MYSTERY INCORPORATED

Posted March 1, your solution to this
mystery should be in by May 1.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY REUNION

by:   Scriptress © 1998

All Rights Reserved

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

SEAMAS EOGHAN GREEN:

Affectionately known as 'John-John',   now deceased,   owned the business known as The Party Zone,   a factory producing party favors.

CATHLIN CAY GREEN-O'BRIAN:

Her middle name,   Cay,   means 'Isle'.   She is affectionately known as 'Cay, Cay'.   She is a woman with a strong sense of family whose father was John-John Green. Her mother left her father when Cay-Cay was a baby.
Subsequently her father and mother divorced. She is married to a gambler, a man who married her for her money. Their life together is sterile, and the event of her father's death has led her to start divorce proceedings.

VERDET KEY:

Is an exotic and mysterious redhead,   this night dressed all in green. She joins the group not speaking much,   keeping her own council and watching the rest of the world from a a very private place of her own. Her given and surname together can be translated as   'Emerald Isle'.   She is adorned with a stunning emerald necklace and is sporting a large diamond engagement ring. She is a writer of poetry and is waiting for the publication date of her first anthology of poems.

TEARLACH CALLIHAN:

John-John's attorney and estate administrator, goes by the nickname,   'T.L.'.   Although confined to a wheel chair,   his charisma and personality soon gives one the feeling that his handicap is minimal.   He is a person who takes charge while showing sensitivity to other's feelings. For years he has kept his strong attraction to Cay-Cay a secret,   known only to himself.

KILIAN O'BRIAN:

Kilian's given name is the Irish equivalent of the English name of 'Cecil',   meaning   "the dim-sighted".   The focal point of his life has been quick money, with gambling as the means to his goal. Having dipped too far into Cay-Cay's and his joint account, Cay-Cay transferred her yearly endowment funds into an account carrying her name only. Kilian is now deeply in debt to loan sharks, who recently threatened his life unless he pays $10,000.00 within one week. However, he feels secure that his father-in-law's death will ease his situation, as his wife is John-John's sole heir.

BARNEY O'CASEY:

Barney's given name is the Irish diminutive for 'Barnaby' meaning "son of exhortation". Barney served many years as John-John's private secretary. He is bright, somewhat cunning, pays attention to detail, and has successfully courted Verdet for his own purposes. He is named as John-John's estate personal representative.

SCENARIO:

Originally planned by John-John as a family reunion, Cay-Cay elected to go ahead with the celebration as in the tradition of an Irish wake, where a party celebrates the passing of the beloved into the beyond. During the wake, T.L. will read John-John's last will and testament.

Cay-Cay and T.L. are late in arriving have been delayed by a shooting incident.

Meanwhile the guests have partaken of the ample and colorful spread of food and beverages. Kilian appears to have drunk more than his fill of green beer and is becoming loud and boisterous. He turns his attentions on Verdet, much to her discomfort. Barney is just about to bodily remove Kilian when Cay-Cay and T.L. arrive. Barney assists Kilian to his seat, standing behind him with a commanding hand on Kilian's shoulder.

Cay-Cay welcomes everyone and appologizes for being late. Her voice fills with emotion as she says, "John-John, as many of you affectionately called him, would have so loved being here. Let us celebrate his passing, as my father would have wished, on this St. Patrick's Day and in the way he lived life, full of fun and with the zest for the living of it." She sits down to collect herself. As she does so, she reaches for T.L.'s hand.

T.L. takes his cue. Rolling his wheel chair to a place of prominence he begins to recount the reason for his and Cay-Cay's tardiness. "On our way here we were shot at. But for Cay's expert driving, we surely would have gone off the road. The bullet passed through the windshield almost dead center, missing both of us. The shot came from a passing car. We stopped at the first police station and made our report. However, we were unable to give the police any information as to the car, or its occupant."

Kilian speaks, "I've had it up to here with fun and games. Let's get down to the business at hand!"

T.L. continues, ignoring Kilian's outburst. "As to the reading of Seamas Eoghan Green's will, the body of it holds no surprises. He appointed Barney O'Casey as his personal representative. He directed that his estate be conducted as administrative, rather than judicial, by sworn statement from his personal representative, unless circumstances occur which he could not have anticipated and which would necessitate formal or supervised judicial proceedings for the protection of persons interested in his estate. As legally required he named only one survivor, his daughter Cathlin Cay Green, and bequethed her his entire estate, allowing that if there were any other immediate and legal survivors the estate would be shared equally.

"Under the special devises clause Mr. Green bequeths to Kilian O'Brian a lottery ticket, with what he hoped would be six lucky numbers. To his Uncle Clyde Mitchell he bequethed two cases of balloons," and I quote here, "which when put to use, holds a happy surprise."

T.L. picks up another set of papers, and continues speaking. "There is however, a codicil to Mr. Green's will which states that at the time of the original writing it was presumed that his daughter Cay-Cay was his only issue. However, Mr. Green subsequently found that he had another daughter, and therefore made this addition. Without going into the required legalese, the other daughter's name is Emerald Isle, a child born to a Korean woman who John-John met and loved while serving in the army.

"At the writing of this codicil John-John had not been able to find the whereabouts of this woman, and was not sure that she lived. However, proof of her identity exists from a picture of an emerald necklace." T.L. holds up the picture to those sitting before him. "I also have a certified copy of Emerald's birth certificate."

Simultaneously Barney O'Casey and Verdet Key stand to be recognized. Verdet turns to Barney and gives him a look that would freeze the scales off any fish. He resumes his seat. She removes the diamond ring from her finger and places it before Barney. "You thought to marry me and share in my father's estate. You didn't think I knew what you had planned. But, I did. Your mistake was hiring me to work at The Party Zone." Then approaching T.L. she adds, "I believe you will find that the necklace in that photograph is one in the same as the necklace I am wearing tonight."

Everyone sits in shocked silence, their eyes rivetted on T.L. and the mystery woman. Unseen by anyone is Kilian removing the cases of balloons sitting on the floor next to Clyde Mitchell's chair. He disappears from the room.

Cay-Cay stands and goes to Verdet. She gives her a loving hug, saying, "I have a sister, a most beautiful one at that." She turns to the assembly and says, "This is reason to celebrate. Uncle Clyde, break out those balloons. Let's have some music, I want to dance. T.L. you're my partner," and saying that she whirls his wheel chair patterned to her dancing feet. T.L. takes her face in his hands and draws it close to his. They kiss, long and passionately.

Uncle Clyde searches in vain for the balloons. He enlists Barney's help. Together they search the restaurant area and then go outside. Shortly, they return. Barney goes to T.L. and Cay-Cay, interrupting their embrace. "There's no other way to say this, Kilian is dead. We found him in his car, shot through the head. In his lap we found this note." T.L. takes the note from Cay-Cay and sees that it is a scrap of paper with pasted words cut from printed pages. It reads, "One, week, $10,000, or, final, liquidation," with each word a single cut in different styles of type.

CLUES:

   1:   Photograph of emerald necklace, printed on the back is an appraiser's evaluation, and an insurance policy number, 54390.
   2:   Threatening note.
   3:   The will and its codicil.
   4:   Two pages copied from a Thesaurus with highlights on synonyms of "green" and "island" found in Verdet's purse.
   5:   The opened boxes of balloons, obviously scattered about as if someone was searching their contents.
   6:   Emerald Green's birth certificate.
   7:   The emerald necklace.
   8:   Kilian's lottery ticket.

YOU solve the mystery and send your solution to:  
   sisters@ix.netcom.com

Back To The Intro Page