.

CHARLIE

Bro chill.

ISSAC

Root Beer? dude, I love Root Beer.

ZACK

What?

ISAAC

Whoa, Root Beer sounds weird when you say it too many times.

Root Beer.

5.

ZACK

What are you talking about Isaac?

MRS. JOHNSON

Libby can I get something for you? I know you don’t drink

carbonated beverages, so we have some organic green tea

or... oh! We have cold pressed carrot juice just for you!

LIBBY

Oh... um... thanks, Mrs. Johnson, I’ll have some carrot

juice, since you went to all of the trouble.

RONDA

Brian, would you just get me a Coke or something.

BRIAN

Sure

CHERYL

Well, unfortunately, we don’t have Coke, but we do have

Boyles Sugar Cane cola, you know how my parents are. Always

have to be so "hip" and "trendy."

RONDA

Oh, that will be fine, I guess. I’ve never had it, but just

bring me that Brian.

TEDDY

How many people did you have at your adult party? Looking at

the stack of cards in your bird cage thing looks like you

have hundreds.

CHARLIE

I don’t really know, you know my parents, always trying to

show off.

CHERRY

Mom said she invited 250 people.

CHARLIE

Cherry, get out of here. This is not a kid party. Go help

mom or something.

CHERRY

I’m just saying what I heard mom telling Mrs. Lustenberg.

ZACK

Oh, dude, I forgot about Mrs. Lustenberg. Remember when we

egged her house on Halloween in 7th grade and she caught us?

Then she called the cops. God, it was a prank. She was a so

mad.

6.

CHARLIE

Yeah. That was bad.

ZACK

We had some killer pranks back in the day.

CHARLIE

That we did.

ZACK

You were the master of the prank. Master Prankster. Why’d

you stop?

CHARLIE

Oh, I don’t know. Kinda lost the fun I guess. Plus we were

running out of people to prank.

ZACK

Too bad. It’d have been fun to see how far you could have

gone. But you might have killed Mrs. Lustenberg in the

process. We used to really piss her off.

CHARLIE

Yeah, she’s always mad. Two years ago at Cheryl’s grad party

she called the cops because one of Cheryl’s friends got a

little carried away and striped down to boxers and ran

around her house screaming "Shark Bait Bru-ha-ha".

HOLLY

Why would he do that?

CHERYL

It was a dare.

HOLLY

Was he drunk?

ZACK

Probably. You know Cheryl’s friends.

KAYLA

Didn’t you used to be friends with Kendra? The girl setting

out all of the food?

CHERYL

Sort of, yay.

KAYLA

Whatever happened to you two anyway?

CHERYL

Not really sure. Drifted apart started hanging out with

different crowd. Kinda awkward having her in my house today

though. TBH.

7.

BRIAN

I don’t think anyone will be stripping down to their

underwear today, will they Teddy?

TEDDY

Why me? Do you think I’d do that?

RONDA

Yes.

CHARLIE

Yeah, well because of your party mom has gone a little crazy

about the underage drinking thing and that’s why she

collected all of my friends car keys tonight, so thanks for

that.

BRIAN

I did think it was a little over the top putting our keys in

that bowl you mom carried around, but I didn’t want to

argue.

ISSAC

I saw a movie once where they collected the keys of everyone

but then they hooked up with other people at the end of the

night. That’s not happening tonight is it?

RONDA

God I hope not.

CHARLIE

Ha ha. Yeah right. With my mom? You know how crazy she can

be.

CHERYL

And controlling.

CHERRY

I heard mom say that she wanted dad to give all of your

friends breathalyzer tests before they tried to leave or

something like that. She said she was sure some kids were

going to sneak in alcohol in their water bottles or

hairspray or something.

CHARLIE

Cherry, I told you to get out of here.

CHERRY

I don’t have to, I live here to, and very soon I will be the

only one living here and you and Cheryl won’t have me to

boss around.

8.

KENDRA

I’m sorry Mrs. Johnson, we are working the fastest we can,

we weren’t expecting to have to move everything from outside

into the dining area.

MRS. JOHNSON

Well, neither was I, but these kids are probably hungry and

ready to eat. Besides, I don’t want them having empty

stomachs in case they are sneaking booze in here

HOLLY

Isn’t that Jenny Finkelman? What’s she doing here?

LIBBY

Oh, she’s not on the guest list, she’s working the party.

She’s got a job working for this catering service for the

summer.

KAYLA

Yeah, I saw her at Brittany Spellman’s party last weekend.

HOLLY

You wouldn’t catch me working grad parties for students that

go to school with me. Talk about humiliating.

LIBBY

Eh, beats working at the tennis club all summer picking up

all of the stupid tennis balls. That gets old real quick

ISSAC

Hey Cheryl, haven’t seen you in awhile. How was school? What

are you doing this summer?

CHERYL

It was fine. You know, when I was your age I was excited to

go to college, but it’s still school. Too much reading, too

much writing, not enough time to party.

ISSAC

Well, summer’s here. You can party now, right?

CHERYL

Yeah, I guess. As soon as we stop all of the stupid high

school crap for Charlie.

ISSAC

Yeah, I hear you.

MRS. JOHNSON

You kids feel free to fix yourself a plate. We have lots of

food just for you. Kendra, Kendra, can you tell the kids

what the different sandwiches are, please?

9.

KENDRA

Sure. We have a roast beef with arugula and Gouda cheese, an

avocado, turkey and alfalfa sprouts, and a marinated

eggplant with sauteed red peppers and caramelized onions.

MRS. JOHNSON

Don’t forget about the gluten free option.

KENDRA

Oh yeah, and a pickled beet, black olive and feta rolled in

a kale leaf.

MRS. JOHNSON

The feta is imported. We got it at Plum Market. Special

order. I thought Libby might like it.

LIBBY

Thanks Mrs. Johnson, you are always so thoughtful.

MRS. JOHNSON

We also have an assortment of salads with various yummy

ingredients. (to Libby) I particularly thought you might

like the bulgar wheat germ with taro root and carrot in a

balsamic dressing with splash of extra virgin olive oil.

TEDDY

(to Zack) Ha ha. Who’s the extra virgin here?

ZACK

Dude, shut up you are such a hole.

TEDDY

A what?

ZACK

You know. A hole.

KAYLA

This food is so delicious. I think I’m going to have a

couple of plates.

BRIAN

What is this crap? I’ve never heard of half of these

ingredients. Anyone ever hear of pizza?

RONDA

I swear. Charlie’s parents are always trying so hard to do

the right thing and impress everyone with how trendy they

are.

BRIAN

Give me a bag and chips and a Jimmy John’s any day. This

stuff is too weird for me.

10.

[Sound of "amber alert" warning

begins to sound on the phones of

the students. Students begin to

check their phones]

HOLLY

What is this? Another Amber alert?

RONDA

Aren’t these so annoying?

KAYLA

Maybe a litte, but I’m mean they are kind of a good thing.

They help people.

ISSAC

Wait, this isn’t an Amber Alert. It’s a Blue Alert. I guess

that’s different.

KAYLA

Oh yeah, I heard about these, it’s like a warning for

violent acts of crime or something.

BRIAN

[Reading] Warning. A suspicious looking individual has been

seen in the area of East Dover neighborhood. People are

being advised to lock their doors and stay inside until the

individual is apprehended.

LIBBY

Oh my goodness. What? This is crazy.

CHERYL

What is with this day? Seriously.

MRS. JOHNSON

Burt, Burt, we need to lock the doors. There was a some kind

of Amber Alert thing that said there is a criminal in our

neighborhood. Quick.

MR.JOHNSON

What? Let me see the message. Oh God, this is wild.

CHERRY

I can help you lock the doors dad.

MR.JOHNSON

No, you stay here and help your mother.

CHARLIE

I can help dad.

11.

MR.JOHNSON

No, it’s your party, just go and entertain your friends. And

keep them calm.

MRS. JOHNSON

Cheryl, go help you dad. We need to lock all of the doors in

the house.

BOBBY

Yo, I can help you Mr. J.

MR.JOHNSON

No thanks Bobby. I’ve got it.

CHERYL

You can help me Bobby. Come on, we’ll do the back of the

house. Dad, you do the front of the house and garage.

KENDRA

Oh no, the garage, I forgot I left it open when we were

rushing to get everything in the house as the storm was

starting.

CHERRY

What if the criminal is hiding out in there?

MRS. JOHNSON

Burt. What are we supposed to do?

CHERYL

Mom, Bobby and I will check the garage.

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh, are you sure? Wouldn’t you like your dad to go with you?

CHERYL

Mom, stop you’re being a little ridiculous. I am sure Bobby

and I won’t find anything. Besides there’s two of us. We’ll

be fine. Come on Bobby.

BOBBY

Coming.

HOLLY

Should we be scared?

KAYLA

This is weird.

CHARLIE

Well, everyone just stay calm. The good news is we have

plenty of food and drinks. No reason to let this stop the

celebration.

12.

RONDA

I’m going to text my mom, just so she doesn’t worry.

BRIAN

Looks like we are stuck at this lame ass party for longer

than we wanted to be here.

RONDA

Stop, don’t be rude. It’s not Charlie’s fault.

ZACK

Dude, this is some crazy messed up night. First the storm

and now this.

RONDA

Really, gheez, what’s next a hurricane?

ISSAC

Yeah right, we live in Michigan, there’s not hurricanes in

Michigan.

RONDA

Oh really, I didn’t realize. You’re so stupid, I know that

idiot, it was just a turn of phrase.

TEDDY

Turn of phrase? What’s that? Now that you’re going to

Hillsdale you decided to start talking all fancy.

RONDA

Shut up. I am not.

HOLLY

Oh this storm is something.

CHERYL

Bobby, let’s check the windows in the kitchen. Better safe

than sorry.

KAYLA

Hey, isn’t that Bobby Stedman? Didn’t he go to East Hills

High?

RONDA

Yay, but not sure he graduated. He was kind of a loser.

KAYLA

What’s he doing here?

RONDA

Works for the catering company it looks like.

13.

HOLLY

God, who doesn’t work for the catering company? I mean these

losers are too much.

KENDRA

Bobby, now that you’re done flirting with Cheryl could you

get back to work, please?

BOBBY

I was locking doors to make sure we were safe, remember.

KENDRA

Whatever, just put the cake on the table over there. Mrs.

Johnson are you ready for us to move some of these items

into the kitchen.

JENNY

I’ve got the chocolate covered strawberries. Where do you

want these?

KENDRA

Well, maybe put them down next to the cake. Bobby can you

make room for Jenny?

BOBBY

What do you think I’m doing? God Kendra it’s not like I

haven’t done this before.

KENDRA

I didn’t say you hadn’t, I was just asking.

HOLLY

Hey Jenny, how long you been working at this job?

JENNY

Oh, I just started. My mom was on my back to get a job this

summer and Kendra’s mom offered me this gig.

LIBBY

Is it alright?

JENNY

It’s not that bad, at least I’m busy for most of the time.

HOLLY

Yeah, but you have to work with Bobby Stedman, he’s kinda a

loser isn’t he?

JENNY

I don’t know, he ’s not that bad. He’s kinda funny

sometimes. But working between Kendra and Bobby can be a

challenge. Those two fight like crazy.

14.

HOLLY

Oh really, why?

JENNY

Well, they used to date. Then he broke up with her a couple

of weeks ago.

HOLLY

He broke up with her? Really? Why?

JENNY

Not sure, but I think he’s been going out with some other

girl. I think he was cheating on Kendra with that girl, and

decided to finally call it quits.

LIBBY

Ouch. Poor Kendra.

HOLLY

Yeah, to dumped by that loser.

KENDRA

Jenny, can you help me take some of these things to kitchen?

JENNY

Gotta go. Talk to you later.

LIBBY

Sorry. Didn’t mean to get you trouble.

BOBBY

Jesus Kendra , get off my back.

MRS. JOHNSON

What’s happening in there?

KENDRA

Nothing, sorry Mrs. Johnson. Bobby just dropped a glass.

Nothing to worry about. We’ll take care of it.

MRS. JOHNSON

Well I hope it wasn’t one of my new glasses.

BOBBY

Yo, sorry about the glass Mrs. J

MRS. JOHNSON

Why does he insist on calling me Mrs. J?

CHERYL

Mom, relax. He’s just being friendly.

15.

MRS. JOHNSON

I don’t want him to be friendly. I think he’s kind of living

a wasted life. I mean he didn’t even go to college, did he?

CHERYL

Mom, not everyone has to go to college to find happiness. I

mean Bobby is nice. He has a great sense of humor and really

connects with people.

MRS. JOHNSON

What people? Not any people I know.

CHERRY

Mom, Charlie keeps yelling at me and telling me that I can’t

be part of the party.

MRS. JOHNSON

Not now Cherry.

MR.JOHNSON

Everythings locked down. Nothing to worry about Patty. This

is just a precaution.

MRS. JOHNSON

Well, I certainly hope so. I swear if one more thing goes

wrong.

MR.JOHNSON

Well, hello there Ronda. Are things starting to settle down

now that all of the graduation festivities are coming to an

end?

RONDA

Yay, I guess. I’ve been working a lot. Trying to make as

much money as possible before school starts.

MR.JOHNSON

Sure. Hillsdale is an expensive institution.

RONDA

Yay, you’re telling me. I guess we can’t all get a full ride

like Charlie did.

MR.JOHNSON

That was nice. It certainly is going to put Charlie in a

good place. We were all really happy that he got the

scholarship.

RONDA

Not just any scholarship, the Byron T. Cougar scholarship. A

full ride for 4 years. That’s pretty amazing.

16.

MR.JOHNSON

Yes, it is. Hoping things will work out for you this summer

Ronda.

RONDA

Thanks. Me too.

MRS. JOHNSON

Kayla, I’ve been meaning to tell you what an amazing job you

did with your commencement address. You are a very

accomplished speaker.

KAYLA

Oh thanks Mrs. Johnson. I wasn’t sure it was that good, but

I tried.

MRS. JOHNSON

No, no. It was good. I think your theme about how things

commence was a great topic. The idea of high school

graduation being about commencing one life and starting

another life. It was heartfelt and meaningful.

KAYLA

Thanks. I think we need to think about the future and less

about the past. You know. Onward and upward and that sort of

thing.

MRS. JOHNSON

Exactly. You really did a nice job.

ZACK

Dude, these chocolate covered strawberries are amazing.

ISSAC

How many you eaten.

ZACK

I don’t know. 6 or 7.

ISSAC

Looks like you’ve had more than that. God the platters

almost empty.

ZACK

Whatever. That’s why they’re here right? They’re supposed to

be eaten.

HOLLY

You could save some for other people.

ZACK

Why? First come first served. That’s how I roll.

17.

ISAAC

(eating a chocolate covered strawberry) Dude, you’re right.

These are amazing. Think I’ll just have a couple more while

I’m at it.

LIBBY

Nice. Selfish to the end.

ZACK

Hey, there’s still cake. You can get cake.

KENDRA

Mrs. Johnson, do you think it’s time to cut the cake?

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh, yes. That’s a good idea. Do you have the small plates?

KENDRA

Yes, Jenny’s bringing them in right now. Bobby, can you

refill the chocolate covered strawberries, these look like

they are almost gone.

BOBBY

Ok. But I’m not to sure how many we have left. Some dude was

in the kitchen gobbling them up.

MRS. JOHNSON

Hey, can I get everyone’s attention. We are going to cut the

cake. Come here Charlie, I want you to cut the first piece.

CHARLIE

Mom, can we not? Let’s not make this a big deal.

CHERYL

Go ahead Charlie, it’s your special day. Remember you’re the

big deal today.

CHERRY

Can I have a corner piece, I want a lot of frosting.

MRS. JOHNSON

Cherry, not right now. Your brother gets to have the first

piece. It’s his special day.

MR.JOHNSON

Okay everyone, Charlie’s going to cut the cake.

KAYLA

Wait, wait. The first piece has to be eaten by the lucky

graduate. It’s bad luck if anyone else takes a bite before

he does.

18.

CHARLIE

Oh God. Fine. (takes bite with fork) I’m eating the cake,

are you happy. (talks with mouth full of food...then starts

to gag, choke and grab his throat).

Falls to the floor, writhing,

twitching and convulsing.

HOLLY

Oh my God. Oh my God, what’s happening?

LIBBY

Charlie, Charlie

BRIAN

Step back

LIBBY

(Screams)

HOLLY

(Screams)

BRIAN

What’s happening?

TEDDY

Is he alright?

ZACK

Dude.

MRS. JOHNSON

Help.

[Black out. Power goes out.

Everyone screams. Students scramble

to get their phone flashlights

turned on. When they do they shine

them toward the spot that Charlie

was last seen. He is gone, but a

piece of paper is left stabbed with

a fork through the piece of cake

that says, "One down."]

BOBBY

What’s going on?

KAYLA

What happened to the power?

CHERRY

Where’s Charlie?

19.

MR.JOHNSON

Charlie, Charlie, CHARLIE?

MRS. JOHNSON

Help, oh my God someone call 911

LIBBY

Call 911

BRIAN

I’m trying but my phone isn’t working.

RONDA

Just call the emergency number at the bottom of the phone.

BRIAN

I’m trying, it isn’t working.

HOLLY

What’s that sound?

CHERYL

Mom, mom what’s going on?

MRS. JOHNSON

Burt, Burt help

MR.JOHNSON

Okay, everyone calm down

[Sound of a pounding on the door is

heard. Everyone is startled. Jump.

Screams are heard].

Scene 2: 1 hour later

MRS. LUSTENBERG

This is just horrible. Horrible

MRS. JOHNSON

(to Police) We were so scared when you knocked on the door.

TEDDY

We were freaking out.

OFFICER POLZIN

My apologies. We were in the neighborhood to parole the

streets. It’s a busy time of year with all of these

graduation parties and underage drinking and stuff.

MR.JOHNSON

Why are you going door to door anyway?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 20.

OFFICER POLZIN

There’s a lot of shenanigans this time of year. Then when

the wind storm came through it knocked out power to the cell

phone tower that services this area and now people can’t get

messages to the phones or send out messages.

DETECTIVE CARTWRIGHT

So we decided to send out some of the force to the

surrounding neighborhood to make sure everything was alright

and that there were no problems. We had no idea we would be

dealing with a possible murder.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

Oh, that is terrible. Just the word is too much.

CHERYL

Mrs. Lustenberg when did you get here? I thought you went

home when all of the adults left earlier.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

Oh, I did, but, I was so worried when the power went out and

then I heard the screams, so I decided to come over and see

if I could be of any help.

CHERRY

(To Cheryl) Help? More like being super nosey like usual.

CHERYL

But how did you get in the house?

MRS. LUSTENBERG

Through the backdoor.

MR.JOHNSON

But that door was locked. Wasn’t it Cheryl? I thought you

and Bobby double checked all of the doors.

BOBBY

Oh we did Mr. J. I made sure that door was locked good and

secure.

CHERYL

Yeah, Bobby and I double checked all of the doors.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

Oh, well, I don’t know. It was unlocked when I tried it, so

I just let myself in.

MR.JOHNSON

Unlocked?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 21.

BOBBY

No way.


Officer Polzin, please go check that door.

MR.JOHNSON

Bobby will you show the police officer where that door is?

Maybe I should double check all of the doors myself.


No, Mr. Johnson. I would prefer if Officer Polzin did that.

You understand, don’t you?

MR.JOHNSON

I guess I do. But I should show the officer where all of

the doors are so she knows where they all are located.


As terrible as it is we are going to need everyone to stay

here in the house until we can interview each of you and get

your testimonies.

ZACK

Good thing Mr. Johnson and Bobby were able to hook up the

generator to at least get us enough power to generate some

lights.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

Yeah, but the storm knocked out power in this entire

neighborhood.

CHERRY

I wonder how long we will go without power?

KAYLA

Last year when we had the ice storm the power was out for

almost a week.

HOLLY

God, I hope it’s not that long, that caused such a

disruption.

LIBBY

Guys, I can’t believe that you are talking about a power

outage right now, I think we have bigger issues right now.

BRIAN

Oh yeah, you’re right, it’s just that it’s almost too hard

to believe. Charlie is missing, possibly even murdered.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 22.

ISSAC

At his own graduation party even.

KAYLA

We don’ t know that he has been murdered for sure.

HOLLY

Well we saw him choke and gag on that cake.

TEDDY

And there was the note with the fork stabbed through it.

ZACK

It certainly doesn’t look good, that’s for sure.

RONDA

Right, but Detective Cartwright said we cannot panic just

yet.

BRIAN

And Charlie’s body is missing after all.

KAYLA

And without a body we don’t have any hard evidence that he

has actually been (gulp) you know.

TEDDY

So, like where is he? Taking a nap in his bedroom or

something?

RONDA

We don’t know. That’s the mystery.

BOBBY

That backdoor was unlocked alright. That is crazy. I know

we locked it, didn’t we Cheryl.

CHERYL

Yes we did. I think I already SAID THAT Bobby.

OFFICER POLZIN

The door was not locked. It was wide open. Which explains

how Mrs. Lustenberg got in.


Officer Polzin we need to do a parameter check on the house.

Making sure all doors and windows are secure and everything

is locked down.

OFFICER POLZIN

Okay. I can start in the basement and work my way up.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 23.


I need to stay here to continue the interviews and see if we

can get to the bottom of this situation.

OFFICER POLZIN

Understood. I’ll be careful.

MR.JOHNSON

Detective, I am going stir crazy just hanging out in this

room. Can I help you with anything?


Well, maybe you could go with Officer Polzin and show her

all of the entry points to the house to help expedite the

parameter lock down.

MR.JOHNSON

Absolutely, I am happy to do that. Where do you want to

start?

ZACK

Yo, I think we could all help you. I mean there’s enough of

us and we all want to help do something.

CHERYL

Yeah, I can go with Bobby and we could do the second floor

while you and dad check out the basement and we could meet

on the first floor.


I don’t know about that, it’s not really following our

protocol.

BRIAN

Hey, Mr. Johnson would you like me and Zack to go out and

add some gas to the generator? Last winter my dad made me

keep it running all of the time so I know what to do.

MR.JOHNSON

Oh, that’d be great, but I don’t know if you should be going

outside.

BRIAN

Well, we’ve gotta keep the generator going.

MR.JOHNSON

True. Officer?

OFFICER POLZIN

You said you could take someone else with you?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 24.

BRIAN

Yeah, Zack will come with me, won’t you Zack?

ZACK

Sure, I guess.


Okay, but you boys keep your eyes open and be on the

lookout. If you see anything or need anything don’t hesitate

to yell for assistance.

BRIAN

Ok. We’ve got this. Come on Zack, let’s go.

ZACK

Coming.

KENDRA

Mrs. Johnson, do you want us to start clearing all of this

stuff out of the dining room?

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh, I don’t know. I guess. I’m not sure anyone is still

hungry after all of this.

TEDDY

You don’t have any more of those chocolate covered

strawberries do you?

HOLLY

Teddy, stop, you’re so insensitive.

TEDDY

What? I liked those strawberries.

JENNY

Yeah, I think between you and Zack you basically ate 3 dozen

of them.

KAYLA

Well, I don’ t know about you guys, but I am staying right

here. This is freaking me out. I don’t do well with this

kind of stuff.

LIBBY

Mrs. Johnson, would you like me and Holly to take Cherry to

another room and keep her occupied?

MRS. JOHNSON

Oh, that might be a good thing to do.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 25.

LIBBY

Holly, let’s see if we can get Cherry to show us her room or

something. I think she needs to get out of this room for a

little while.

HOLLY

Maybe we can ask her to show us the science project she had

do for her end of the year project or something.


I need everyone to stay in this room until I can ascertain

all of the information I need to thoroughly conduct this

investigation. So, I invite you all to get comfortable, it’s

going to be awhile.

ISSAC

Oh brother.

(Ad lib comments about having to stay in the living room.

"Why,I didn’t do anything" )


So we have already conducted the initial review of the

facts. We have a possible murder victim who is now missing.

We have established that everyone was in this room when it

happened and that the power outage happened at the exact

time that the alleged murder commenced and that was timed

with our arrival. Officer Polzin has done an investigation

of the premises and there does not appear to be any sign of

Charlie anywhere. We also have this suspicious note and the

fork.

OFFICER POLZIN

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson do you know of any person in this room

who might have had a reason to do harm to your son?

MR.JOHNSON

No, no one.

MRS. JOHNSON

These are all friends of Charlie’s . We’ve gathered to

celebrate his graduation and all of his achievements. This

was his special day.

CHERYL

Yeah, so we’ve been told. Several times already.

MRS. JOHNSON

Cheryl, stop that. What are you saying?

CHERYL

Just that we’ve been hearing about how special Charlie is

and how this is his special day for several weeks now. It’s

kinda getting old.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 26.

MRS. JOHNSON

What are you saying?


Cheryl, I am sensing some animosity in your voice. It sounds

like you might not be all that excited about this day.

CHERYL

No, I’m not saying that, exactly, it’s just that Charlie has

always been my parents favorite and it’s getting old.

CHERRY

No he’s not. I’m the favorite. You’re just jealous because

Charlie is smarter than you and has a full ride to a better

college than the one you’re attending.

CHERYL

Shut up Cherry. You don’t even know what you are talking

about.

CHERRY

Oh really, well I heard you telling Bobby that you were sick

of Charlie and the way everyone was falling all over him and

you couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

CHERYL

Seriously, like you haven’t been complaining all day about

how spoiled Charlie is and how you couldn’t wait for him to

move out and take over his room. So, don’t start pointing

fingers at me.


So, let me get this straight, both of you have been heard

speaking about getting rid of your brother today?

MRS. JOHNSON

Well, now, this is just sibling talk. I am sure they didn’t

mean it literally.


At this point in the investigation, Mrs. Johnson, we cannot

rule out any suspect.

CHERYL

Then why aren’t you pointing your fingers at Mrs.

Lustenberg, I mean she showed up at exactly the same time

that Charlie went missing.

BOBBY

And she somehow got in through a door that had been locked

and checked by both Cheryl and I.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 27.

RONDA

"And me," you idiot.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

How did I suddenly become a suspect in this case? I was at

home minding my own business when suddenly there was a

scream and I came running.

CHERRY

You were already here when the power came back on, before

the screaming began.

MRS. LUSTENBERG

That’s not true


At this point everyone is under consideration, until we can

determine what has happened.

HOLLY

All of this is just so crazy. I am really starting to freak

out.

LIBBY

This is so scary and I’m not sure I can keep it together

much longer. I mean my boyfriend may have been murdered and

everyone is under suspicion and for all we know the murderer

is right in this room and one of us is next.

HOLLY

What do you mean next?

LIBBY

Well, the note said, "One Down"...so I am just guessing that

there might be a "Two Down" or something like that.

KAYLA

I’m not sure anyone has discussed this, but didn’t Charlie

die when he ate a piece of graduation cake?

ISSAC

Dang, your’re right. And I was about to eat this piece, why

didn’t you say something to me when I picked up this piece

of cake?

KAYLA

I wasn’t thinking clearly, but I am wondering if the whole

cake has been poisoned or if it was just the piece that

Charlie ate?

OFFICER POLZIN

That is a good point. We need to take the cake in for

evidence.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 28.


What cake?

KAYLA

The graduation cake that was served moments prior to Charlie

going missing.


Well, where is the cake?

MRS. JOHNSON

It was on the table right there.

HOLLY

Well, it’s not here now.

MRS. JOHNSON

Kendra, where is the cake?

KENDRA

Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t think anyone would want any so I had

Bobby take it to the kitchen.


Bobby, can you go and bring back the cake please?

BOBBY

Sure thing. Hey Jenny, I need the cake back (exiting into

the kitchen).

KAYLA

Well, maybe if we can figure out if the whole cake was

poisoned we can narrow in on the suspect.

HOLLY

Right. My guess is that Kendra is a prime suspect. And that

stupid Bobby is probably in on it.

TEDDY

Oohh, yeah. Those two are pretty shady. Or that Jenny girl.

She’s looks nervous. I bet she is in on it too. I mean

Kendra brought out the cake in the first place.

HOLLY

Exactly. And who supposedly checked the back door to make

sure it was locked?

TEDDY

Dude, you’re right. Bobby did.

HOLLY

I’m just saying, keep your eye on those three. They seem

suspicious to me.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 29.

Jenny and Bobby re-enter from the

kitchen

BOBBY

So, about the cake. We don’t have it anymore.

KAYLA

What? Why?

JENNY

I’m sorry. It was my fault. I wasn’t thinking and I washed

it down the sink. I was just so upset and I didn’t want

anyone else to be poisoned. I didn’t want to take a chance.

HOLLY

But, you disposed of the murder weapon. So doesn’t that make

her an accomplice to the crime?

ISSAC

Yay. That’s what I’m thinking.

OFFICER POLZIN

To be clear we don’t have a complete case at this point. We

are simply collecting facts and seeing if we can solve this

mystery.

TEDDY

I knew it. I said this was a mystery.

HOLLY

Shut up Teddy.

ZACK

(Entering from the garage). Okay, we just filled the

generator with gas, we should be all set for a little while

longer. What’d we miss?

RONDA

Well, it looks like everyone is a suspect. Jenny washed the

poisoned cake down the drain and managed to get rid of the

only evidence we had. Mrs. Lusterberg somehow got in

through the back door that supposedly Bobby and Cheryl said

they had locked. Cherry and Cheryl have been heard talking

about how they wanted to get rid of Charlie and Kendra and

Jenny are being suspected of poisoning the cake.

ZACK

Dude. We weren’t gone that long. That’s a lot.

KENDRA

I’m sorry, but if I am a suspect then so should Ronda. I

mean Ronda has a bigger motive than any of the rest of us.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 30.

RONDA

What motive?

BOBBY

Aren’t you up for that scholarship at Hillsdale?

KENDRA

Yes, and if Charlie is taken out of the running the

scholarship goes to you, isn’t that right?

RONDA

Well, technically that is true, but you really think I’m am

capable of murder?

TEDDY

This just keep getting more complicated at every moment.

ZACK

You can say that again, dude.

HOLLY

Well, if Ronda is a prime suspect so should Bobby. I mean

he’s been everywhere that the problems have occured.

CHERRY

Not to mention that the is secretly dating Cheryl.

CHERYL

Shut up Cherry.

MRS. JOHNSON

What are you talking about? Cheryl isn’t dating anyone. Are

you Cheryl?

MR.JOHNSON

Are you Cheryl?

CHERRY

Well, that’s not what Charlie said. I heard the two of them

arguing about it earlier this morning.

KENDRA

What’s the matter Cheryl, can’t admit you would lower

yourself to date someone like Bobby.

BOBBY

Hey!

CHERYL

Screw you Kendra.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 31.

KENDRA

No, screw you Cheryl. I am sick of you and your high horse.

TEDDY

Wait, I’m confused, are Cheryl and Bobby dating?

CHERYL

Yes

BOBBY

Yes

MRS. JOHNSON

No

MR.JOHNSON

No

The sound of a gun shot is heard

offstage and everyone on stage

screams. Pandemonium breaks out as

everyone tries to scatter and hide.


NOBODY MOVE.

BLACK OUT. End of Act One.

A Murder Commences By John W. Rutherford & Marshall L. Ross ...

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