Sorry for the long wait, but here's chapter 7. Hope you like it!
Jake sat in the rusty, metal chair of the local police station, nervously twiddling his thumbs. Tina had been in the interrogation room for a couple hours now, and was most likely freaking out.
"She's going to be okay, Jake," Marley assured as she appeared in the chair next to him.
"I just don't want her to be arrested for a murder she didn't commit," Jake said. "Your killer is still out there, and he or she probably framed Tina. I think-"
Jake immediately paused when one of the police officers opened the door to called him in. The last thing he wanted was someone to see him talking to no one.
The officer motioned Jake towards Tina's room, and his heart broke the second he saw her.
Tina's eyes were puffy and bloodshot from so much crying, her mascara was running all down her cheeks, and her hair was matted and tangled. Jake wanted nothing more than to tell those stupid police officers that they had the wrong person. But then he'd have to explain why. And he definitely couldn't do that.
"Jake?" Tina croaked when Jake was ushered inside the small room.
"You have five minutes," the officer grumbled, making no effort to leave. Jake figured his visit needed to be supervised.
"That racket isn't mine," Tina said. "I don't even play tennis. Someone put it in my room. You have to believe me." Tina erupted into full blown sobs.
"I believe you," Jake said, trying to calm the girl down. "Once the police observe the racket for fingerprints, they're going to discover it's not yours and they'll let you go. I promise." Jake knew this wasn't a good time to be making any promises, but he needed to convince Tina everything was going to be okay.
"Times up," the officer suddenly said, and practically dragged Jake out of the interrogation room. Jake was pretty sure that had been less than five minutes.
"What are we going to do, Jake?" Marley asked when they finally left the police station.
Jake ran a hand through his short hair. "I'm not sure yet," he sighed.
"I think you should visit my mom," Marley said. "She knew a lot about my social life and anything I did involving performing. She's a total stage mom, even though she hates to admit it." Marley smiled at the memory of her childhood as a performer. She would honestly do anything to go back to those happy times.
"But I don't want to talk to her about this stuff," Jake said. "I'm sure she's still grieving."
"My mom is a very strong woman. And I'm pretty sure what she needs right now is someone to talk to about it. You need to go."
Jake nodded. "Alright then."
Jake took a deep breath before knocking lightly on Ms. Rose's front door. He jumped back immediately as soon as his knuckles hit the wood. He was starting to doubt whether or not this was a good idea.
Ms. Rose finally appeared at the door, and Jake knew there was no turning back now.
"Can I help you?" Ms. Rose asked sweetly.
"Um, if it's okay, I'd like to talk to you about your daughter Marley," Jake said nervously.
Marley's mom smiled sadly. "Of course, dear." She opened up her door and let Jake inside. "Were you two friends?"
"Um, you could say that." Jake shrugged. "My name's Jake."
"It's nice to meet you, Jake." The older woman smiled as she shook Jake's hand.
"You too, Ms. Rose."
Ms. Rose laughed. "Oh please, call me Millie."
"So, um, Millie," Jake began. "Do you know anything about what happened to your daughter?"
"I'm afraid I don't, dear," Millie sighed. "But the police suspect it was her friend Tina who did it."
"Tina didn't do it." Jake, noticing Millie's confused expression, explained further. "They found the murder weapon in her room, but it's not hers. I'm pretty sure someone is framing her."
"How could you know that?"
"Just trust me on it, okay?"
Millie sighed. "Alright."
Jake decided to go in a different approach. "Can you tell me what you know about Marley's performances?"
Millie's eyes began to light up. "Oh, Marley was just fabulous," she beamed. "We were all convinced she would make it to Broadway."
"And she was, um, found in the parking lot of the community theater, right?"
"Yes, that's right," Millie whispered.
"Was there anyone out of the ordinary that night who came to see her?"
Millie shook her head. "No, I don't think so. It wasn't even performance night. That night was just dress rehearsals."
"Is there a way I can talk to someone at the community theater? Maybe one of Marley's teachers or other students in her drama class?"
Millie nodded. "I'm sure you can."
Jake breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks." He knew that any new answers he would get would be in that theater. "I should probably get going," he said once he noticed the time. Kitty was probably wondering where he was.
"Stop by anytime, dear," Millie said kindly. "You're always welcome."
Jake thanked Marley's mother one last time and headed out the door. As he made his way back to Kitty's house, Marley suddenly appeared next to him.
"Hey, where were you?" Jake asked. "I thought you would want to see your mom."
"Wait, you already saw my mom?" Marley asked, looking startled.
"Yeah, just now."
"Ugh, it's that weird ghost thing again," Marley grumbled. "It always happens at the worst times. I wish I could control it."
"Yeah, I know," Jake agreed. Once he reached Kitty's house, he took out the spare keys she gave him, and let himself inside.
"I'm home!" Jake called out.
"In here!" Kitty replied back from the kitchen.
"Hey, I was just going to-whoa, what the hell is on your face?"
Kitty laughed and held up small jar filled with the same green goo that was on her face. "It's a mud mask. My skin has been breaking out like crazy recently."
"Oh okay. I thought some weird alien-like creature possessed you or something," Jake chuckled.
"Ha ha so funny." Kitty rolled her eyes. "So what did you do today?"
"I, uh, went to go see Marley's mom."
Now Kitty looked interested. "What did you talk about?"
"Well, she doesn't know all that much about what happened, but she said I can go to her drama class and talk to her teacher or some of her classmates."
"Yeah, that's a smart idea." Kitty nodded. "I'll come with you."
"Okay, thanks." Jake smiled. He knew he was going to get one step closer to solving this murder by going to the theater. It was the place with all the answers. Whoever had killed Marley had been there that night, probably planning it the whole time. Jake needed to find the killer fast, because he wasn't sure when he or she would strike again.
Hey, so I'm sorry these chapters aren't very long, but I really want this story to go on for a little while, and also I don't have a lot of time to write now that the school year has started. Anyways, let me know what you thought of this chapter, and stay tuned for chapter 8!