Murder in France
During the 1880s, Robert Ledru was a well-known detective all around France. He was so popular that many police departments around the country would seek his help whenever they encountered a complex case. Detective Ledru would then aid them with his deductive and problem-solving skills with the issue. Most of the time, he would eventually solve the mystery. To many people, he was like a French Sherlock Holmes.
In 1887, detective Ledru was once called by the authorities from Le Havre, France, to help solve a particular case involving missing sailors. Detective Ledru agreed to help and went to Normandy and stayed at a hotel there. The next day the detective was informed that the missing sailors' case was downgraded to a lower priority because there was a murder that occurred at a local beach overnight. The police department apologized for the inconvenience and for wasting his time. However, the department asked Ledru if he could still stay to help with the murder case, and Ledru agreed to that as well.
Around 8 am, Detective Ledru and the local police headed to the beach where the dead body of Andre Monet was found. Monet's body was facing face down, and It appeared that he had died from a single gunshot to the chest. The police began looking around the sand for the bullet that killed Monet. There was also a set of footprints that walked away from Monet's body which led to the parking lot, and the prints faded away.
While the search for the bullet was happening, Ledru asked the police to cast the footprints on the ground. This meant that the police would pour liquid cast on the footprint, and when it would dry, they would pull it out and have a 3-D foot model of the perpetrator. The detective saw the foot and instantly felt disappointed but at the same time anxious. Detective Ledru, while looking at the foot cast, walked away from the crime scene and went to a secluded area on the beach and sat down. For several hours Ledru was looking at the foot cast, and every now and then would look out into the ocean and then back at the foot.
The rest of the police that were at the crime scene were all looking at Ledru with confusion. But, due to Ledru's reputation as an expert and experienced detective, none of the police officers wanted to confront him about his behaviour. None of them dared to question his "methods" and let him be. It wasn't until around noon when Ledru headed back to the crime scene. The rest of the police officers handed them the foot cast, told them to call him back when they found the bullet and left for his hotel.
The next day the police bring detective Ledru the bullet that had shot Monet at the beach. When Ledru saw the bullet, just like how he reacted at the beach after seeing the foot, he again felt the feeling of disappointment and anxiety at the same time. After looking closely at the bullet, Ledru said that they no longer need to search for clues or further leads on the investigation. The police were confused about why the investigation was to come to a sudden stop when they just got another major clue with the bullet. However, detective Ledru assured them again that they could close the case because he knew what happened at the murder scene and began breaking down the events:
The murderer walked out of their residency around midnight with only socks on. They left for a stroll around the beach, met Andre Monet, and began a friendly conversation between strangers. Eventually, the conversation took a turn for the worse and turned into an argument. The argument then became a physical confrontation. The murderer took out a pistol and shot Monet straight at his chest. The murderer then walked out of the beach, into the pavement, and returned to their house by walking. The murderer then went back to bed.
The police were confused about how Ledru might have gotten information about the details of the murderer. To their surprise, Ledru had gathered enough information about the suspect's foot and bullet and was confident in his findings. Ledru concluded that the murderer was himself. Ledru had actually committed the murder of Andre Monet while sleepwalking.
How Ledru concluded that when he got up in the morning the day before to head down to the beach, his socks were soggy and covered in sand. Later on, Ledru noticed that the footprints were very familiar to him. This was because whoever the suspect was, they were missing a toe on their right foot, and coincidentally Ledru was also missing a toe on his right foot. The next day when the police had given him the bullet that was found from the crime scene, that was when Ledru knew that it was him. Detective Ledru carried the same type of bullet in his revolver. The morning prior, he noticed that his gun was missing a bullet. With all of this information, Ledru knew that he committed the crime even though he had no recollection of it. He couldn't remember anything since he was sleepwalking.
The police officers couldn't believe that it was him. Instead, they didn't want to believe it was him. Given Ledru's reputation as a grand detective of France, they couldn't bring themselves to think that this was the case. However, they decided to conduct a small experiment and check his nighttime activity to see if Ledru really was sleepwalking when he committed the murder. The police held Ledru inside a prison cell with a gun loaded with blanks. Eventually, one particular night Ledru suddenly woke up and tried to shoot one of the guards outside his cell. This was when the police knew that Ledru was right: he really was the murderer.
Because Ledru was not conscious of his action during the murder, he was acquitted of the murder. Instead, he was exiled to a far country field outside of Paris, where he would be unable to hurt anybody around his perimeter. Ledru lived alone for the last 40 years in that same place until he eventually died in 1937.
By: Jesus Arambula
Haunted House
It was Halloween night when a group of friends decided to go to their last trick or treat as the night was getting closer to midnight. They all agreed to go to a Haunted House.
When they got to the haunted house, they realized they were the last ones who would go in. As they waited their turn, One of the friends realized that no one was coming back out, but he figured there probably was an exit in the back. As it was their turn to go in, they all held hands and walked in together.
When they went in, they noticed the house was ancient from the inside. Almost as if no one lived there. The floor was wooden, and the walls had chipped white paint on them. The Haunted house started by going up the stairs and all around the house, to finally the exit. The exit was in the backyard, which led them to another street than the one they had waited.
As they started to walk through the haunted house, they were scared by the killer clowns, la Llorona, and two little kids. The rooms were all full of blood, and the place was just indeed terrifying. You can hear the screams of the people who had gone inside before them. Everyone was having a good time getting scared, or so they thought.
The next day, all friends meet up in front of the school. One of the friends had told them the haunted house they had gone to was not there anymore. They were all in disbelief and thought the friend was pranking them, so they agreed to go after school was over.
The school was now over, and they walked over to where they had been the night before. The friends were in complete shock at what they had just seen... The Haunted house was no longer there. They all began to wonder... How can the house not be there anymore? As they went into where the haunted house was, one of the friends pointed at a paper on the ground.
The paper was a flyer. The flyer read “ The Ghost Haunted House.” They quickly realized that everyone who had gone inside the house was a ghost, and so were the people in it.
By: Yessica Avila
THE SCOOP 41