Casita Was the Only Witness

Augustine & Doloris

"It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling..."

Mirabel moved around her room, tossing things onto her bed. She packed her bag with miscellaneous items she might need. Do I need my toothbrush? Do people use toothbrushes to solve mysteries? Shaking her head, she decided she didn't need it. Her hands hovered over the bag and it finally hit her that she had no clue how to start.

A knock on the doorframe made her skin jump. "Mirabel?" Her father gave her a worn expression. "How are you holding up?"

Taking a deep breath, she gave him a wavering smile. "I'm..." Fine, her brain autocorrected. I'm fine. Tell him I'm fine. With a sigh, she gave up and fell on the bed. "I'm not fine."

"Hey." Augustine came to sit next to her, gripping her hand in his. "I'm sure no one meant what they said back there. We've just all had a bit of a rough morning. No one truly thinks it was you."

"That's the problem." Mirabel leaned her head into his shoulder. "Someone did do it. And it's likely they're in the family."

"Or, it could've been one of the townspeople last night." His hand tightened. "Our family is too strong to hand done anything like that. I can't even imagine-" His voice hitched, not needing to go on.

Wiping her eyes, she frowned. "I don't know how I'm going to do this. Who would want to hurt Abuela? Why? Everyone's always seemed to love her!" The tears were really coming now.

Augustine pulled his daughter into a hug, running his fingers through her curls. " I don't think all this pressure should be put on you. You're just a kid. We all need time to mourn right now."

"But I need to." Her own words surprised her. "I need to figure out who did it so they can be stopped. Abuela and I didn't have a perfect relationship, but I would've never done anything like this."

"I know." That was all he needed to say. She embraced him harder.

"I need to," she repeated.

"Just... know your not alone. Though it might be hard to tell right now, we all have your back."

She separated, dragging her arm across her face in an attempt to clean up. Despite just fighting minutes earlier, Mirabel was proud to have a family like hers. Of course, she had to keep in mind that all that might change. One of her family members could be a horrible killer. The concept made her stomach churn. She shoved it away and went for one more hug. For now, this moment was all she needed. If her family's history had taught her anything, it was that even in their darkest moments, there was always light.

After what felt like eternity and yet too little time entirely, the warmth of the hug ended. Augustine rose from the bed.

"I've got to go check on your mother. Will you be alright?"

Mirabel nodded, forcing herself to be.

"Do you have an idea of where to start?"

Mirabel bit her lip, not wanting to admit the truth that she didn't. She could hear the bustle of the town outside. Doloris had been sent down to let them in on the awful news this morning had brought. A lightbulb went of in Mirabel's head.

"I might."

***

Running as fast as she could, Mirable soon found her cousin talking with Mariano's mother. They were just finishing up, both puffy eyed and solemn.

"Doloris!" Mirabel called, finally at Doloris' side.

The older girl gave a disgruntled squeak, stepping along the path through town. "Mirabel." She didn't even bother a look. "What do you want?"

"The situation this morning..." Mirabel didn't particularly feel like explaining, especially since both of them knew and all it would do would bring up the traumatic memory of their grandmother's form. "We need to figure out the true culprit."

"We?" Doloris raised her eyebrow. "Why would I help you?"

"Come on." Mirabel clutched her bag's strap nervously. "You don't really think I did it, do you?"

Doloris sighed, her steps stopping. "No, but... As of right now, you seem to be the most likely person."

"Just set that aside for the moment. Please?" Mirabel stared up at her cousin with pleading eyes. "I need to know if you heard anything suspicious last night."

Doloris stuck her nose up. "The only thing suspicious I heard last night was you, discussing blowing out the candle. Mind explaining that?"

Mirabel fidgeted, her moth forming an oh. "Wait, Doloris, it's not what you think. I wasn't actually going to do it-"

"Obviously, because it's still lit. But why did you even consider it?"

"The Casita wanted me to, for some reason." Mirabel frowned, still unsure herself.

"That doesn't make any sense." Doloris squeaked again before continuing on.

"Doesn't matter right now anyways." Mirabel hurried to catch up. "Was there anything else that went on last night? I went to bed early, so I wouldn't know, but what time did the party end?"

"Well past midnight, but Mama said that Antonit should finally get to bed, so we shooed everybody out." Doloris shrugged, picking up her dress from where the path curved up some. "After everyone was asleep, nothing was too out of the ordinary. The rats in the walls were talking amongst themselves, Camilo and Papa were snoring, and there were the occasional whispers of stars. I've learned to drown most of it out at this point, otherwise I would never get any sleep."

Mirabel watched her cousin's expression, so calm, and yet things she was saying were somewhat concerning. Mirabel had never considered how hard it must be to be able to hear and take in so much. Mirabel thought the gift would drive her mad.

"But, I did hear at some point something like the clinking of tiles together, and then a crash like a pot breaking and a small yelp. I figured it was just the rats."

Mirabel quirked her face at another mention of rats. Did Doloris think the Casita was that dirty that rats roamed around it, or did she actually hear them? "I didn't see a broken pot this morning."

"Someone must've disposed of the evidence."

Mirabel didn't like the way Doloris said it. It sent a chill up her spine and only served to remind her that someone had purposely and sneakily taken a life just that morning.

"So, where do you suggest I go next?"

"The walls." Doloris stepped up to a new porch, rapping her hand against the door. "It's a great place for hiding things."

Opening her mouth to ask what Doloris meant, Mirabel was interrupted by a man answering the door. Decided that was all she was going to get from her cousin, she made her way back to the house.

The walls? What could be hiding in the walls?