Hi guys! Guess who's back after a way-too-long hiatus? Well, with the end of this hiatus brings some GREAT NEWS! I finally finished my novel last Wednesday (shoutout to The Selection series for giving me some major inspiration) and I'm going to be getting into the process of editing pretty soon. If anyone is interested in the synopsis, I'd love to tell you! PM me or I could post a brief one on Tintin and Nollie's blog :) Anyway, I hope you all are having a fantastic summer, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :) ~DP55

Six

Eureka

How was it possible for two girls to be the only ones on a hotel floor for an entire day and a half in such a busy city as Venice?

Tourists come from all over.

It couldn't be possible that they were the only ones.

"Are you positive that the two girls were the only ones on the floor for their entire stay?" I took the record from Tintin and looked it over closely to ensure there were no eraser marks from someone attempting to alter it.

He shook his head.

I used this as an invitation to look even closer, to come up with a reason why he wouldn't think someone could've altered the record. "When was the last time you took a vacation, sir?"

He wrinkled his brow and murmured, "I just got back from my mother's in Caravaggio last night."

Tintin read my expression like a book. Another look of eureka! registered on his face at this. "Do you know who was working on the night the girls were here?"

The man pondered this for a heartbeat before sticking his index finger in the air and nodding. "Yes. Frank. I go get him." He disappeared into the back again and returned with a man no older than Tintin, who looked incredibly confused. "Frank, these two want to know about girls."

Frank's face drained of color as he shot us a completely horrified stare. "Uh…"

Tintin spoke up before Frank's face had even the slightest chance to change back into a humanly color. "We want to know about the girls who were staying here just a few nights ago. Their names were Moira and Lucille. Can you confirm that these two girls were alone on the third floor of your hotel that night?"

Frank plucked the record from my hands and looked it over. "No…No sir, I cannot confirm that. I checked in a couple of guys into the room next-door…" He flipped past that day's record and points to the one behind it. "Them. Aroldo and Cesare Marlborough. Brothers. Checked out yesterday morning in quite a hurry…"

"Do you know where they went?" Tintin demanded.

"No, of course not. It is not my place to pry into their personal whereabouts. All I know is that they were most certainly Venetian natives…Why on earth do you want to know this? Who are you?"

"Just looking into the murders of those girls, sir," I told him with a shrug.

"Thank you for your time. We must be off now. Breakfast reservations," Tintin lied, pushing me out the door.

"Why are we leaving?" I demanded when we reached the street.

"Because we have primary suspects, and we know their names."

"The Marlborough brothers?"

"Yes. Native boys in foreign countries have a tendency to prey on pretty tourist girls." He eyed me warily before reaching down to tangle his fingers in mine. "Especially ones who are traveling alone…Without an adult male, I should say."

"But how will we know where the boys are?"

"Records. Always the records. If they're natives, then they'll have job records, and…" We passed a large group of loud Italian men as we walked down the sidewalk, narrowly dodging them to avoid getting shoved into the street. Tintin dropped my hand and quickly wrapped his arm around my waist to avoid losing me in the crowd.

"Who were they?" I turned, watching the men leave, trying to pinpoint if any of them could be our suspects.

"Just natives…" Tintin said. I heard his breath catch in his throat as he finished speaking and he stopped in his tracks. "Oh!" He whipped around and hurried after the crowd of Italians, calling for them. "Excuse me!" He shouted, "Excuse me, I wonder if any of you could help me?"

A man turned around almost immediately, followed shortly by a man who looked nearly identical to him, save for the fact that he was an inch shorter. "I can help you," said the taller man, "What do you need help with?"

Tintin met my gaze before looking back at the two men. "My wife and I are on our way to meet some friends at a gelato shop…it's, uh, the one nearest to here. Do you have any idea where it could be…?"

The shorter man raised his eyebrow and folded his arms. "There are three gelato shops in five blocks. Not helpful."

"We need the one nearest to where we are right now," I told him, looking around as though I was truly just a lost tourist. "My friends, they travelled all the way from Spain to see us. Their names are Sofía and Mariana. It'll be their first time trying gelato, just like us. We're going to try it together." I offered him a smile, but he shot me a glare.

"I think you are wasting our time."

"No no no!" Tintin looked petrified. "Not wasting your time. We lost the name of the gelato shop. We just know it's near here. Our hotel is down that way—" he pointed down the street, towards the Red Hotel. "Red Hotel. Do you know that one?"

The taller man looked at his brother and pursed his lips. "We stayed there a few days ago, yes."

A horrible feeling rushed through me like poison in my veins.

"But you…you are natives to the city, aren't you?" Tintin's expression was laced with confusion. "Why would you need to stay in a hotel?"

The shorter man shrugged. "A few of our friends came in and we wanted to stay with them. It is nice hotel. Do you like it?"

"Yes, very much." Tintin gave me a knowing look and bumped the back of his hand against mine. He knew, even before he asked their names, he knew these were the guys. "But never mind that. The gelato shop. Can you point us in the right direction?"

The taller man nodded and turned his feet westward before pointing at a quaint red building with a sign printed in Italian. "There." He shrugged. "Get address from your friend next time."

"Thank you, gentlemen, you've been too kind. Might I ask your names?"

"I am Aroldo, and this is my brother, Cesare." Aroldo nodded to Tintin, "Pleasure to meet you."

Tintin beamed, but I could see right through his smile. I knew the exact thought that was going through his mind: this was almost too easy.

Ooh, mysterious Italian brothers. I want one! Sign me up! ...Kidding! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to favorite me & my stories and leave a review (and if you want to hear about my novel, I love to talk about it, so PM ME!) Also... if you haven't read The Selection series by Kiera Cass, you are SERIOUSLY missing out! All right, I'll see you guys next time (and I promise it won't be as long as last time!)

XX, DisneyPrincess55