Case of the Vengeful Paramour

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 A slit of unwelcome sunlight swept into my eyes. I struggled to sit up, then yawned. The songbirds outside were singing sweetly, the sky was a calming blue, and morning dew shimmered on the jade-green grass below, but something was tugging at my mind, like something crucial was missing...

How had I fallen asleep? I wondered. Wasn’t I reading...?

Then it hit me. Wisteria’s diary was missing! I patted around my bed and searched around the bedroom for Wisteria’s booklet, but with no avail. I glanced at my door. I had locked it last night, and now, it was...unlocked. Unlocked?!

And according to what I had read the night before, only two people have the key: Tristan, who was obviously dead, and Wisteria.

Wisteria had taken the book while I was sleeping. Probably to hide it from me.

And that means Wisteria knows I read her diary.

And that means she’s going to do something about it.

I sank onto the bed and cupped my chin in my hands, reminding me of my mother when I last conversed with her.

I tumbled out of the bed with dark shadows under my eyes and bed hair sticking up around my face. My clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them. I knew I should have slept more to avoid looking like I was rising from the undead, but I had a deadline to consider - the end of my “sleepover”.

Hmm...who cares about the deadline, anyway? I smiled slyly. I need more time, right?

I grabbed the phone from the desk, and found the “record” function. I pressed “record.”

“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. Hi-ya, Jeremy.” I paused and silently counted to three. “Yeah, I can’t talk, sorry. I’ve got tons of homework to do, and I didn’t feed Pawprint yet. See you when you guys come back from Miami! Have fun!”

I hit the “Stop” button, then pressed the “Notes” function. On it, I typed out my parents’ phone number. Then, I slipped the phone in my pants pocket, promising to put it back after I solved the case. Then I dragged myself out of the bedroom, and somehow made it down the spiral stairs without breaking my neck. I reached the bottom and croaked a call for Josephine, when a blast of fresh air smacked me. From the morning mist came Wisteria, bundled up in layers of clothes. Her eyes focused on me, and we stared at each other awkwardly.

“G' morning, Ms. Royale,” I rasped at last.

“Good morning,” Wisteria nodded curtly and turned away from me, her right hand creeping toward and into her coat pocket. Her hand closed around something in her pocket.

What’s in there?

“Ms. Austins! Is my breakfast ready?” Wisteria shouted. A soft “yes” came from the kitchen.

“Taste my food! A bit of everything!” Wisteria ordered. The same answer came.

Wisteria hung up her jacket and scarf on the coat rack next to the front door. As she turned to enter the kitchen for breakfast, I intercepted.

“Ms. Royale, I’m planning to go to Ms. Rainsworth’s house, but it’s quite chilly outside, and I was wondering if I could borrow your scarf,” I asked.

“Mhmm,” Wisteria murmured without looking at me.

I lifted her scarf from the rack, and wound it around my neck. After making sure that Wisteria could not see me, I stuck my hand in her coat pocket and took out a small glass vial. I observed the bottle and the clear liquid inside it. I had a feeling the liquid was not water, even though the substance could be easily mistaken for water. Due to this assumption, I achieved a simple idea.