Murder in the dark

They told him what had happened, and were about to head off to investigate further when a voice boomed out, ‘Time for our final game!’
Everyone fell silent at the announcement and turned to the speaker, a figure covered completely by a sheet, a cartoon-like ghost.
‘Murder in the Dark!’ the ghost continued. ‘Join us, everyone!’
The far door opened and all the children ran back into the room, laughing and excited, not a hint of the confusion or chaos or fear Dodo and Steven had just been telling the Doctor about.
‘Everyone will select a role at random.’ The masked figures began circulating through the crowd of children, holding out upside-down top hats full of white discs.
‘I don’t want to play,’ said Dodo, when a hat was offered to her. The masked ghoul continued to thrust the hat at her. ‘No! I won’t!’
‘I think you’d better,’ said Steven from behind her. She turned to see two masked Roman soldiers menacing the Doctor with their all-too-real-looking short swords. He had taken a disc and so had Steven. Reluctantly, Dodo did too. She just had time to see it had no word on it, just a question mark, when all the candles went out.
There was a scream. Long, piercing, but whether a man’s, woman’s or child’s she couldn’t tell. Then she felt someone bump into her.
Almost immediately the candles spontaneously started burning again.
Now Dodo herself shrieked in horror. In those few moments, things had changed.
The three of them – herself, Steven and the Doctor – were completely surrounded by every masked figure. The gunfighter, the headless horseman, the ghost, the gypsy
violinist, the skeleton, the mandarin, the one-eyed ogre – all of them. And beyond that circle …
Every single child was lying on the floor.
‘Are they …?’ Dodo whispered, unable to utter the word ‘dead’.
‘It’s just make-believe,’ said Steven. ‘It’s just part of the game. Play-victims.’ He sounded convincing, but she knew he was trying to convince himself as much as her.
‘Who is the detective?’ boomed the sheet-covered ghost.
Silently, the Doctor held up his disc. The word DETECTIVE was written clearly on it.
‘And now, Doctor, you have to find the murderer. Not too difficult. You only have two suspects.’
Dodo looked down at the disc she held, the one with the question mark on it. She turned it over. On the other side, it read MURDERER. Steven held out his. It was identical.
‘Examine your suspects, Doctor,’ said the ghost. ‘Then make your decision. But be sure of your answer. Only one of your friends can walk free.’
‘And what happens to the other, hmm?’ demanded the Doctor.
‘The guilty must be punished.’
‘This is ridiculous!’ shouted Steven. ‘Neither Dodo nor I have hurt anyone. The Doctor knows that. Everyone knows that!’
‘But it’s the rules of the game. You accepted our invitation, joined our party. That means you must play by the rules. Or else. So decide. Who killed the party guests? One of your friends must be punished; the other will walk free.’
Dodo felt sick with fear. She choked back a sob of panic, and reached in her pocket for a handkerchief.
There was something else in there. Horrified, she pulled out a small blue bottle. It had a skull and crossbones on it.
‘Was it Miss Chaplet with poison in the punch?’
‘Someone must’ve put this in my pocket when they bumped into me!’ cried Dodo. ‘It’s not mine!’
‘Or Mr Taylor with drugs in the drink?’
Steven wordlessly pulled an identical blue bottle out of his pocket.
The ghost yelled, ‘Decide, Doctor!’
The surrounding crowd took a step forward, hands outstretched, ready to grab the guilty party.
‘It was me!’ Steven suddenly said. ‘I did it. That’s your answer, Doctor. Please.’
Dodo felt an indescribable rush of gratitude, but of course she couldn’t let him do that. ‘No,’ she said urgently. ‘Doctor, it was me. I … I poisoned them.’
The Doctor looked at her, met her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, my dear.’ Then he turned to the ghost. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I have my answer. The murderer is … you!’ But it wasn’t Dodo he indicated, or Steven. He spun round to face the masked mandarin, and ripped the rubber from his face. Below was a face almost identical to the mask – a face Dodo recognised. A face they’d last seen only a short time ago, when they’d escaped his world of toys and tricks. The Celestial Toymaker.
‘Hiding in plain sight, hmm?’ the Doctor said. ‘But who else could it be? Who else would twist games like this?’
‘Well done, Doctor,’ said the Celestial Toymaker. ‘But your answer is invalid. My toys –’ he made a gesture and all those surrounding them pulled off their masks to reveal crude dolls’ faces with dots for eyes and nose, a semi-circle for a mouth – ‘know that games must follow the rules to the very end. They are waiting for your decision. Steven or Dodo?’

(…)

‘How did we get away?’ said Dodo when they stood in safety at last. ‘Did we win the game? I thought the Toymaker destroyed his world and everything in it if he was beaten.’
‘We won Murder in the Dark,’ said the Doctor. ‘I rightly identified the killer – the Toymaker himself. But starting a new game confused things for long enough to let us get away.’

***

Murder in the Dark, Tales of Terror