It all began on a dark and stormy night, where a dark person waits with a dark purpose.                         

“Nooo! Stay back! Help!”

 “Susan! We’re coming!” said Hanes. 

“Oh my god,” said Tara. 

“What’s all the noise? Can`t you see people are trying to… oh,” said Joyce.

5 hours earlier. “Hello all you wicked wacks listening to all my songs and raps, I got 

another song for you so don’t touch that dial.” said the DJ on the radio in Dave’s car. “The weather is going to be bad tonight with a sandstorm through the night.”

 “Wrong station,” said Dave as he swapped stations to find the right one. “LOUWWWWWW” 

“Take me home” 

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” 

“That’s it. That’s what I’m looking for,” said Dave. 

  “Ahhh, I finally arrived, Brd Manor. It took three airplanes, two buses, and a car with a tree, but I made it,”said Dave as he masked the beauty of the mansion. 

“Dave!” said a familiar voice. All of the sudden a girl comes blasting through the door and ran at Dave. 

“Joyce!” said Dave to Joyce as they did their secret handshake. 

“I’m so glad you could come!” Said Joyce “I have your room all set. So set your stuff in the guest room, and I will introduce you to the family.”

 As he walked down the hall to his room. He heard someone’s muffled voice down at the other end of the hall. When he got to the door he peeked inside and saw a woman yelling at the phone. 

“If you think you can get my fortune you are dead wrong! No! You listen! I am not going to my entire estate to the likes of you, ” said the woman who looked vaguely familiar 

“I see you’ve met my mom, Ms. Susan Brd,” said Joyce. 

“ You scared me, wait, that’s Susan Brd one of the wealthiest people in the continent,” said Dave. “Yes, my crude, rich, never-spending-time-to-see-her-family, mother,” said Joyce.  “You do not want to get on her bad side, trust me. Oh and there are my brothers from other fathers. Jack Brown and Hanes Motov.” 

“Hey Joyce, who’s your friend?” said Jack. 

“I was just showing my old college buddy, Dave here, around the house,” said Joyce. “Can I show him? Only I can give him the best tour around the old place,” said Hanes. “Sure, just make sure you are back by dinner. Today it’s spaghetti and meatballs,” said Joyce. 

“Thanks, you won’t regret it. Come on Dave,” said Hanes.

1 hour and 46 minutes later. Hanes and Dave enter the corridor.  

“I think that’s everything.” Said Hanes. “Oh look at the time, we’re going to be late for dinner, let’s go this way…No…maybe…no.” 5 minutes of tedious searching later. “ Oh, hi Tara. Dave This is Tara Oster, our maid/butler/cook/housekeeper, and most of all, Joyce’s all out friend since her dad was the one who spent time with us. But, he died when she was four and mom sent us off to boarding school but didn’t send Joyce. It was just her and Tara.” 

“And underpaid. Hello master Dave,” said Tara. 

“Hello Tara,” said Dave. 

“I think we better go,” said Hanes. 

They finally arrived at the dining room and sat down to eat. 

“So you finally decided to come and sit down to eat,” said Susan. “You probably got lost in the house again like Thanksgiving, didn’t you?” “No…Yes.” Hanes said as he looked away. “He almost always lies,” said Joyce. 

Many minutes of silence passed by until Dave said. “Great cooking.” And everyone looked at him. After dinner Dave said, “ Let’s play a game.” 

“That’s a good idea,” said Jack. 

“Okay what will we play?” asked Dave. 

“Why don’t we play Guess Who,” said Jack. 

“That is a great idea,” said Hanes. 12 rounds of Guess Who later. “Let’s be done and get some sleep,” said Jack. 

“Okay,” said Hanes. 

“Time to turn in,” said Dave with a yawn. 

“Goodnight,” said Jack. 

There was a knock at the door. As Dave opened the door he saw an ebony silhouette of a man against the dark Saudi Arabian sky. 

“Hello I am John Hathers, my car broke down and I was wondering if I could stay here for the night. Till the car shop opens tomorrow morning.” 

“Well sure John. You can stay for as long as you like. Please, come in,” said Dave. “Thanks,” said John. 

“I’m Dave.” 

“Hi Dave,” said John. 

“Shhh. Don’t want to wake the whole house,” said Dave. “There is your room, please call me if you need anything.” John was very grateful of Dave.

    “Nooo! Stay back! Help!” 

“Susan! We’re coming!” said Hanes. 

“Oh my god,” said Tara. 

“What’s all the noise? Can`t you see people are trying to… oh,” said Joyce. Susan was 

lying on the floor motionless. Everyone stood in amazement. Jack’s eyes filled with tears, and he began to cry. Tara just stood there motionless, looking at her late boss. 

“Is she, dd…dead?” Stuttered Joyce. 

“Everyone get in their rooms and lock their doors. Tara, call 911.”  

“But” 

“No but’s!” Dave said before Jack could say anything. 

“I will call you one at a time to interrogate you.” 

15 minutes later. “Nothing, not a bit of motive and plenty of opportunity for all of them. I might as well get some rest,” Dave thought. “No use staying up all night not finding out anything.” 

As he walked into his room, he found it a mess. His luggage was on the ground, the bookcase was knocked over, and everything else was wrecked. He heard someone running down the stairs so he ran after them. He caught the person and found out it was Jack. 

“Jack what are you doing trying to sneak your luggage out of the house in a sandstorm?” said Dave. 

“I don’t want to be a part of this,” said Jack. “I just wished we had one good holiday before she passed away. The family being away and all we didn’t have many holidays together. Was that too much to ask of God?” Dave locked eyes with Jack and locked the door. 

“You need to leave,” said Dave in a woman’s voice. He walked back to his room and Dave could hear Jack scream into his pillow from Timbuktu.

“AHHHH!” 

“Here we go again,” said Dave. 

“That was Joyce!” said Jack. 

“What’s wrong?” said Dave. 

“Someone went past my window with a gun,” said Joyce. 

“Come on Jack, we can catch them if we hurry,” said Dave. “It’s time for a chase scene montage.” 

5 grueling minutes of chase scene montage with music later. “We lost them whoever they were,” said Dave as he ran out of breath. 

“We can’t stay out here, it’s too…” Jack’s voice could barely be made out in the storm. Once they got inside they couldn’t see. 

“Jack, Hanes, anyone.” Dave called but no one answered. 

“Dave!” called Jack. “Where are we?” 

“I think we are in the kitchen,” answered Dave. “See if you can find something to wipe our eyes off with.” 

“Find something, see, we can’t even find each other and our eyes are filled with sand,” said Jack sarcastically. 

“Ahh, found a towel,” said Dave. 

“Here you go Jack. Now, you head to bed and I will see you later.” 

As he went to the living room he saw someone walking crouched toward the parlor room. 

He followed and  found out it was Hanes. 

“Hanes,” said Dave “ What are you doing up this late?” 

“Nothing.” said Hanes as he looked away suspiciously. 

“Tell me the truth Hanes,” said Dave. 

“Okay we all hated her, we all hated Susan. We held a secret meeting before this event to talk about how we all hated her. We all wanted her to kick the bucket, I never thought someone would actually do this but here we are. In a house full of people and with a dead body.” He said as his voice got more serious and became louder. 

“Cool your jets Hanes. Everyone in this house is safe with Detective Dave Maceade on the job,” said Dave. 

“Someone is dead.” Hanes said sarcastically. 

“I was off the job then.” Said Dave. “Now, you go to bed and get some rest and I will see you and everyone else in the morning.” 

Dong. Dong. Dong. 

“Three’o’clock, hmm. So far so good, might as well get some coffee,” said Dave as he talked to himself. He whipped off the sand on the window and looked through it. “Looks like the storm is over.” 

He grinded the coffee beans and poured them into the coffee machine. 

“Man, last night was crazy,” said Joyce as she walked into the kitchen. 

“Well good morning to you too,” said Dave. 

“Ohh, are you making coffee, in that case. I want an espresso with two pumps of hazelnut, four pumps of vanilla, three marshmallows, extra whip, small bits of chocolate, and a partridge in a pear tree,” said Joyce. 

“Very funny, coming right up,” said Dave. 6 minutes later. “Finished with your espresso with two pumps of hazelnut et cetera et cetera,” said Dave. “Exactlly how you like it, extra toasty.” 

“Wow,” said Joyce. “You have a real gift. You could go places with a talent like that.” “Thanks, but I like it when I am a detective,” said Dave. “I just get so much thrill out of it, solving mysteries, crimes, and murders. It’s just so exciting.” Jack and Hanes came walking down the stairs. 

“Morning you two,” said Dave. “We were wondering when you would come down.” 

“Have a seat,” said Joyce 

“Thanks,” said Hanes. 

“Can we get some coffee?” asked Jack. 

“Write your orders down,” said Dave. 

“I slept like a log,” said John. 

“Oh yes, Everyone this is John Hathers. His car broke down and I let him stay for the night before the whole multi billionaire dying and all that other stuff,” said Dave. 

“So, John, what do you do for work?” asked Joyce. “I am a DJ; I was on the way back from the radio station when my car drove into a sand dune. I tried to back out but I was too stuck, I tried to push it out but I was in too deep,” said John. “So I walked for what felt like forever until I got to this house. When I walked up to the front door and Dave answered, he let me in and let me stay in the guest room for the night. And I’m so happy he did if he hadn’t. Then I would not have met all of you.” 

“Do you think you have met everyone?” said Jack. 

“Because there is one person you haven’t met.” 

“Good morning everyone,” said Tara. 

“That’s Tara,” said Dave. “The butler of her late employer Susan Brd, aka the woman who died last night.” 

“Sorry, for everyone’s loss,” said John. “I know I didn’t know her very well being a celebrity and all but, she must have meant so much to you all.” 

“Actually,” said Dave. “They all hated her.” 

“What?” said John. 

“They hated her, each and everyone of them. They all had a reason for wanting her dead. From her not spending time with her kids to staff not being paid enough,” said Dave when a thought appeared in his mind. “And I think I know who is behind this.”

“Who?” asked Joyce. 

“The only person who isn’t here. You can come out now.” Dave called around the corner and out came Susan Brd. 

“Susan!” Joyce gasped as she began to faint. 

“She’s going to faint.,” said John. 

“Catch her,” said Hanes. 

“I got her,” said Dave. “Fall into my arms.” Joyce fell through his arms and onto the floor. “Opps,” said Dave. “Yes, it was Susan pulling the strings this entire time. Ever since she knew about the secret meeting Hanes told me about last night she was furious with all of you so much that she figured out a plan to pay you all back. She was going to pretend to be dead like one of you knocked her off. But, John and I showed up and really confused things. But she had taken some pills to make her fall asleep for hours, making us think she was dead. And we would have known she wasn’t dead if we had checked her pulse, which is a rookie mistake that no one should miss with a straight train of thought. Which, let’s face it, none of us had that last night. You all were so worried about her and you all cared about her for one of the first times ever.” 

“You all cared,” said Susan as her eyes began to fill with tears and a second later she started to cry. As everyone tried to comfort her Dave remembered something. 

“So I just remembered I called the police so Susan is going to jail, sorry Susan,” said Dave. 

4 minutes later. As the police arrived, put Susan in the cruiser, and left, Dave felt a sense of fulfillment. 
4 short months later. Susan will spend 50 years in prison for faking her death and her evil scheming. Jack and Hanes became the biggest acts in show business to hit New York since Hamlet. Tara started her own fashion line for staff like butlers, maids, cooks, and housekeepers. Joyce went on to start her own tech company called The Most Expensive Electronics and Tech for the Wealthist People. I know a very long name right, like her coffee order. And Dave, well I went on to be the next Benoit Blanc. I went on to start a family and I started this book series which started with the mystery I call “Blood on the Sand.”