The Birthday Mystery

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the currently-feeble plotline, which I am trying very hard to strengthen.

Note: Like I said, I'm trying to get stuff moving in the story, and hopefully this chapter is a foot in the proverbial door. Unfortunately, it's a very small foot. Probably a child's size. Or roughly 462 words, excluding this note and the disclaimer. Anyway, please enjoy the shortest chapter of them all…

Chapter Thirteen

This was pure torture. Here she was, confronted with an important suspect in the case, and she wasn't even able to interrogate said suspect.

Trixie drummed her fingers on the clubhouse table briefly before looking over to the recently-arrived suspect in the doorway and smiling. Honey noticed that the smile seemed a bit forced but, guessing the reason for the tenseness, didn't comment on it and smiled back.

"Hi, Trixie," the brunette greeted, taking the seat next to her friend. "What are you doing here by yourself?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," replied Trixie. "Because if I weren't here, you'd be here by yourself, too."

"I was looking for Jim, actually. It's his turn to dust the clubhouse so I thought he'd be here."

Trixie rubbed at her chin with her knuckles, musing, "It is his turn, isn't it?" She shrugged. "Well, he's visiting with Brian right now. What'd you want to see him for?"

Honey giggled. "He's my brother, Trixie; I think I'm allowed to see him once in a while!"

"Of course you are—I was just wondering." Unable to resist, she leaned in a bit and asked, "Is it a secret, and that's why you're dodging the question?"

"I'm not dodging the question," Honey protested. "I… just wanted to see him, is all." She offered what she hoped was a somewhat awkward grin.

Trixie sighed. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you get to choose your own brother: you actually want to see him." Although she really wanted to do a bit of pushing ("Are you sure there's no reason?"), she thought that might seem a bit suspicious and, therefore, all her willpower went into convincing herself to let Mart interrogate Honey later.

"I guess I'll see you later, then," Honey said, standing up.

"Yeah. But good luck getting him away from Bobby."

Honey laughed and repeated, "See you."

Just as the Wheeler girl was opening the door, Trixie couldn't resist blurting, "Was there anything you wanted to tell me?"

Honey slowly looked back and asked, "W-what?"

Almost cringing at her outburst, Trixie waved her hand. "Oh, you know—just… anything," she finished lamely.

"Um… no?" Honey virtually squeaked.

Trixie clenched her toes and gritted her teeth. She was this close to getting some information. This close! But to get it, she'd either have to blow her cover or be mean and pushy for no apparent reason. She didn't want to do the former because she'd promised Mart that she wouldn't tell anybody that she knew about the missing present. She didn't want to do the latter because that would probably hurt Honey's feelings.

Still, the lure of solving another mystery was strong, and this was a great opportunity to do so.

Trixie sighed.

I'll do my best to keep posting regularly but, as I'm sure many of you know, it's about that time of year that school rolls around again. And I'm starting college, so I'm not sure how much free time I'll have on my hands. Surely enough for one chapter every other week? We'll see.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate your patience and the very kind reviews. :)