Chapter 21: Collision at The Commodore

“While the police refuse to confirm the victim’s identity until the next of kin are located and notified, multiple eyewitnesses all say the same: the man murdered last night at the Stop-N-Rest Lodge was Oswald Cozart. As most viewers know by now, Cozart is an author who’s gained local attention recently due to the discovery of a skeleton and gold doubloons that might be linked to the pirate Thornbeard,” Hollie Kittler reported from outside the Edgewater motel.

“Oh, my!” Pamela exclaimed, bringing her hand to her mouth.

Putnam paused his fork to look over with interest at the local ****. On the other side of the table, Phineas continued to eat his breakfast, showing zero interest in the shocking announcement.

“This is exactly why it’s a good thing you stayed out of this treasure hunt, Phinny. That poor man was murdered—murdered!—right here in Edgewater,” Pamela said, shaking her head at the thought of someone being killed in her hometown.

This time, Phineas paused his fork while eating his French toast. For a second, he wondered if his mother could be so clueless before shaking his head. No, she knew he’d been involved but wanted to convince herself he wasn’t. She preferred not to know the details until she had to get involved.

So, the two brothers spent the next few minutes listening to their mother harp on about how they needed to avoid trouble. Although they disagreed on most things, Phineas and Putnam shared a look before rolling their eyes. They’d heard this spiel about staying safe countless times over the years. It led both teens to hurriedly finish their breakfasts.

BRRRING-BRRRING

Phinn downed the last of his orange juice as the kitchen phone rang. He needed to get next door to discuss the next step with Jake, so a phone call was the perfect distraction to slip out while avoiding any questions about his plans.

"Hello? Oh, good morning, Justine," Pamela greeted, causing her eldest son to halt his movement toward the back door. Suddenly, his danger sense went off over why Jake's mom would be calling when she had an important trial taking place. "Is your trial over so soon? You wanted to call before it resumed? Why, yes, I did see the news. Who? What? They what?!"

Phinn shot a wave before speed-walking toward the door.

“Stay right there, Phineas!” Pamela ordered before resuming her conversation with Mrs. Magnum. “No, I didn’t know the chief warned them to stay away.”

“It was the deputy chief, Mom! He doesn’t count,” Phinn insisted.

“Quiet!”

Putnam’s head bounced back and forth between his two relatives. Glee began to appear as he realized his older brother might be in serious trouble. Immediately, he sat back down to pretend he wasn’t done eating his breakfast.

“Yes, I will. Thank you for calling, Justine,” the forty-two-year-old mother said before slamming the phone down. “Phinny, you lied!”

“I never lied,” Phinn denied, technically correct in his mind. “Honestly, Mom, we’re not hunting for the treasure. Well, it turns out the whole pirate and treasure hunt is fake, but that doesn’t matter now.”

“Huh?” Putnam sounded, looking more confused than usual.

“I knew it! I just knew you couldn’t resist,” Pamela said, more to herself than either of her sons.

“I’m telling the truth. We were only looking into the skeleton from the beach. Jake was there when it was first discovered, you know,” Phinn reminded.

“You’re mixed up in a ****!”

“Wha–Really?” Putnam questioned, appearing impressed with his brother.

“Whoa! Mixed up in a **** is a strong statement, Mom. We only stopped at the motel to ask Cozart about the Spanish doubloon Jake found. It’s historical,” Phinn added, hoping to make their interest sound academic.

“Don’t try to trick me. You barely care about school,” Pamela responded. “You’re in trouble yet again!”

“Hey, how are we guilty of anything? We merely knocked on a door that wasn’t fully shut and discovered the body,” Phinn recounted the Mom-version of his story. He ignored his little brother’s exclamation over the body find. “If anything, you should be proud. We didn’t panic and notified the proper authorities right away. Heck, our quick discovery might help the police catch the fiend.”

“You disobeyed warnings from the police, Phinny. The police!” the dark-brown-haired woman shrieked. “Maybe we made a mistake when your principal suggested sending you to that boarding school.”

“Geez, Mom, get a hold of yourself. Mr. Zobel suggested that for Pug, not me.”

“No, he didn’t!” the thirteen-year-old protested.

“It doesn’t matter. Right now, you’re grounded. Justine is doing the same for Jake.”

“What? C’mon, Mom!” Phinn complained.

“For how long?” Putnam asked, holding in his laughter. “A month? The whole summer?”

“Until we get to the bottom of your involvement,” Pamela announced. “You should’ve never been at that motel.”

His mother’s words gave Phinn a new line of attack, and he took it.

“You know, Mom, Anita Deason at the Stop-N-Rest has had it out for me for years. I bet she lied to the police.”

“Everybody hates you.”

“Don’t say that to your brother, Putty,” Pamela admonished before returning her attention to her firstborn. “I’m sure Mrs. Deason does not have it out for you.”

“Oh, I know she really doesn’t. It’s Pammy Glynn she has it out for. I’m just collateral damage since I’m your son. I mean, even last night, she greeted me with suspicion. Claimed I better not be dragging my friends down like you did. Or that I wouldn’t be able to fool her as you did,” Phinn rattled off. “Why exactly does she hate you, Mom?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anita Deason doesn’t hate me,” Pamela replied stiffly.

“Are you sure? Okay. I guess I’ll ask Dad if he knows why,” Phinn said, acting as if he’d just thought of it.

“You will not ask your father about that!”

“Why not? Did you do something bad? Get in trouble?” Phinn pressed. “Should I call Grandma to see if you got grounded, too?”

“You better not call your grandmother,” Pamela growled.

“Hmm, you’re right. I should call Aunt Tammy,” Phinn agreed with a noticeable nod.

“You keep my sister out of this!” his mother shrieked. Frustrated, she threw her hands up before storming out of the kitchen.

“I’ll go next door instead of calling anyone,” Phinn announced.

“Fine!”

Phinn glanced at his brother to find a stunned expression.

“If she forgets, tell her I’m with Jake.”

“W-Wh-What just h-happened?” Putnam stammered. “Why…Why did Mom back down like that?”

“Mom wasn’t always a mother, you know.”

“What? She got into trouble?” Putt asked, sounding shocked.

“Pug, who do you think we take after? It’s definitely not Dad,” Phinn pointed out, rolling his eyes.

“What? Dad’s not our real father?”

Phinn took off his glasses with a loud sigh to pinch his brow.

“Just when I start to worry about you, I remember that you’re a moron. Jesus, Pug, use some common sense for once,” Phinn remarked before walking out the rear door.

The bespectacled teen continued to chuckle as he entered the Magnums’ kitchen. Stopping to pet Bandit, who rushed over, he found Jake slumped over his bowl of cereal.

“What’s so funny?”

Phinn responded with a brief recap of his Mom’s outburst and his brother's reaction.

“Wait, what did your mom do?”

“Ah, it’s nothing really. She threw a few motel parties to make extra money in high school,” Phinn revealed.

“That’s not so bad. Well, as long as the party doesn’t get out of control,” Jake replied.

“Oh, they got very out of control. I believe a fire started the final time before the Deasons figured out my mom was a little liar,” Phinn added, laughing. “Yeah, get Aunt Tammy loaded up on enough wine, and she spills all the family skeletons at the holidays.”

“And I thought my family was colorful.”

“No, your family is crazy,” Phinn countered. “Any word from Regina?”

“Nothing.”

“Damn. I wonder if we played it wrong last night. Perhaps we should’ve gone hard rather than smart ass,” Phinn mused, placing Bandit on his lap.

“No, I think we played it the best route. If we came in hard, they probably would’ve lawyered up. Who knows? She still might call,” Jake suggested, still believing in the best of Regina despite all evidence to the contrary.

“Doubtful. Ah, good morning, Mr. Magnum!” Phinn greeted as the older version of his best friend entered the room and stopped.

“Don’t even think of it. Jake’s grounded,” Marvin insisted, well aware of his neighbor’s ways.

“I’d never argue with your wife’s judgments, sir,” Phinn replied. “However–”

“No howevers, Phinn,” Marvin interrupted. “You two are finished with this pirate thing.”

“But we can’t quit before the case is over. Think of it like one of your old games. Would you have quit in the game against Balmyburg? No! Because you knew they were the underdogs and believed you could mount a comeback. If you had given up, you would’ve never won that championship,” Phinn recounted.

“This isn’t a football game. Crimes should be left to the police to solve,” Marvin argued while Libby slid into the kitchen.

“I think you know that the police don’t always catch the culprits or bother to try. They certainly didn’t seem interested in foiling the guy who sold you those counterfeit sports memorabilia. Justice was only served because we got involved,” Phinn reminded. “Or should I say your son got involved? Jake is not only a competitor like you, but he gets a strong sense of justice from his mother. Do you truly want to snuff those traits out at such a young age? Why, he’s the best of both of you.”

Jake watched in fascination as his father clearly struggled with his best friend’s argument. Marvin didn’t respond at first. Instead, he went to the refrigerator to grab a soda for a morning pick-me-up. As he did so, Jake’s phone buzzed with an incoming message. He quickly checked it and shot Phinn a look. They needed his dad to cave.

After a long night at his tavern, Marvin didn’t want to deal with this nonsense.

“I better not get into trouble with Justine,” Marvin mumbled before leaving the kitchen.

“We’ll make you proud of your son!” Phinn called after him, causing Bandit to add a bark.

“I’m always proud of him!” Marvin yelled back.

Libby shook her head at what happened.

“You’re scary sometimes,” she commented, petting her dog’s head before going outside to her car.

Phinn shrugged off the remark as he looked at Jake expectantly.

“Regina?”

“No, Johanna. Somebody claims that Mindy Moon is staying at The Commodore,” Jake relayed.

“Dammit, that was my guess. The Grand Fountain is pricier,” Phinn noted. “We should’ve staked out the two last night.”

Both hotels were located along the oceanfront of Edgewater, with The Commodore sitting closer to Old Downtown. Once the premier hotel in the city, its history still made it competitive with the more luxurious Grand Fountain.

“We agreed that it might be a lost cause and bring up questions from our parents. I think we were right not to stay out all night,” Jake countered. “Plus, we are banned from The Commodore.”

“Okay, you might be correct. We could be out late tonight,” Phinn realized, putting Bandit back on the floor. “See ya later, buddy.”

They started for the front door before Phinn threw up a hand.

“I think we'd better grab our scramble packs.”

“Seriously? We haven’t pulled those out in a long time,” Jake noted.

A leftover from the earliest days of Busybody, Inc., the scramble packs were Dusty’s idea for everything they might need to carry. It was useful back in the days when they rode their bikes to the edges of town for their investigations. Each pack held what they viewed as their standard detective tools, with the more specialized equipment split between the three backpacks.

“It is a **** investigation,” Phinn responded. “To Headquarters.”

Rushing out the back door, Jake’s phone buzzed again while they were halfway across the backyard to their old HQ. Pulling it out of his pocket, he groaned at the message.

“Johanna’s almost to the hotel. She’s going to run a stakeout until we arrive.”

“What? No!” Phinn exclaimed before lowering his voice so his mother didn’t hear. “Tell her to go home.”

Before Jake could send the message, his phone buzzed again.

“She said she’s staying,” Jake read, realizing she anticipated the order.

“Get our packs. I’ll deal with this,” Phinn said, already calling the wannabe influencer.

---

“The parking garage is that way,” Phinn said, pointing to the spot Jake had just passed.

“I’m going to park around the corner,” Jake replied, referring to the metered spots along the side street. “Just in case we need to leave in a hurry.”

Jake also didn’t mention his concerns about getting recognized by security while in the parking garage.

Finished in 1889, The Commodore had been the jewel of Edgewater for over half a century. A thick H-shaped, eight-story hotel constructed by the finest craftsmen, it featured an opulent grand lobby and majestic ballroom. The Commodore was the pride of the city until the Grand Fountain was built in the post-World War II boom. Yet, it still held a prominent role, hosting weddings, conventions, and election night parties. The old hotel also had a long history of allegedly being haunted.

It was one of those ghostly rumors that first caught the attention of Busybody Inc. during their ghost-debunking run in their early years. An attraction for guests, hotel management was not pleased when the trio of young teen investigators exposed a fake poltergeist four years ago. Their efforts resulted in a ban until the three sleuths turned eighteen. Subsequent investigations on the premises had resulted in a lifetime ban.

They ended up parking three blocks over, much to Phinn’s displeasure. However, while he fed quarters into the parking meter for a maximum of two hours, Jake finally received a reply from Johanna.

They met up with the wannabe influencer outside the hotel’s main doors. The chestnut brunette wore a flowery white sundress, a white hat with an oversized brim, and large sunglasses. While Phinn palmed his forehead, Jake smiled at the obvious attempt to hide her identity.

“What’s his problem?” their classmate greeted, gesturing to the brainy detective.

“What are you wearing?” Phinn questioned, forgetting to scold his classmate for not answering his calls.

“My stakeout disguise! Don’t you like it?” Johanna challenged. “I’m roleplaying a rich celebrity guest incognito.”

“You look ridicu–”

“It looks nice,” Jake complimented over Phinn’s critique. Then, catching his partner’s disapproving glare, he added, “We should’ve thought of sunglasses.”

“Pointless for me. I refuse to wear those dorky attachments,” Phinn declared, gesturing to his eyeglasses. Next, he addressed the influencer. “Thanks for the tip, but you can go now.”

“Absolutely not! I’m getting a story for my accounts, no matter what,” Johanna argued.

“Think this through,” Jake told his partner. “Johanna could be a useful distraction when we go inside. If we walk in alone, the doorman or security might recognize us immediately.”

“Ugh! I guess,” Phinn groaned.

“Wait, what? Aren’t you allowed inside?” Johanna inquired.

“There was this thing with a ghost, then a high school reunion, and also a cheating husband,” Jake rattled off.

“Don’t forget the election night incident,” Phinn muttered.

“I try not to remember that night,” Jake shot back, annoyed.

“Geez, talk about drama queens,” Johanna remarked before taking charge and leading the two other teens through the large revolving door.

A friendly greeting to the doorman by name–how she knew, Johanna didn’t tell—was followed by a curt dismissal to the concierge. Jake hustled the three of them over to the side of the grand lobby until they could partially hide behind a large column with a plush seat bench wrapped around it. Sitting down on one end, Phinn attempted to peer over his shoulder toward the front desk.

“Crap, we should’ve stopped at a newsstand,” Jake regretted.

“For what, a newspaper you can hold up to your nose? This isn’t the 1930s, boys,” Johanna remarked sarcastically. And when Jake mentioned maybe using a magazine, she scoffed. “Why don’t I just go up to the receptionist and ask for this Mindy’s room number? I can play it off as bitchy, if you’d like.”

“We don’t know what name she might be registered under,” Phinn admitted. “It could be under Mirela.”

“I can make it work. I’ll say I’m here to meet my friend Mirela, who might be using the name Mindy Moon to avoid any publicity over her fling with another man. What’s this Mirela’s last name?”

“We don’t know,” Jake admitted, causing the influencer to grumble.

“Well, we can’t just sit here all–”

“Duck!” Jake hissed, pulling Johanna down as he sat on the seat next to Phinn.

“Oh my! All you had to do was ask, Jacob,” Johanna purred after accidentally ending up on the handsome athlete’s lap. The flirty brunette slowly rubbed her butt against his crouch.

“Uh, that’s not what I MEANT!” Jake squealed as a hand found his dick over his shorts.

“Knock it off!” Phinn hissed at both teens while peering around the column. “She’s heading toward the elevators.”

“This Mindy?” Johanna asked, lifting up from Jake’s lap to have a peek.

“No, Regina,” Jake said.

“Regina Tarr,” Phinn clarified. “She’s working with Mindy.”

“Oh, okay,” Johanna sounded, plopping back down on Jake’s lap; the contact caused him to groan.

“We’ll need to move fast to see what floor she gets off on,” Phinn said. “And we can’t be seen.”

The two teen detectives quickly discussed possible options. Jake suggested he head for the stairs while Phinn raced over to the elevator after Regina entered. This plan involved Phinn watching the indicator and relaying the information to Jake, who’d dash up the stairs to that floor. Phinn didn’t like it as it risked Regina possibly seeing Jake or spotting him if he walked around the corner too quickly. While they rushed over another idea, Johanna got up.

“I got this,” she announced, speed-walking toward the elevator banks.

The wannabe influencer turned the corner in time as the elevator door opened. As she did so, Jake and Phinn hurried over to stop at the wall before the corner. Phinn risked a peek while Jake suggested he start for the stairs now.

“What is she doing?” the bespectacled sleuth questioned, watching as Johanna followed Regina onto the elevator.

“Huh? We didn’t think about that option. I guess they don’t know each other,” Jake remarked as the door closed.

Phinn moved first, walking over to the closed door to look up as the directional signal slowly rose. It passed the third, fourth, and fifth floors before stopping on the sixth floor. Jake announced he’d take the stairs, but Phinn stopped him by pointing to the other elevator car button he’d pushed. The doors opened as he pointed.

“We don’t need to take the stairs,” Phinn noted as Jake’s phone buzzed again.

“Regina got off on the sixth floor, but Johanna couldn’t. She pushed for the eighth floor when she got on,” Jake revealed.

“Tell her that’s fine. We narrowed it down to one floor,” Phinn instructed. “Now, we’ll need to find a way to zero in on the correct room.”

After reaching their destination, the two private detectives waited less than a minute for Johanna to join them after riding the elevator down from the eighth floor. Phinn swiftly devised a plan that stationed the three of them in four of the floor’s connecting intersections. It wasn’t a perfect plan as they couldn’t see several rooms closest to the elevators. But they’d make do by strolling back and forth from two points in their intersections. However, they had to be careful that the security personnel watching any cameras didn’t become suspicious.

Ten minutes with three false alarms slowly dragged by. Finally, a door opened not too far from Phinn to reveal Regina. Sending the signal to the other two, the scrawny teen made a beeline for the two-faced heiress.

Sensing a person's approach, Regina looked over and eeked in startlement. With her true black pixie haircut, Mindy appeared in the doorway and swore. Unseen by Phinn, Cozart's partner rapidly put on a backpack while grabbing another bag. With Regina seemingly frozen by indecisiveness, she was in the perfect spot to block Phinn. Only the pixie-haired schemer gave a hard shove to send Regina into and on top of Phinn, who landed on the carpeted hallway with a loud thud.

“She’s going for the stairs!” Phinn yelled.

Johanna repeated the update for Jake, who raced the long way around the building.

“Get the fuck of me!” Phinn ordered, pushing hard against Regina’s ample breasts. He couldn’t believe it when the seductive vixen moaned lustily from the contact. “Seriously?”

“Whoa! What are you doing?” Johanna questioned, coming around the corner to find Phinn attempting to extract himself from a position that now resembled a 69.

“Go!” Phinn commanded

“I’ll take the elevator down to the ground level,” Johanna said, seeing Mindy reach the door to the stairs. Reading the surprise on the raven-haired woman’s face, she assumed she’d spotted Jake sprinting toward her from the other hallway.

“Fine!” Phinn responded, finally able to kick Regina off him.

“I got this!” Jake yelled down the hallway after doing a double-take at Phinn and Regina.

“I’ll take these stairs,” Phinn informed his partner, gesturing to the nearby stairs that Mindy ignored due to his presence.

Standing up, Phinn hurried to the door while the elevator chimed as he heard a crash behind him. Turning around, Phinn saw Jake with his back against the floor while Cody Conway picked himself up. Clearly, they’d collided.

“What the fuck. Conway? You let her get past you!” Phinn shouted.

“Huh? Nobody passed me,” the brown-haired teen with a buzzcut replied.

“Shit! She’s going up!” Phinn realized, turning to run for the stairs.

However, when he turned the corner, he spotted two more Factfinders exiting the elevator near Johanna, who were accompanied by a hotel security guard.

“That’s one of them,” a skinny girl with a black neck-length bob cut said.

“Yeah, we know him,” the security guard stated.

Freezing momentarily, Phinn made brief eye contact with Johanna before diving toward the door while calling Donna Dalby a bitch. A thud sounded behind him while Johanna apologized, “Oh, pardon me! This darn hat keeps falling in front of my face.”

Racing up the stairs, Phinn began to curse his lack of exercise. Almost out of breath already, he yanked open the door to find Mindy hurrying past. Reaching out, Phinn clutched the backpack, causing Mindy to jerk backward. A burning sensation shot down the teen’s hand, where it brushed hard against the zipper.

The abrupt stop caused them both to fall to the floor.

Phinn hung on to the backpack for dear life as Mindy kicked him repeatedly. One missed kick allowed the teen to scramble on top of the twisting woman to put him on top of her. Fighting and hissing like a cat, Mindy wouldn’t give up, leading Phinn to pin both her wrists against the floor.

“You have some answers to give, Mirela.”

“Wha–How do you know that name?” Mindy questioned, shock written on her face.

“What happened with Cozart last night?”

“I didn’t kill Oz, you fool!” Mindy jeered.

“The police will need an alibi, but I’m sure they’ll have plenty of time to check on it while they press charges over the chaos your reality show caused.”

‘How the hell…Did Oz…No, you talked to Hawley,” Mindy said, working out the details aloud.

“Who wanted your boyfriend dead?” Phinn questioned.

“He wasn’t my boyfriend!”

“Phineas, what are you doing? Leave that woman alone.”

Phinn looked up in time to see Radley Radford moments before the fourth Factfinder moved to push him off of Mindy.

“Wait, don’t–Oww!” Phinn moaned as one of Mindy’s elbows clocked him in the face. The blow knocked his glasses off.

Falling off the petite schemer–with unwanted help from a pulling Radley–Phinn scrambled to locate his glasses before they broke. Fortunately, he found them before any damage occurred, but when he put them on, Phinn saw Mindy standing near the elevator as the doors opened.

“Stop her, Radley!” Phinn yelled at the trusting detective, who asked if she was okay.

“I’m fine. Thank you so much for your assistance. I don’t know what his deal is,” Mindy said. Stepping into the elevator car, she pushed her floor before waving at Phinn. “Nice try, kid. Maybe I’ll see you again someday.”

Pounding footsteps sounded as Jake ran around the corner. He caught a glimpse of Mindy blowing him a kiss as the doors closed. More footsteps sounded as the leader of The Factfinders followed Jake’s route and came around the corner.

“You dumbasses! She was the suspect!” Phinn screamed, jabbing his finger at the elevator. While everyone glanced in that direction, Phinn reached down to slyly pick up an object off the floor and pocket it.

“She was?” Radley responded.

“Yes!”

More noises followed as the door behind Phinn opened to reveal the security guard he’d previously avoided. Any hope of taking off after Mindy vanished as a second guard walked through the closing door.

“Alright. You two are out of here now, or we’ll call the police,” the first guard ordered.

“And if we ever see you in here again, we will call the cops,” the second, older guard threatened.

“Yeah, yeah, we understand,” Phinn bitched, shaking off the one guard’s hand from his arm.

“We’re leaving right now. Sorry,” Jake apologized, holding up his hands. Then, he immediately used them to hold his partner back as he leaned forward to jab his finger at Cody.

“Fucking goody-goodie snitches!” Phinn hissed. “Watch us bail your asses out the next time. Those days are over, Rat Finkway!”

“What are you talking about?” Jake asked, pulling Phinn away from the two fellow detectives.

“Who do you think alerted security? They know we’re banned from here. Remember that case from last summer? We told them so they’d handle the suspects staying at The Commodore.”

“Cody, is this true?” Jake questioned, shocked that they’d do something like that.

“We don’t condone breaking rules. You know that, Jake,” the opposite lead detective reminded.

“Well, some of us detectives have a code! Rule Number One is not selling out a fellow sleuth!” Jake roared, causing one of the guards to request backup on his walkie-talkie. “We’re going, we’re going!”

Despite their willingness to leave on their own, Jake and Phinn were escorted down the elevator before two additional security personnel met them on the ground floor. The Factfinders wisely chose to wait for another elevator. Walking across the lobby, Jake muttered about how he couldn't believe Sophia would help her team snitch on them.

“Face it, Jake. They’re all alike,” Phinn declared, walking through the revolving door. “Fucking disaster. We had Mindy and Regina slip through our fingers.”

“And almost got arrested,” Jake added before looking around. “What happened to Johanna?”

“She took the elevator down…to follow Mindy. That was before Mindy went down,” Phinn realized. “Check in with her!”

Jake immediately sent a message as they walked down the sidewalk. Two minutes passed before a reply came.

“Parking garage,” Jake read, causing both teens to perk up.

They jogged down the sidewalk as fast as Phinn could move. Jake sent off another message and relayed the response to his partner. Johanna was on the first floor near the east stairwell.

Slowing down, the teen sleuths tried not to catch anyone’s attention as they entered the parking structure. Walking up the incrementally rising ramp, they headed in the direction instructed by their classmate.

“Guys, over here!” Johanna hissed, standing between a parked car and the cement wall near the stairs.

However, she didn’t have Mindy with her, but a woozy Regina, who appeared to be struggling to stand up. Squinting at the busty brunette, Phinn thought she also looked somewhat groggy.

“What’s happened?” Jake asked, concerned about his recent lover’s condition.

“Ah, she’ll be fine. Bitch wouldn’t stop as I chased her, so I had to tase her,” Johanna revealed, holding out a pink stun gun. The shocked guys watched as she pressed the trigger to cause an electric spark.

“Jesus, what did you do?” Jake questioned, horrified to see Regina flinch in response to the stun gun’s crackle.

“Hey, I don’t see you catching anyone,” Johanna shot back.

“But you could’ve seriously hurt–”

“Excellent work. You’re correct. We needed someone for questioning,” Phinn praised, stepping closer to the recovering coed. “Okay, listen up, Miss Tarr. We expect some answers from you. If not, Lightning Lass is gonna hit you with another dose, got that?”

Johanna attempted to mouth that the stun gun needed to be recharged, but Phinn brushed that off. Regina didn’t need to know.

“First, what were you thinking coming here rather than calling us? Mindy, or Mirela, might have murdered Cozart,” Phinn noted.

“N-No, she didn’t,” Regina replied, shaking off the mental cobwebs. “Mindy was at our house last night until just before you arrived.”

“Was your brother home as well?”

“Of course! Jace wouldn’t kill anyone,” Regina replied scornfully.

“I’d check that attitude. Your reality show and chance at fame are dead for now,” Phinn stated before seeing his best friend’s expression. “Right, sorry. Poor choice of words.”

“What was the final clue? Where is the fake treasure buried?” Jake asked, picking up the questioning.

“I don’t know. I only had a small role,” Regina denied.

“No, you didn’t. You permitted several vital things. Your family name, ancestor, home to be used and recorded, and the diary to be passed on to everyone who comes searching for that next clue. Carter Hawley also said you gave another permission for the final stage. What is it?” Phinn demanded.

“Fine,” Regina said with a heavy sigh. “Cozart wanted to use our family crypt.”

“Eww!” Jake and Johanna sounded simultaneously.

“Yes, that does fit,” Phinn stated. The shovels, muddy shoes, and a public place with unpredictable foot traffic to place cameras in too early, all fit with a cemetery. “Which one? Druid Hill?”

“Yes, Druid Hill,” Regina confirmed the older town cemetery with a scowl.

“Very well. I think that’s all for now. You may go,” Phinn said, surprising the others with a dismissive hand motion.

The surly brunette slunk away, disappointing Jake by ignoring his goodbye. Phinn asked if Johanna was parked in the garage, which she was, so he asked for a ride to Jake’s car.

As she was on the third floor, they decided to walk up the ramp rather than take the stairs. Once in Johanna’s car, Phinn sat in the backseat. Jake wondered if the cemetery was their next stop.

“No. During her escape, this fell out of Mindy’s backpack. I’d like to see if it’s fake or real,” Phinn explained, pulling out a long, slim box.

Leaning forward between the seats, Phinn popped the case to reveal it was lined with velvet. However, what caused Johanna to gasp was the diamond necklace inside.

---

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