Brain Teasers

Lite

Haunted House

Category:	Mystery
Submitted By:	grilledcheese
Fun:	(3.21)
Difficulty:	(2.53)

Robert, the security guard, drew his gun, took a deep breath, and headed down a shadowy corridor full of plastic cobwebs, fake blood, and recorded screams. It was Robert's worst nightmare, a real-life killer on the loose in Cohan's Haunted House. At least one person was dead, and behind any one of these doors might lie another victim -or worse, the killer - waiting for another victim.

Someone somewhere turned off the sound system and switched on the emergency lights. Robert tried the door on the left. Locked. Then the one on the right. Unlocked. He pushed it open two inches, and then it hit something, something that moaned. Robert looked down and saw more blood. Real blood.

An hour later and the police had pieced together the basics. A total of two attacks and one murder. Jason Pierce, a 22-year-old employee, had been killed by an ax. Definitely not one of the prop axes, but a real weapon. Alicia Cohan had been luckier. She, too, was bleeding from an ax attack. But when Robert found her, barely conscious behind the door, she was still alive.

"It could've been worse," Sergeant Greeley told his captain. "There were just a few employees in the haunted house. The attacker wasn't seen coming into the building, or leaving, for that matter. But he was seen." Greeley checked his notepad. "Medium height, in a ghost costume and a full-head rubber mask. We found the costume, the mask, and the ax not far from the second attack scene. The lab matched the blood samples. Jason's blood and Alicia's blood."

"Attacker not seen entering or leaving." The captain had a way of honing in on the essentials. "That's strange, given the limited access in that kind of attraction."

"Yes, sir. I'll interview the second victim, then talk to the others."

Alicia sat up in her hospital bed and spoke with effort. "We were just opening up. Jason and Millie and Todd were changing into their costumes. Dad was there, too. I turned on the sound system and the mood lights. I was checking the halls for garbage when I heard Todd shouting--something about a crazy person with an ax. A few seconds later, this thing came around the corner. I knew right away.

"I don't know why I ran into the dungeon room. There's no other exit. This maniac pushed open the door and started swinging. I fell to the floor, then I must've passed out. I guess he thought I was dead, 'cause the next thing I know, the security guard was waking me up. Was anyone else hurt?"

Alicia hadn't yet been told about her boyfriend's death.

Todd Wilkins seemed more concerned about Alicia than about the death of his best friend. "She's going to be all right," Greeley assured him. "Just some cuts and bruises. You saw the attack on Jason?"

"Part of it," said Todd. "I was changing into my ghoul costume when I heard something. I went into the next room and there was Jason, fighting off this guy in one of our ghost costumes and an old mask. The guy was swinging this ax, and Jason was trying to grab the ax and swing back. I tried to jump in, but the guy got in one last swing, then ran off down the hall. I shouted out a warning to the others, then went to help Jason. He was bleeding so much."

Millie Miller, like the others, was in her early 20s: short blonde hair, an athletic build and slightly taller than average. "I was in the locker room downstairs, changing into my witch's uniform. I guess I heard some screaming, but I thought it was the tape. I didn't realize anything was wrong until I came upstairs."

Sergeant Greeley nodded, then changed subjects. "I hear Alicia and Jason were engaged."

"Engaged? She wishes." Millie's laugh died in her throat. "I shouldn't be mean. Jason and I were together for years, ever since middle school. Things were getting a little stale and too serious, all at the same time. Jason said we should see other people for a while, just to get it out of our systems. That's all Alicia was, a little experiment. He told her that. He was coming back to me."

This was the third different story Greeley had heard. According to Alicia, they were happy, and Jason had already proposed. According to Todd, Alicia cried on his shoulder all the time. She was sick of Jason and ready to leave. And now Millie's variation on the old, familiar theme.

The sergeant caught up with Alicia's father at Cohan's Haunted House. A curious throng stood by the police barricades in front of the boardwalk attraction. "Thank God Alicia's okay." Then he chuckled. "I can't figure out if this will be good for business or bad."

"Are you the sole owner?" Greeley asked.

"Alicia and I," said the sad-eyed, middle-aged man. "Alicia has an inheritance from her grandparents. I'm the trustee until she turns 30 or gets married. A chunk of her money went into Cohan's Haunted House. It's a good investment for her."

"Did you see or hear anything this morning? Anything at all?"

Cohan shook his head. "Robert and the kids were all there when I unlocked the doors. I locked up behind them, then went upstairs to the office. They often joked about a real killer getting loose in the haunted house."

"I'm not surprised."

"That ghost costume came from a storage closet. And the ax..."

"Was the stairwell fire ax."

Cohan sighed. "It doesn't look like an outsider, does it?"

Sergeant Greeley agreed. It was an inside job, all right. And he had a good idea which insider it was.

Show Answer

Comments on this teaser


Posted by megabreath	10/12/08
Nice one. :D Took some time and got it right :D .

Posted by kp52	10/12/08
Great teaser. :D Dumb criminal though. I know it's just a story,but I just thought I'd point out how dumb she was. :lol:

Posted by Tyquas	10/13/08
no ofense but by comparing todd and millies answers, i figured it was her. and i also watch the tv show MONK. so i sorta used his mind thoughts.

Posted by Tyquas	10/13/08
implus she works there. why would she go to the dungeon room if there is only one door?

Posted by parktell	10/24/08
that was fun.... 8)

Posted by srpwuzhere	11/01/08
kool teaser. :). i knew it was Alicia. i dunno why i just did. lolz :D

Posted by myfavflavcherry	11/02/08
It has a good story line. Very enjoyable too! 8)

Posted by swithie	11/10/08
At what point does it explain that Alicia was too close to the door for someone to have got out? Maybe I'm being thick but I just can't see it and without that information I think that this is a pretty tough teaser to figure out.

Posted by swithie	11/10/08
Ok, found it now! Sorry, I am stupid :oops:

Posted by keeperofdeath	11/15/08
cool... it took me a while to get it, but I got it! :)

Posted by WhiteMage	12/05/08
nice one... :D

Posted by precious1026	12/11/08
:evil: I knew it was Alicia, only because of the Love angle. The Door Hint is vague and not conclusive for proof of a crime being committed by Alicia. The Father would have made a more believable Killer, for the father had motive, real motive. The Love angle is weak that Alicia did not want to kill the girl, leaving Jason alone for herself. I thought the plot of this Mystery was great. The writing was awesome, and the story was developed well. All in all, very good work. :evil: :P

Posted by haz_IQ	12/13/08
the other answer is when the attacker attacks Jason. we know that when Todd tries to fight him, the attacker runs away, right? so that must mean that either the attacker has accomplished 'his' task by killing Jason, or he got injured and try to stay away from further trouble. but instead, when he finds Alicia, he chase her even to the dungeon room. hmm, why would he do that?..

Posted by Sgbrian	01/02/09
My first guest was Alicia, her story didn't fit in.

Posted by 311WordGuy	01/02/09
She should have just waited until the next guy, but then i guess working in that environment doens't exactly make you calm and collected. Good stuff.

Posted by Dustomatic	01/08/09
Wow, this was one of the better riddles on this site, kudos to you.

Posted by pistons_32_rip	01/09/09
this was a rly good one i officially love you, lol!! keep up the good work. :D

Posted by melzerh	01/11/09
I thought it was Alica because if she was a second victm she would have more damage.

Posted by mcFuzzy	04/29/09
I had a feeling that it was her! Yayness :lol:

Posted by firefrog	05/14/09
I don't know how, but I just knew it was her. 8) YAY!

Posted by mathisnice	07/21/09
Very original! Lots of teasers on this site are copied, but I looked this on up, and it isn't.

Posted by trewq	07/26/09
I loved it! Very well written too, you know. It wasn't overly dramatic and the plot was good. I sense the next Agatha Christie coming up :P

Posted by rp2x1	10/20/09
Another well done teaser! Figured early on that the body two-inches from the door would come back into play, and sure enough it was. But also enjoyed the sub-plots with the boyfriend and inheritance. All the ingredients for a great mystery :D

Posted by Johnny	11/15/09
A good teaser, and very long! I don't think that Alicia could be the only possible killer. Sure, her one mistake gave her away, but it didn't have to be a mistake. :) I think Todd would be more likely to be the killer. :lol:

Posted by xmegzvengeancex	12/01/09
very well done! very impressed.

Posted by Icewing	06/27/10
awsome teaser! :D

Posted by gooberbaby1	07/09/10
this is a long one,but i got it right,every detail you wrote in the answer :D

Posted by dalfamnest	07/21/10
Very nicely written, and fun. BUT I don't think it works - I assumed that Alicia was assaulted and moved herself across towards the door after the criminal had escaped. She wasn't able to open it, being too injured, and slumped up against it, blocking it. What do you think, detectives? 8) :D

Posted by 0xy1	02/08/11
this was really well done ! gj

Posted by mj1321	06/14/11
I luuuuuuuvvvvvvv it! I haven't seen a teaser like this ever!!! Soooo exciting and full of action :D

Posted by donaldtrumpet	06/07/12
UGHH! TOO LONG! :lol: