It was just a wide spot in the road; a small town in a small valley, but the people of Widespot had big problems . A virtuous woman shamed, a very strange woman pregnant at the same time, the squabbles of the old-monied families. But their problems seemed little compared to those of the little town in the next little valley. There, in Bayside Flates (where there was no bay, and not much "flat") four murders had happened. Detective Chace Z. Keller had been sent there to bring the culprits to justice, and in this town of only eighteen people that would seem like an easy case (and that's counting the deceased and children!).

Come with me and watch as Chace solves the mystery, and gets entangled with the local drama, the people of Widespot and Bayside Flates get entangled with each other, and Chace does some entangling himself.

NOTE: both of these hoods were downloaded from MTS; they come populated with people, who are "set up" with their own stories.
DISCLAIMER: I have no idea what's going to happen, or how it will turn out. I take my lead (mostly) from the characters, and with ACR adjusted to fit each person, they can still do their own thing.


Detective Chace Z. Keller seems like a prudish, cold man. But although he was orphaned as a toddler he was not deprived of love. His parents had lived with his mother's sister and their parents, and his aunt Cher Moutardes had raised him. He still had the police car he loved as a child, and he was living his dream of being a police man. He was fascinated by women's "naughty" clothes, but he told himself he didn't need a woman in his life, just his work, just the facts. Emotions were not something he could control, being charming seemed somehow devious, and women were a mystery.


Cher Montardes had lived in this little town almost as long as the Douglas family, and prided herself on knowing everyone's business. She had begun the Bayside Historical Society,, where some old books and artifacts were kept, and a few tourist things were sold. The original building was still being run to sell local fish and meat, but she had added a coffee bar. There weren't many real tourists, but people would come by just to socialize. Personally, Cher loved the little Oriental garden, which honored some of the first settlers.



She was happy to make friends with a founding family from Wide Spot, the Lands. This is Beulah Land; a simple, devout woman, her wisdom was greater than her education. We will see more of her.




One of the first thing Detective Keller did was hang out at his aunt's store; sooner or later everyone showed up here. When he pretended to play chess, a dignified elder man joined him. Chace wasted no time getting to the point with Valentine Hart; he would learn soon enough that the Hart men were creating their own chaos.

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Constance Sinclair was a recluse; she was not interested in people, except as "marks"- she was a pickpocket. She loved her cabin in the woods, tending her tiny garden, and fishing in her pond. Not that she knew much about living in the wild; she never even realized that she never caught any fish because her pond was just a shallow bog. When she moved to Bayside Flats (after a mysterious fire) she fixated on Craig Douglas. The fact that he was married with children didn't concern her. When he was murdered (at about the same time as three other people) she felt it was just her usual bad luck.

Detective Keller discovered her cabin, and questioned her, but she managed to turn on the charm, even as she was thinking: God, everyone in this stupid town hates me. WHY! Just because I have a tattoo, wear black and like shades? Chace mentioned that someone at the scene of the killings had described a suspicious person, with those same things. She apologized that she had nothing to serve him for dinner, and he offered to take her out to dinner to continue their discussion. "Whatever", she thought, "At least I'll get a free meal".

Constance recognized his awkwardness, and used his discomfort to her advantage. "Can I pour you some wine? Gee, I can't remember the last time I had dinner with such a nice man". She managed to hid her snicker. By the end of the dinner, they had kissed. She ment nothing by it, but Chance had removed her from the "suspect list" and put her on his "girlfriend list" (which had not had anyone on it since he was 14).

A few days later, as Constance checked out the men at a park - especially the ones from nearby WIdespot, she also befriended a number of women. She knew how to friendly-up to people like Cher Moutardes and Daytona Beech - the old biddies that were in everyone's business. She found a special interest in the Rich Mann family, one of the richest in Widespot. She was especially attracted to the Mann heir, Junior. The fact that he was a dolt, and used to being manipulated by his mother, made her job easy. An innocent flirt, a little whistle...

and out of nowhere, Chace slapped her! Without even thinking, she slapped him back.

"MEN! So petty, so possessive." And the big shot detective held a grudge, even stooping to steal her newspapers. There was no one to report his vandalism to; besides, she had to get back on his good side. He was following her around - was he being a suspicious detective, or a jealous nut? She had big plans, and if she was careful maybe this time her luck would change.
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stay tuned for Chapter 2 and meet the grieving families

"No reply for 18 days", it says. What? It only was approved and posted on 7-15.

WIdespot is the sub-hood. I've already played quite a bit in both hoods, but I stopped because it took so long to get approved and I was getting ahead of myself. This is the fourth ? WIdespot I've played, I like it so much! There are no townies in either hood, but I've created some kids and teens townies.

P.S.: And yes, I do have the plot in mind (I have decided who the killers are). And some of the Widespot characters and story are involved in the Bayside Flats story. I have to keep reminding myself that the story itself (building up to and solving the murders) is actually in a short time-span, even though I love playing both hoods. And as I play them, they become more related, and I've added some other families, and the second generations are expanding both hoods. But the story is not about game-play, so most of this won't be mentioned.

Craig Douglas was happy that he had made the choice to remain in the family home, the oldest in Bayside Flats. Although his wife, Fiona, was an intellectual, she agreed with him that a small town would not have the bad influences of a big city. Their teenager, Ian, took after his father; proud of his Irish heritage, he loved the old stone house. But he wondered if he would ever even kiss a girl. The twins Leslie and Sarah had each other to play with. Leslie took after her mother, bossing her older sister around, insisting on things being put away "properly". She always did her homework promptly, and carefully laid out her clothes for the next day.
It was a typical pleasant, quiet day, and the Douglas family was enjoying the park..


The peace was suddenly shattered by a gun shot, and Fiona's scream. Craig, just a moment ago joking with Ian, lay dead.
Ian could not help joining Leslie in a stomping fit

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The Murphys had been at the park earlier, where the usually unsocial Constance Sinclair was seen talking to teen Ian Murphy. After returning home, Aisha decided to pick up just one more thing for the nursery she had prepared for the baby she was carrying. In the parking lot across the streat from the park, she heard the shot. As she stood by the car she called the police. She had seen someone in the trees, someone with brown hair, wearing black, and sunglasses. And with that another shot rang out, Constance crumpled to the ground, and another family was shattered.

The sadly empty nursery would remain closed up for years.

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At the time of the first two murders there was only one other family living in Bayside Flats, the O'Deths. Damion and Angel had chosen this town due to the low land costs; they built a large house for their three children and hired gardeners and housekeepers. They also bought other lots in anticipation of other families and businesses moving there, and expected "money to follow money". They would be the family that threw parties for all the best people; every one would envy them.
Something woke Rose up in the middle of the night. It was a warm summer night and her bedroom window was open. "Maybe I'm just hungry", she thought. She was an active teenager, and often went on midnight raids in the kitchen. But as she entered the kitchen she froze as she saw a shadowy figure float through the back door. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes; "Was that misty stuff a person?". She checked the door; locked. "That was a GHOST! Wait, nobody ever died here. Are we haunted? By who? WHY!?"
She heard a whimper and the rattle of Lily's crib. "Crip", she thought, "she'll wake mom and dad". "Are you hungry Lily? Did something scare you?"
She picked up her little sister and headed back to the kitchen; "I'll get you a bottle, and eat some cookies with you". But as she passed her parents room she glanced inside. They always left the door open, in case Lily woke up. She didn't see them in their bed...something was on the floor...she began to tremble as she realized something was very wrong.
Damion and Angel O'Deth had gotten out of bed, something must have woken them up; now they lay dead. Under their bodies the rug was wet, but it wasn't blood; there was not a mark on them.
Now there was only Rose, hardly more than a child herself, left to care for her little brother River, and Lily. And a big, empty house.



Meanwhile, in Widespot, things were popping...

WOW! I love your story. :lovestruc

I can't wait to read Chapter 3!