I Know What You Did Last Wednesday
Encyclopedia
I Know What You Did Last Wednesday (2003) is a short story in the Diamond Brothers
series of comedy thrillers by Anthony Horowitz
(author of the Alex Rider
series). It was included in the omnibus Three of Diamonds
in 2004.
The plot bears a close resemblance to Agatha Christie
's And Then There Were None
, in which visitors are invited to an isolated island and are murdered one by one in odd but appropriate ways. The title is a parody of I Know What You Did Last Summer
. Horowitz keeps the reader's attention with gruesome jokes and spine tingling drama.
The main characters are Tim Diamond, an incompetent private detective, and his smarter younger brother Nick, the narrator, who usually solves all of Tim's cases.
There they meet Sylvie Binns, Janet Rhodes, Libby Goldman, Brenda Blake, Mark Tyler and Eric Draper, all of Tim's old classmates except for the popular Johnny Nadler. They are taken over to Crocodile Island by Captain Horatio Randle, on his small boat named the Silver Medal.
Upon arriving on the island, they find Rory dead, cut to pieces with a sword. With the boat not returning for three days, the phones in the house gone, and all mobile phones signal less, the horrified group is trapped in the middle of a murder mystery. Later in the same day Sylvie is poisoned by a cyanide-laced chocolate bar in her room, and during the night Janet Rhodes is stabbed by a model Eiffel Tower
. During the night Nick sees a Skull mask outside his room, but a few moments later it is gone. Brenda also claims to have seen it.
The remaining guests proceed to search the island, but discover no one. Paranoid, they begin to distrust each other. Before long Libby Goldman is crushed by a heavy globe
.
Nick finds out that the people in the school disliked each other. Tim once broke three of Mark's fingers with a conker, and on the last day of term Eric Draper was thrown into the canel by the other students and had to spend six months in hospital due to the pollution. With just five of the group left, they agree to stay in the hall and watch each other. Nick points out that everybody came first in a subject at school and all the people who have been killed have been killed in a way that shows that person's subject. The lights go out suddenly, and when they come back on, Brenda Blake is dead, hit on the head by an organ pipe, and Eric Draper has been shot by an old-fashioned pistol, which lies smoking on the floor. Mark Tyler is missing, but the brothers find him outside, impaled by a javelin
.
Tim becomes paranoid and accuses Nick as the murderer and runs for his life towards the cliffs. As an explosion causes the cliff edge to collapse beneath him, he falls down towards a bed of sharply pointed rock "needles", but Nick manages to pull him back just in time.
Captain Randle arrives, and Nick accuses him of being the missing classmate Johnny Nadler and the perpetrator of the murders. He admits the crimes, explaining his motive: he was always in second place, originally at school, where he came second in all subjects, and then in life, second place with patents, in job interviews and so on. He traces it back to his time at school, and set up cunning traps to kill all his classmates appropriately.
Rory, 1st in Maths, was "divided"; Sylvie, 1st in Chemistry
was poisoned
; Janet, 1st in French
was stabbed with the French icon, the Eiffel Tower; Libby, 1st in Geography
was killed by a model globe; Brenda, 1st in Music
was killed by an organ pipe; Eric, 1st in History
, was shot by an old pistol. Mark, 1st in Sport
, was impaled by a javelin; and Tim, 1st in Needlework
, should die on the rock needles.
Johnny is about to kill them both, but then in the nick of time Eric Draper, who survived the shot, hits him with a blunderbuss
. The Diamond brothers, Eric and a well tied up Johnny sail the ship back to the mainland, having radioed the police to pick up Johnny. Tim apologizes for suspecting Nick, who forgives him.
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The Diamond Brothers
The Diamond Brothers is a series of humorous children's detective books by Anthony Horowitz, the first of which was published in 1986. The books tell the adventures of the world's worst private detective, Tim Diamond, and his little brother, Nick Diamond, who is considerably more intelligent...
series of comedy thrillers by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
(author of the Alex Rider
Alex Rider
Alex Rider is a series of spy novels by British author Anthony Horowitz about a 14-15 year old spy named Alex Rider. The series is aimed primarily at young adults. Nine novels have been published to date, as well as three graphic novels, three short stories and a supplementary book...
series). It was included in the omnibus Three of Diamonds
Three of Diamonds (collection)
It follows as the sixth book in the Diamond brothers series about a fourteen year old boy called Nick and his brother Tim who works as a private detective....
in 2004.
The plot bears a close resemblance to Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None
And Then There Were None is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939 under the title Ten Little Niggers which was changed by Dodd, Mead and Company in January 1940 because of the presence of a racial...
, in which visitors are invited to an isolated island and are murdered one by one in odd but appropriate ways. The title is a parody of I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American horror film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title...
. Horowitz keeps the reader's attention with gruesome jokes and spine tingling drama.
The main characters are Tim Diamond, an incompetent private detective, and his smarter younger brother Nick, the narrator, who usually solves all of Tim's cases.
Plot summary
Tim Diamond receives a letter from his old school friend, the millionaire Rory McDougal. It invites him to the remote Crocodile Island, of the coast of Scotland, for a high school reunion, promising him £1000 if he attends. Nick invites himself along.There they meet Sylvie Binns, Janet Rhodes, Libby Goldman, Brenda Blake, Mark Tyler and Eric Draper, all of Tim's old classmates except for the popular Johnny Nadler. They are taken over to Crocodile Island by Captain Horatio Randle, on his small boat named the Silver Medal.
Upon arriving on the island, they find Rory dead, cut to pieces with a sword. With the boat not returning for three days, the phones in the house gone, and all mobile phones signal less, the horrified group is trapped in the middle of a murder mystery. Later in the same day Sylvie is poisoned by a cyanide-laced chocolate bar in her room, and during the night Janet Rhodes is stabbed by a model Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
. During the night Nick sees a Skull mask outside his room, but a few moments later it is gone. Brenda also claims to have seen it.
The remaining guests proceed to search the island, but discover no one. Paranoid, they begin to distrust each other. Before long Libby Goldman is crushed by a heavy globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
.
Nick finds out that the people in the school disliked each other. Tim once broke three of Mark's fingers with a conker, and on the last day of term Eric Draper was thrown into the canel by the other students and had to spend six months in hospital due to the pollution. With just five of the group left, they agree to stay in the hall and watch each other. Nick points out that everybody came first in a subject at school and all the people who have been killed have been killed in a way that shows that person's subject. The lights go out suddenly, and when they come back on, Brenda Blake is dead, hit on the head by an organ pipe, and Eric Draper has been shot by an old-fashioned pistol, which lies smoking on the floor. Mark Tyler is missing, but the brothers find him outside, impaled by a javelin
Javelin
A Javelin is a light spear intended for throwing. It is commonly known from the modern athletic discipline, the Javelin throw.Javelin may also refer to:-Aviation:* ATG Javelin, an American-Israeli civil jet aircraft, under development...
.
Tim becomes paranoid and accuses Nick as the murderer and runs for his life towards the cliffs. As an explosion causes the cliff edge to collapse beneath him, he falls down towards a bed of sharply pointed rock "needles", but Nick manages to pull him back just in time.
Captain Randle arrives, and Nick accuses him of being the missing classmate Johnny Nadler and the perpetrator of the murders. He admits the crimes, explaining his motive: he was always in second place, originally at school, where he came second in all subjects, and then in life, second place with patents, in job interviews and so on. He traces it back to his time at school, and set up cunning traps to kill all his classmates appropriately.
Rory, 1st in Maths, was "divided"; Sylvie, 1st in Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
was poisoned
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
; Janet, 1st in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
was stabbed with the French icon, the Eiffel Tower; Libby, 1st in Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
was killed by a model globe; Brenda, 1st in Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
was killed by an organ pipe; Eric, 1st in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, was shot by an old pistol. Mark, 1st in Sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
, was impaled by a javelin; and Tim, 1st in Needlework
Needlework
Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
, should die on the rock needles.
Johnny is about to kill them both, but then in the nick of time Eric Draper, who survived the shot, hits him with a blunderbuss
Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
. The Diamond brothers, Eric and a well tied up Johnny sail the ship back to the mainland, having radioed the police to pick up Johnny. Tim apologizes for suspecting Nick, who forgives him.
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