The raindrops fell down the little boy’s cheeks. His butler watched his young master who seemed to be overcrowded by what looked like a bunch of dark shadows dressed in suits. The butler tried to push forward through the extra tight security, and police force. The little boy’s eyes looked quite lost. He could not even stare directly into my eyes. I felt sorry for the kid. I tapped my pen on the front page of my thick notebook. “No…that’s not what happened…” As the boy spoke, his words just froze in his mind. “What happened was…” I patiently waited for the young lad to try to recollect his memories of what had happened, but each time he tried to speak his words were swallowed by grief. He looked as if his whole world had come crashing down. “No…he did not have blond hair…he…” I scratched back, and forth— the kid was not helping with this case with these kind of foggy like details. It was going to be hard to even track down the one who had committed such a ghastly crime. “Hey, alright kid. So, did the bad person ask you to hand over your expensive golden watch?” I waited, again, for what seemed to be an eternity for a response from the boy. “No…she…I mean he…never said that…What he…they…said was…?” The questioning was not going anywhere. I decided it was time for him to head back home. He was lost in deep thought. A hand reached out to him from his right side. This made him jump into my arms. I held onto the kid for a short moment before reminding him to not be afraid, and that if he remembered anything at all that could help with this case he could inform his butler to give me a call. The boy was directed into the back of one of the most expensive new self-driving hover cars. Once the kid and his butler were in the car, it was told to head home in its fastest driving mode. I raised my eyebrow, and wondered to myself: “Now if I were a bad guy, I’d make sure to have access to such a car when it was time to leave the crime scene.” One of the emt guys walked over to me, and asked if I had a minute. I nodded my head, and stepped toward the back of the ambulance near the crime scene. I poked my head inside the back, and saw one of the bodies—they had been two- the first a young woman~ in here was the second body, and with a quick glance one could almost fall head over heels for him…the man was strikingly quite a looker. I brushed these thoughts in the back of my mind. The gentleman slowly opened his eyes, and stared right at me. “He did not mean to do it. Please, forgive him. He needs help…before things get out of control..whatever you do…do not shoot him when you finally get to him.” My jaw became slightly loose at the gentleman’s words. The ambulance doors had to be closed soon, and I stepped away from it. I grabbed my phone, while my heart was racing. I hoped I was not too late. Meanwhile, back at the kid’s mansion. A phone was ringing in the kitchen. No one picked up. “Damn it!” I shook my head, and ran toward my partner. “We don’t have much time. We have to try and catch up to the kid’s vehicle. Fast!”

No, that’s not what happened. What happened was you said you were going to your parents’ house to drop off the kids for a sleep over and then pick up some things from Target. I said I wanted to finish the bathroom project I started so I was going to head to Lowes. And you said there’s a Home Depot on the way to your folks' house, so can I drop off the kids then get what I needed at Home Depot. And I said I wanted to use the Lowes gift card my brother gave me for my birthday. And you said but gift cards don’t expire. And I said I know gift cards don’t expire but why spend money at Home Depot when it won’t cost anything from Lowes. Plus, Target is closer to your folks than Home Depot. And you said I know but if you drop off the kids, I’ll be able to swing by Target and be back before my yoga class. And I said if I take the kids, we’ll be driving two cars in the same direction, and I thought your yoga class was Saturday morning at 9. And you said it has never started at 9, it’s always started at 10. And I said then why do you leave the house at 8:30? And you said because you meet up with Shari at Starbucks so you two can decompress before going to class. And I said I thought yoga class was designed for decompressing? And you didn’t say anything. And I said I don’t get how going to Target tonight will affect making your yoga class tomorrow. And you still didn’t answer me, so I asked are you alright? And you said yes, you’re fine. Go to Lowes. And I said are you sure. And you said whatever. And I said I love you and you must not have heard me because you didn’t say it back. And when I got to Lowes, I realized I forgot my gift card because I got sidetracked by our conversation. And now I’m sorry I didn’t drop the kids off because you’re blaming me for your Saturday yoga class getting cancelled.

I listened as the officer repeated back the story my friend and I had told him.

"Let me get this straight, you were found vandalizing Mr. Tom's house because of a rumor that his house is haunted? And the "ghost" you had paint the red warnings on Mr. Tom's front door was actually your blonde haired friend named Wayne?"

Joseph, who was sitting next to me laughed, "Wayne... Our friend? The haunting of Mr. Tom's house was just a harmless prank. Wayne wanted to be part of our group, and he does not have blonde hair."

I gasp, "But I'm sure I saw blonde hair after we sent Wayne to the front door of Mr. Tom's house."

Officer Smith looked between us. "Well, now Wayne has been pronounced as missing. So, how do you explain that?"

It had been three days since Joseph and I had dared Wayne to pretend to be a ghost at Mr. Tom's house to scare away the elementary kids from our secret treehouse on Mr. Tom's property, and now Wayne was missing.