The Murder on the Knight Bus

I was walking along the streets of London, along with my friends Jack and Joe. We’re usually called the 3 J’s since all our names start with J. All of us work in the same company, with both of them at a lower position than mine (since I recently got promoted). It was a Sunday, and I was the only one excited among us since I was to have another week’s holiday, while they had to work from the next day.

We didn’t know where to go to spend our day, so we were just wandering around the place when we came across a fancy bus. It was purple in colour, and looked very similar to the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. Since all three of us were really curious – me especially – we went over and inquired a man standing at the back of the queue.

“Excuse me sir! What is this bus standing here?”

“Oh! This is called the Knight Bus. It looks very similar to the Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, doesn’t it? They’re taking a tour of those who register for 6 days and 7 nights, around London! I’m yet to inquire about the cost details, but it seems fun!”

I looked at the queue. It wasn’t pretty long, only a few people were standing there. I thought it was quite a good idea, since anyway I was to be at home for the next week.

The queue moved quite fast. I got my tickets and a brochure on where the bus would stop and the schedule of everything which the bus would take us through.

The next day morning, I got ready and boarded the bus on time. It was pretty spacious, and for a minute, I thought I was on a train. I had my own cabin and a nice bed. It was like a tiny room, and cute. I’m not a person who likes cute stuff, but this bus intrigued me, and asked me to stay.

I unpacked a few snacks and put them on a small desk available there. Then I sat beside the window, opened the curtains and pinned my face to the glass, as I saw the snow falling beautifully. It was a wonderful day. Even though it was snowing, it didn’t feel that cold. It was pleasant.

I was about to ring the bell to ask the conductor about how long we would have to wait to start off, when I noticed a small book on my desk. It read ‘inspirational quotes’. I opened the book, to read that it belonged to a lady named Amelia Hector. I wanted to return the book back, but curiosity got the better of my scruples.

I read on…there were several quotes thereon different motivational topics, but most were self-love quotes. I took out my notepad, and started writing down a few of them which I felt was inspiring.

By the time I finished writing them, the ink in my pen had run out fully, so I couldn’t note down a few more ones which I felt nice. I decided to ring up the conductor and confirm with him if Amelia was on the bus, after going through the whole book.

I looked at my watch. It was time for lunch! So I opened a few snack packets and ate them as lunch. I saved the bread for dinner. Then I looked out the window again. It was so beautiful that I kept staring at it without keeping track of time. Then the book passed my mind, and I continued reading it. By the time I finished it and ate my dinner, it was 10PM.

I pressed the bell and the conductor came.

“Hello! Sir, is anyone called Amelia on this bus?”

He was a little hesitant at first.

“No, sir, don’t misunderstand. I have this book here which says her name. I wanted to confirm if she was here. If yes, I want to return this to her in person.”

He nodded and told me her cabin was the next one.

I knocked on her cabin door, and she opened it, looking flustered. Before saying anything, I handed her the book. She seemed to calm down a bit more, and asked me in.

“I went through the book without your permission…I’m sorry! But those quotes were quite something! I really loved them! Where did you get this book?”

“Umm…I’m actually not sure! My mother gave this book to me. She knows I like to motivate myself through books and quotes, so she gave it as a present!”

“Oh, that’s nice! Your mom’s a housewife? My mom works a window display designer! She’s very talented and she her design even got published as the front page in a magazine!”

“Wow, that’s wonderful! My mom used to be a housewife…now she has my dad’s company to take care of, since she doesn’t think I’m qualified enough to carry the burden…”

“Then, what about your dad?”

“He passed away …”

By the time she said it, my phone rang.

“I’m so sorry, my lady. I’ll be right back!”

It was Jack. He just wanted to know how the day went. I told him it was time for me to sleep and ended the call. I looked at my watch. It read 11PM. Time sure did fly fast! I knocked at her cabin door, and went in. She smiled even though I knew that in the gap I went outside she had cried.

“I’m sorry for your loss…and your mom, what happened to you and your mom after you dad passed away?”

“I was to take over dad’s company. I was educated enough and had enough courage to do so but…my mom said that there were still a few things she had to take care of, and took over the company. It’s been about a year. I’m pretty much jobless, since no one is willing to give me a job when my mom’s the chairman of my dad’s company. I’ve begged my mom to give me a job in the company itself, but she’s quite adamant saying that everything she does has a reason, and that I shouldn’t interfere. Since I had nothing to do, and saw this bus by chance, I thought why not use this opportunity to go around the city and use up my free time! And here I am, in this bus, and chatting with a guy whose name I still haven’t asked even though he knows mine.”

I laughed.

“My name is Jason Walker. My mom, as I said, is a window display designer, while my dad…well, he ended up just like yours…he passed away…”

“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss, Jason. Oh my goodness! Did you notice the time?! My goodness, is it already 11:30PM?! I’m a person who strictly follows a bedtime schedule, which has been delayed for about an hour and a half today! I’m so sorry to send you away, but I guess we’ll chat tomorrow!”

I nodded, wished her a good night and came out. The conductor, at that exact time, came near the door and asked if we needed anything. I declined and told him to ask if Amelia needed anything. He went in. soon he came out, saying that she said she wanted to sleep, and asked no one to bother her. I smiled and went into my cabin after bidding him goodbye.

It was close to 1AM. I heard a sudden but sharp sound. I stood up from the bed, turned around and looked if anyone was there. No, it was all quiet again. I was feeling extremely nervous and scared. I opened the cabin door, closed it tightly shut, and walked out into the corridor there. It was small, but quite lit up. There was no one there. I was trembling from head to toe, but I hid it well.

I walked towards the seat where the conductor was sitting. He was still awake.

“Hello sir! Haven’t you slept yet?”

He didn’t respond. He was too engrossed in watching ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ on his phone, with his air pods on.

“SIR, HAVEN’T YOU SLEPT YET?!”

I almost shouted, which made him jump up from his seat. I immediately regretted the decision. Not because I made him jump, but because of the fear of waking someone up.

“Ah, what do you want in the middle of the night?! Shouting like that and disturbing everyone! Please stay quiet sir! Now, what made you shout like that?”

“I heard a sharp sound sir. I just wanted to ask if you heard that too.”

“Huh, a sound you say, eh? I didn’t hear a soul. And even if a sound came, I couldn’t have heard it, because of my air pods. I suggest you sleep without troubling more. I’ll reduce the volume and keep a watch. No one can come in here without my permission. So go and sleep without worrying at all.”

I silently went to my cabin door. It was slightly open, just the way I had left it. I went in, and locked the door from inside. I found it hard to sleep after the trip I had taken outside, but I had to, since there were just a few more hours until dawn.

I must’ve dozed off pretty well, since I awoke to a lot of buzzing talk in the next cabin. I stretched myself, put on my coat, made sure I wore the tie properly, ruffled my hair, and went out of my cabin.

“What’s wrong here? Why is everyone making such a noise?” I asked them.

Everyone in the whole bus was standing there, in front of the cabin door, which was wide open. I pushed everyone, and went through them, to see Amelia lying in her bed…in a pool of blood. She had been killed vigorously, and been stabbed many times.

My eyes widened, and I was extremely scared. The first person who came on my mind at that time was Laura Hackman. I work at her office part-time as a side-kick investigator. I slightly hesitated, but decided to ring her up, even though the results which I expected were not that good.

Laura arrived in exactly 4 minutes 24 seconds, since she said she had been nearby.

As soon as she arrived, the first thing she did was to inquire if anyone had touched anything inside the cabin. Everyone said they had kept their distance. The conductor had fainted from shock. Everyone else was still there, staring at the body.

“Now, everyone, please stay out of the cabin. I have some investigating to do.”

Everyone stepped out, including me. She took out her silvery white gloves, and put them on. She went near the window-sill and fully opened the half open window and peeked outside. Then she asked me for a chair to sit on. I grabbed one from my cabin and put it near the bed Amelia was lying dead. She sat down, and looked closely at her body. It looked like she was examining the cuts.

“Hmm, this looks interesting…ok, I have a small lead, but let me not share it yet, before my suspicions are confirmed. But I can tell one thing for sure. The murderer is still on the bus.”

I gulped. A chill ran down my spine, as I slowly trembled. Then Laura suddenly made a sharp sound and pointed behind us. We all got scared and turned around. But there was no one there. A sharp laughter surrounded.

“HAHAHA, I was just trying to mess with you guys. Don’t worry; I’m sure the murderer won’t strike now!”

Then she said asked everyone what they were doing during the time of the murder. Everyone claimed to be asleep.

“Laura, I heard a sharp sound at about 1PM. I went to see what was outside and saw the conductor still awake…he was watching Sherlock Holmes. I had to literally shout for him to hear. He said he didn’t hear a noise, so I went to bed…but I felt uneasy all night.”

Laura smiled. She told me to stand a little bit away. I did as I was told. She looked at me, from head to toe. She smiled again, this time a bit more cheerfully.

“You’ve grown taller, my friend! Your hair’s a bit overgrown, which is a bit unlike you…”

“Ah, since I was hanging out with Jack and Joe throughout the weekend I didn’t have time to cut my hair…you know I’m fully busy during weekdays since I got promoted. That’s why I couldn’t find time to visit you.”

“Ok, Jason, please wait outside the cabin door. Send the passengers inside one by one. I want to question them personally.”

I did as I was told.

Once all the passengers were inquired, Laura asked me to come in.

“I know who the killer is, Jason. I wish it weren’t true, but all the clues are pointing to a single person.”

She reached out to her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. It had writing on it, but most of it couldn’t be understood, since the blood had smudged all the ink.

“Jason, can I have your jacket please?”

I handed her my jacket.

“Oh, you never zip your pockets…looks like you’ve changed a lot! Hmm…now Jason, can you explain me what’s the meaning of this?”

She took out my notepad, and compared it with the sheet of paper she had in hand. Both of them had the same lines, same texture, and the handwriting was similar. I realised it was mine.

“Jason, are you not going to answer? Ok then, let me continue my accusation. The stabs she has on her body… you are the only one in this cabin to have a Mark I Trench Knife which is the only type of knife which can cut a body like that, you have the same notepad as the writing there, and you are a fan of Agatha Christie, which leads me to 2 solutions…either u killed her yourself for a reason you have to explain, or someone else killed him and made all the clues pointing at you…which is a lesser obvious choice.”

I sighed. I expected this result. I knew this would happen, but I had to call her if I didn’t want to end up in jail. She switched on her recorder and I started speaking.

“Yes Laura, it was me. My dad had worked for her dad and he had asked my dad to do a job which involved drug dealing. My dad, being a person who likes to be honest in whatever he does, refused. But Amelia’s dad blackmailed him saying that he would ruin my life. He had no choice but to accept it. While doing the job, my dad got caught and was hanged. My mom couldn’t deal with this shock and passed away 2 months later. I wanted to take revenge by killing him, but he died out of stroke before I could. I thought of reaching the media and telling them about this incident, but I was attacked by a few bodyguards. I later realised they were the men sent by Amelia’s mom. I waited and waited to get at least a small chance for me to avenge their death. That was when I saw her registering at the queue. I decided to join and try my chance and it had somehow worked. I knew I was wrong but I got my revenge. Please don’t hand me over to the police…I’ve decided to kill myself anyways.”

When I finished saying it, she stopped recording. I took out my Mark I Trench Knife.

“I’ll wait outside. Don’t shout though. I’ll call the police once I confirm that you’re dead.”

I stabbed myself so many times, that I didn’t survive to count them.

Epilogue:

Laura called the police and Jason’s body was cleared out. The doctor confirmed he was dead. As for Amelia’s mom, she had to face the consequences for trying to ruin someone’s life further after her husband had done a bad thing. She went to jail, and was soon prosecuted. As for Laura, she had seen far more deaths than what had happened now, and it didn’t shake her at all. She decided to forget it all for the greater good, and posted an advertisement asking for someone who wants to work part-time as a side-kick investigator.