Treasured (Book Two)

Chapter 6: Announcement

Tonight, everyone was sitting on their chairs. They were still depressed about the whole investigation going on. Luckily, the candles were light in the memory of Ellen, people were holding each others hands, and marveled at the night sky.

"Attention, everyone." Mom announced onstage. "I know we were expecting a wedding, but instead we should honor a young girl named Ellen Lee."

Everyone murmured in the agreement. "To Ellen Lee," Mom said, holding her glass of champagne. "To Ellen!" Everyone cheered. After we raised our glasses, we gulped down the fizzy drinks. The taste reminded me of apricot and grape.

When we were finished, the violinists played a happy song that made the couples get up and dance. While the dancing was going on, I stood next to Luke, who was figuring out his laptop.

His face turned when he saw me. In return, I told him everything about my grandfather. "So your grandfather isn't the killer?" I shook my head. "Neither is my grandmother," I said. "They're out of the suspect list." "We have to focus on Stacy, your father, and for the most part, the footage."

"Also," I added. "We need to find out more about what Ellen and Stacy was hiding, the object that Dad tossed, and most importantly, the pen."

"This is getting harder than it looks," Luke said. "And I thought detective stuff was easy." "Don't worry," I reassured. "We'll find the killer as soon as we gather much evidence as we need." The celebration stopped abruptly as the cops entered through the gate.

"What's going on?" someone cried. One of the policemen calmly raised his hand to silence the crowd. "We found out who killed Ellen," one of the policemen said. "Willow Porter." Mom stared at the cops as if she had seen a ghost.

"That can't be true," I insisted. "Mom was going to her book club meeting the day before the wedding." "I understand that," another cop replied. "But we found some evidence that your mom was lying to you."

"Are you saying that my daughter is a liar?" Grandpa shrieked. "She saddened by the death of Ellen." The cops and Grandpa got into a bitter dispute over who is lying until Mom told them to stop.

"Yes," she said. "It is true." Everyone gasped. "Mom," I said, walking up to her. "You can't be the killer. Just tell them what you were doing the-" "I have already told you," Mom interrupted. "It was me." Tears were rushing out of my eyes. "Mom," I sobbed. "You are lying, you wouldn't hurt a soul."

Mom silently wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. "I promise to bail you out," I whispered. "Along with Luke-" "You don't have to do that," Mom said, releasing me. She looked at the cops then nodded.

"I'm ready," she sighed. One of the policemen cuffed her hands then dragged her into the cop car. "I don't understand," I said, wiping away my tears. "How can Mom be involved with Ellen?" Grandpa shrugged. "What should we do now?" I asked. Suddenly, I hear a loud cheer. It came from Stacy, who was raising her glass in the air.

"A toast that the cops who found the killer!" she cheered. Everyone, except my grandparents, me, and Luke, raise their glasses and gulp down their beverages. The party was now in full swing. People resumed back to dancing.

Grandma wept and left the party, leaving Grandpa dazed. "I'll go comfort her," he sighed. He left the two of us alone. "Have you figured out your laptop yet?" I asked impatiently. Luke nodded. "Let's go somewhere else and watch it."

He rose up from his seat and led me away from the party. "By the way," I added. "Have you gone through Stacy's room too?" "I did," Luke answered. "What did it look like?" I asked. "Well the closet was filled with designer clothes, handbags, and shoes," Luke explained. "The walls were in the shade of blue, and the windowsill was diamond coated. But here is the weirdest part, the bed was stained in blood yet she never changed the bedsheets."

"Wow," I said. "And get this," Luke nodded. "On the top of the drawer was a pen without its point." "Maybe she is the killer?" I asked hopefully. "I hate to break it to you," Luke said. "But we still don't have any proof that the Housewife of California killed Ellen."

"But the pen-" I started to say. "We go after that," Luke promised. "But first, we need to stay away from your father and Stacy. The cops will be no use." Just then, Seth and Josh hurried to our direction.

"What took you two so long?" Luke asked. Seth and Josh reached into their pockets and pulled out a couple of random items. Mom's jewelry, Grandpa's watch, Stacy's phone, and other trinkets. They handed Luke the items and gazed at me.

" 'S up P.Y.T. ?" Josh asked. I stared at them for a moment. "What?" I asked slowly. "Pretty Young Thing," Seth said. "Did you just  seriously quote a Michael Jackson song?" I asked Josh. "Duh," Seth said. "Luke wishes he would say that to you." "Go play with the big kids," Luke ordered. "Hey," Josh cried. "We're not two years old!"

"Yeah," Seth agreed. "We want to know what you two are up to." "Did you guys kiss or something?" Josh asked. "Gross, no!" we both shouted in unison. "Can we help?" Seth offered. "No," Luke answered. "You kids need to focus on-" "We know your mom didn't do it," Josh interrupted.

"How do you know?" I asked. "Look at her jewelry," Seth sighed. I looked at the jewelry and gasped. "She's been wearing fake jewelry," Luke replied. "Did you know this?" I shook my head. "I am never interested in that stuff," I answered. "We also found something else." Josh said, handing me a folded sheet of paper.

It was the lighting bill, water bill, and a dozen of bills. It seems to me that she has never paid them. "Mom told me that she paid all of this money," I said. "Why would she hide this from me?"

"Good work," Luke said. The boys stood there with their arms crossed. "We want to help," Seth insisted. "Go. Away." Luke rasped. They refused to listen to Luke. "Fine," Luke sighed. "You can help us."

The boys whooped and traded high fives. "Where can we start?" Josh asked. "To the police department," Luke answered. "I can drive us there," I exclaimed. "Are we going to bail out my mother?" "Not just yet," Luke insisted. "We need to get some answers from the police officers."

"Alright," I said. "My dad's one of them so they will probably recognized me." We raced out of the gate and entered my mother's van. Seth and Josh sat in the back while Luke and I sat in the front. After Josh gave me the keys to the van, I turned on the ignition and started the car.

I then lowered the stick and turned the wheel to the right. On command, the car turned around and headed straight away from Stacy's house. Let's hope that no one would notice.