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Previous chapters of the Vista Falls story:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
How should the story continue? Voting is open on the current chapter!
Last time, Officer Littlepoole and Vera talked to the hotel’s night manager, Russell Barrymore, who accidentally admitted that he fired Riley. Realizing that he had said too much, Mr. Barrymore sent the officer and Vera away. When Vera mentioned that they had to meet their friends in the bistro, Barrymore said that he already knew that. As they walked away, Jenny Littlepoole realized that Mr. Barrymore had contradicted himself. If he had known they were with the group in the bistro, why did he ask if Jenny and Vera were guests at the hotel? However, as they were about to question the manager, they saw he had already gone back to the hotel office. Eager to tell their friends what they had learned, Jenny and Vera rushed to the bistro and accidentally walked into Melissa Merrick. They told “Missy” that they were on their way to the bistro for hot chocolate and realized that the woman hoped to join them. Not wanting to be rude, but also not wanting to delay telling their friends about Riley, Jenny and Vera wondered what to do. Did they invite Missy to join them? Here’s what you decided.
Chapter 14
Red Handed
“We, uhhh…” Vera began awkwardly. “We’re just having hot chocolate in the bistro.” Vera figured that she was telling the truth. She just didn’t want to tell Missy the whole story.
“Oh, hot chocolate!” Missy began. “My favorite. I just can’t get enough of it.”
Vera and Jenny looked at each other. They knew the proper thing to do was to invite Missy to join them. But, they didn’t know how she would react to their investigation nor did they know her well enough to know if she was trustworthy.
Vera coughed anxiously. All she could think about was telling the others that Riley had been fired!
“Yes, I do love hot chocolate.” Missy added again.
Jenny smiled at Vera who nodded.
“I guess we all love hot chocolate.” Jenny shrugged. “So, why don’t you join us for some?”
“You wouldn’t mind?” Missy asked.
“No.” Vera smiled politely.
“Come on, our friends have already started.” Jenny gestured toward the door of the bistro.
They let Missy walk ahead of them.
“We’ll tell them about Riley later.” Jenny whispered to Vera.
Vera nodded.
Once inside the bistro, they saw their friends seated around a warm and welcoming fireplace at the rear of the restaurant.
Chief Colbert waved them over.
“Well, hello.” The chief said, standing up. He nodded at Missy. “Will you be joining us?”
“Yes, your fiancée and Vera invited me.” Missy nodded.
“Great!” Mr. Dinello smiled. “There’s a chair over here by me.”
“Thank you.” Missy said, sitting next to Mr. Dinello.
“Well, what did you find out?” TJ asked.
“Oh, we’ll talk about all that later.” Vera shrugged.
“That’s right.” Jenny nodded. “We don’t want to bore Missy with all of that.”
“I don’t mind.” Missy smiled. “If you all are in the middle of something, I don’t want to intrude. Does it have something to do with that frightening woman we all saw on the path this evening?”
“It’s not important.” Jenny shook her head.
“So, Missy, tell us about yourself.” Chief Colbert began, realizing that Jenny and Vera didn’t want to talk about their mystery in front of someone they didn’t really know.
“Not much to tell.” Missy sighed. “I’m here on business, as you know.”
“What do you do?” Mr. Dinello asked.
“I work in advertising.” Melissa answered.
“Oh really?” Mr. Dinello asked, interested. “Let me guess, you’re in the art department.”
“No.” Missy shook her head. “I’m in sales. What made you think I was in the art department?”
Mr. Dinello pointed to her hand. “You’ve got red paint on your fingers. I’m an art teacher, so I always have paint on my hands. That’s why I always look at everyone else’s hands. I guess I’m self conscious about mine. He studied the paint on her fingers. That looks like Venetian red to me.”
Melissa quickly folded her hands in her lap so Mr. Dinello couldn’t see them.
“It’s not paint.” She said. “It’s nail polish.”
“But your nails aren’t painted.” Mr. Dinello raised an eyebrow.
“Well, no, they’re not.” Missy said quickly. “That’s because, silly me, I spilled the whole bottle before I could do my nails. I had a horrible time cleaning it up. I thought I’d washed it all off my hands, but I guess I missed some. It’s terribly embarrassing.”
“No reason to be embarrassed.” Chief Colbert said. “We all make messes from time to time.”
Jenny laughed. “Not only is Sam the Chief of Police, he’s the Chief Mess-Maker.”
Everyone chuckled. Melissa smiled, but it seemed like a forced smile.
“So, you work in sales for an advertising firm.” Mr. Dinello continued. “What does that mean?”
“I try to drum up business.” Missy answered. “My job is to convince clients that we’re the right company to do their advertising.”
“Oh.” Mr. Dinello nodded. “Do you have any big clients?”
“This hotel chain.” Missy smiled.
“That’s pretty big.” Rick said, impressed. “I’d like to get into advertising someday.”
“It’s a fun job. But, a lot of work.” Missy sighed. “In fact, I just remembered that I have a phone call to make.”
“So late at night?” Lucy raised her eyebrows.
“Like I said, it’s a lot of work—weird hours. Listen, thanks for your hospitality.” Missy said, standing up quickly.
“You didn’t even have any hot chocolate!” Jenny said.
“Next time.” Missy answered. “Thanks. Good night.”
With that, she rushed from the room.
“That was strange.” Chief Colbert squinted.
“I think she really was embarrassed about the nail polish on her hands.” Kate speculated. “I could see why she’d be uncomfortable. No one wants other people to think they’re messy.” Kate blushed remembering how Rick used to tease her about her own messiness.
“True.” Mr. Dinello nodded. “Still, she did leave in a hurry.”
“Never mind about that.” TJ spoke up. “Let’s hear what you found out from Riley.”
“We didn’t see Riley.” Vera shook her head. “He’s been fired.”
Jenny and Vera explained what they had learned.
“Wow.” Ward sighed once they’d finished. “That’s weird.”
“Something really is going on here!” Mr. Dinello whistled.
Suddenly, they heard shouting coming from the lobby!
“Oh no!” A man shouted. “This is horrible! Who would do such a thing?”
Vera stood up, about to go out into the lobby.
“Hold on,” Chief Colbert said firmly. “It might be dangerous.”
“Oh, let’s all go!” Vera argued. “Come on, before we miss whatever is happening. Come on, Chief Colbert!”
What should Chief Colbert say?
Voting results for how the story continues:
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51.4%
42.9%
5.7%Go to next chapter!
