TWO MONTHS LATER
"Elizabeth? Maddie? You might want to see this..."
The Murgatroyd sisters heard their father calling upstairs to them. They raced down to see him holding a newspaper in his hands, beaming at it. He noticed their arrival and laid it down on the coffee table.
"Read," he said.
The headline was, in big bold letters: TWO GIRLS PLAY DETECTIVE AND SOLVE THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE OF THE YEAR.
The sub-head read: Teen girls find missing English royal jewels before police department even knows which continent to look in.
Elizabeth and Maddie shared a glance.
"You got credit," called their uncle from the other side of the room. The girls hadn't noticed him there. "Like you wanted."
Maddie read the article first, then handed it to her sister to read. The highlights of the article were as follows:
Richard Grayson is currently in a high-security penitentiary awaiting trial (his sister Marissa, an accomplice, was found dead by her boyfriend Oscar Jones on her sofa with a severely fractured hip which caused her to die of blood loss. Madeleine Murgatroyd is said to have kicked her, which caused the hip fracture, but the death was caused by running four blocks with her injury).
Misses Madeleine and Elizabeth Murgatroyd shall be receiving medals of Honor in two days' time from the Long Island Police Department as a reward for all their trouble.
Queen Elizabeth received the full, undamaged chest of jewels from her sister after they were specially shipped to her from New York.
"Well, there you have it," said David. "Medals of Honor... oh, I'm so proud of my daughters." Henry nodded in agreement.
"What? Marissa died?" Elizabeth said, surprised. "You practically killed her, Maddie!"
Maddie's face went a deep shade of red. She said nothing.
David and Henry ignored this statement.
"Girls – school starts soon. Shall I take you shopping this weekend? For new clothes, things like that?" Henry added.
"Sure," Maddie said. "Sounds great." She turned to her sister. "You ready for eighth grade? Oldest one in middle school. You'll be in high school with me before you know it."
Elizabeth looked elated. "That's right! And eighth grade... I feel much less nervous this year, though, now that I have Josie and everyone else."
"Yeah, I have my friend Lindsey now. The only other nerd in the whole school."
"Wow."
"Come on, sis. Hey, you know those books Uncle got me, by the mystery writer Agatha Christie? They're really good, much better than the Famous Five. Much more mature. You should read them."
"Yeah, I will. And we should take the paper." Elizabeth picked it up.
The girls ran back upstairs. David looked after them, smiling and shaking his head.
"They're so grown up, I can't believe it. I'm still not used to it, even after being back for a while now."
"That's what happens to kids, Davy," sighed Henry, resorting back to his old nickname for his brother. "They grow up. They become independent. Every day their independence grows. They're growing into beautiful young women."
"I know. And I don't like it."
"That's life, little bro."
David laughed.
"Yeah. I suppose it is. My girls..."
He sighed happily.
"My girls."