Murders on the Armstrong Express

One Christmas Eve, the Armstrong family got an invitation from David Armstrong’s friend who lived in Scotland. He invited the Armstrong family to come to Scotland and celebrate the New Year. David managed to book tickets in a train named The Armstrong Express. Daisy, David’s daughter started laughing with excitement, amused at the train bearing their surname.

On the way to Scotland, the Armstrongs had a detective as co-passenger. The detective was investigating the murder of Mr. John Rudolf, who happened to have been killed in The Armstrong Express. After profound Investigation and background checks, it was found that John himself had criminal records. He was involved in the assault of David’s wife, and also David’s mother. In that train, there was seated an old lady. She told the detective that previous night someone had come into her cabin and attacked her. The investigation was still going on, but they till now could not find out who murdered John.

The detective saw a young lady and interrogated her too. For two days the weather was bad with heavy snowfall, the train couldn't move at all. The detective and his assistant were just talking, when they heard a loud scream. The scream had come from cabin no.321. The detective and his assistant ran to see what had happened, and they found a knife stuck on an old lady’s back. The old lady’s name was Maria. The detectives asked, “who attacked you?”. In a faint husky voice, she managed to murmur “I don’t know”. The detectives investigated day and night, but could not find any clue.

The next day they went to cabin no.322. Over there they saw a young girl sitting and whispering something. The detective asked her what happened and she said, “LEAVE ME ALONE!”. Her name was Pamela. She was David's wife’s sister. She added in frustration, “There is nothing to know about me. You already know what you need to know”.

The detective duo moved to cabin no.323. There they saw an African man. There was nothing suspicious about him, but he seemed to be scared about the happenings in the train. So the detectives moved on to cabin no.324. Over there they found two young boys approximately 25 years old. They were completing their office project and seemed to be extremely worried about the delay. Inside their suitcases the detectives found a box of medicines. There were tablets and syrups.

Next, the detectives went on to investigate cabin no.325. There was a middle-aged man, who was writing something in a small notebook. He threw that and started writing in some other notebook. He seemed to be in a fix about something. The detectives investigated cabin no.326. There they met a man named Robert. He was eating something. And just when he finished eating, he went to sleep. The detectives quickly moved to cabin no.327. There they found a retired army officer. He was repeatedly standing in attention position. The detectives got impatient and decided to move on.

Next, they investigated cabin no.328. Over there they found a man sitting and doing nothing. They asked him “Did you anytime work for John?”. “Yes, I did. But I did not kill him. I liked him a lot, he was my best friend.” was his prompt reply. The detectives investigated cabin no.329. Over there they saw a nice beautiful lady with a dog. The dog was a Poodle. Then the detectives moved on to cabin no.330, which was their cabin. Oh! I forgot to tell you the detective’s name! His name was Alexander Oxembourg. Nothing was found only magnifying glasses and no clues.

Then they investigated cabin no.331. There they saw a very mysterious old lady. That was the first and last time they saw her. She seemed to have gone into thin air. From the time the old lady was non-traceable, nothing went wrong. The train was still stuck and a heavy storm came in. The detectives were at work. They investigated cabin no.332. To their utter amazement, they found the old lady again. They were just about to speak to her, however, she vanished once again. She was a very thin lady. It seemed as if she got off the train.

The detectives chanced upon a very old railway employee and started asking him about the train. This man told them, “Many people have died in The Armstrong Express. However, they still come here and have parties. A tea party is quite common. I keep everything ready. In the morning I see that the teacups are wet and a box of sugar cubes is out every morning”. The old man wanted to hint at the spirits being responsible for John’s death. But the detectives were undeterred and decided to move on with their work.

The detectives investigated cabin no.333. Over there they saw a lady named Alissa with a ferocious dog. They learned that the ferocious dog used to go to the graveyard to satisfy its hunger. When it used to chew the bones, it used to become uncontrollable and start barking. Then they found out that the dog used to chew the bones of the dead. So the detectives started connecting the dots between the graveyard and the murders. At least there was a link between what the old man said earlier and the graveyard. And they were right. Mr. Mark, Alissa’s husband was a very unpleasant man and he was found dead in the same train, the dog was his pet.

Next, the team investigated cabin no.334. Their eyes fell on a man who apparently had not eaten for a long time. He had a peculiar expression and something mysterious about him. So they went close to him and caught his arm, but they could not feel him at all !!!!!!!!!!!!!! And at that moment the train started moving with a sudden jerk.

The old employee named Mr. Otis, who had helped them before said, “Whenever new passengers come a new murder happens. Many detectives try to solve the cases and when they are closest to the solution, they are found dead in the same cabin no.333”. The detectives asked, “What do you mean by ‘The same room no.333?’”. So the old man continued, “Once a passenger named Mary got to stay in room no. 333 with her husband. At night, when it was pitch dark, some people heard a scream. They understood Mary screamed. They went to cabin no.333. They could not find anyone there. Mary was a good person, but from the day Mary had come, things started happening which never happened before”.

Mr. Otis, a very clever man told the detectives that Mr. Mark was his very good friend. He also said that Mr. Mark was a very grumpy man. The team now went to cabin no.335. There was no-one over there. Suddenly, Alexander ran to the last cabin. There he saw all the people who were interrogated. He thought who can be the culprit? So he embarked upon a plan. The plan was that the assistant will dress up like a passenger too.

The following day the assistant went into the last cabin once again. There was no one there. He went out and told this to Alexander. Now Alexander asked Mr. Otis to open the other door inside cabin no.333. When the door was opened, they saw pictures of everyone hanging, whom the detective team had investigated! Alexander and his assistant slept in the cabin no.333 for one night and the next day they were found dead! Mr. Otis was from the Police Department, Head of Crime Branch and was on duty in the Armstrong Express. He had evidence that Alexander and his assistant were the murderers. During the confrontation at night, Otis had no choice but for self-defence, shoot the two, Alexander and his assistant. In a few hours, the train reached its destination and David went to his friend’s place with his daughter.