LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY
(Disclaimer: I have no business connection with either JOAN OF ARCADIA. My only purpose in writing this story is to have fun and maybe share it)
(Author's Note: This story is part of a series that takes place in the year after the JOAN OF ARCADIA TV show ended. A listing of the other stories is on my profile. The main events that have happened since May 2005 are
Joan has let Grace, Luke, and Adam into her secret
Luke has been promoted into the same grade as Joan, Grace, and Adam.
(3) Grace and Luke have spent one night together
Joan and Adam are engaged
This story is set in April, 2006)
Chapter 1 Take Your Daughter to Work
Dinner was an important ritual in the Girardi household. This Tuesday night, even Kevin and his wife Lily were participating, and so was Joan, who had an important engagement later that evening. As a result, Will Girardi felt that he had obligation to warn his wife and the others:
"I'm afraid that I'll be out of town Thursday and Friday this week."
"Very well, dear," said Helen. "Is it business or pleasure?"
"Sort of a combination. An old colleague of mine is investigating a case, and he's flying to Washington from Southern California to follow a lead. He's not familiar with the crime situation in this area of the country, so I agreed to give him some pointers."
"If it's taking him away from Southern California at this time of year," opined Lily, "it must be important."
Her in-laws laughed. Lily still tried to keep up the Surfer Girl image, that in reality she had dropped such sports at her marriage, replacing with activities that she could share with Kevin.
Joan herself wasn't paying much attention, being pre-occupied with recent news.
Glynis Friedman had had her baby April 15, a few days ago. Though Joan had been the first friend to learn of the pregnancy, and had played an important role persuading Friedmann to do the decent thing and marry her, it was still hard to get used to the idea. There was supposed to be an un-crossable line between Kids and Parents, and Glynis had crossed it.
To be sure, there had been other teen pregnancies at Arcadia High. Brianna the cheerleader, and Bonnie. But both of those girls had given up their babies for adoption, and tried to return to "normal life", while Glynis had decided to be a wife, mother, and genius.
For that matter, Joan herself was getting married in June. It was possible that she could conceive after the wedding and become a mother before another year had passed. She'd have to talk to Adam about that. In the meantime, stay on the bright side and congratulate Glynis.
Glynis lived only a couple of blocks from the Girardis, so Joan decided to walk. But when she had covered half the distance, she saw a familiar figure approaching her on the sidewalk and thought: uh-oh.
The man certainly did not look threatening. He was bearded, and dressed in shabby clothes, and was guiding some half of dozen dogs, some of which looked much more threatening than he did. An average observer might consider him a poor but honest man, trying to earn some extra dollars by walking wealthier clients' dogs. But Joan knew that he was the Almighty in disguise.
No point in dodging an all-seeing God. Joan walked up, merely staying out of the aggressive dogs' range. "Hi. What's happening?"
"Millions of things," said Dog-walker God. "But one in particular is, your father is going out of town in a couple of days on a detective case."
"That's right."
"Ask if you can go with him."
"Huh? I've got school!"
"There is more than one way to learn things, Joan." He guided the dogs away with one hand and made his characteristic wave with another.
Joan sighed. So she had been saddled with another mission. At least this one was fairly clear.
----
When she got home, her father was sitting on the living room sofa, looking through an old scrapbook, probably concerning his old friend. He looked up as Joan came in. "Hi, darling. How was Glynis?"
"Doing well as she can, under the circumstances. I learned a lot more about labor and delivery than I wanted to know."
"May come in handy someday when it's your turn."
"I hope to have some other life experiences first. Dad, could you take me with you on your trip?"
"Why do you ask?"
Joan had rehearsed an argument on the way home. "Well, you know I'm taking AP Law. But law deals with crime only the last stage, with everything safe and formalized in the courtroom. I ought to learn about the other stages, how you catch the guy and find the evidence that the court demands."
"Interesting idea. But what about school?"
"Seniors get some leeway. If I convince Mr. Harbison -- he's my law teacher -- that this is valuable experience, he can talk to Mr. Price and get me excused for a couple of days."
"Fine.. Tell Mr. Harbison what you told me, and I'm sure you'll succeed. Then I'll call the hotel in Washington and switch to a double room.
-----------------------
By the time father and daughter reached the northern tip of Washington, Will Girardi was fully in the spirit of things.
"My friend says he brought his daughter with him as well -- he's training her in the business. It's a delight to a father when his kids decide to follow in his footsteps. I thought at one point it would be Luke, who was always so curious."
"He still is, Dad. It's just that he likes investigating the universe, not people."
"Hmm, yes, but that's a little hard for me to relate to. When you're investigating people, you always have to allow the possibility that they have something to hide, that you have to ferret out.. The universe, at least, isn't going to lie to you."
"Luke quotes Einstein as saying 'God is subtle but not malicious'," said Joan.
"God?" Will, an agnostic, was obviously surprised at the sudden entrance of the divine into the conversation.
This was getting awkward. Joan did have something to hide, and that was her relationship with God. Her father would never understand that. Fortunately they were discussing Luke, not herself, "Luke said Einstein identified God as the law behind the universe." Luke also said he had a lot of trouble associating the Law Behind the Universe with human forms like Cute Boy God and Cowgirl God. Joan just accepted it.
Fortunately the traffic thickened inside the city, and Dad had to concentrate on the road. Eventually they reached their hotel, checked in to leave their baggage, then got back in the car to meet Dad's friend.
Will pulled into a motel parking lot. "Now you can start learning how to deduce character from clues, Joan. What can you deduce from the fact that my friend chose this motel to stay in?"
"That he's poor?" Joan asked, comparing the place in her mind with their own hotel.
"But remember that he paid for a cross-country airline ticket. Actually two, because he brought his daughter as well."
"He spends money when he must, but is very careful not to waste it?"
"Better. And if this was a criminal we were chasing, that would tell me something about the crimes he might commit. Gambling would be too reckless, but he might react violently to a threat to his loot. Of course, I trust my friend completely. Let's go; he said he'd meet us in the lobby."
It was a small lobby that nobody would have reason to hang around in, and so the friend was easy to find. He was quite a contrast to Dad. Balding head rather than Dad's full head of hair, a high-pitched voice compared to Dad's baritone. Yet Joan could see a resemblance between the two as they shook hands warmly. "Joan, Keith Mars. Keith, this is my daughter Joan."
"Pleased to meet you, Joan," said Keith. He swung his arm to indicate a short blonde girl sitting a short distance away, regarding the newcomers closely. "And this is my daughter, Veronica. Veronica Mars."
TBC
(Second Disclaimer: Needless to say, I have no business connection with VERONICA MARS either)
(Author's Note: As I said, this story is set in April, 2006. From the point of view of the VERONICA MARS series, it is late in season 2. Both Joan and Veronica are seniors in high school)