Author's Note: Hi! This is my second update in 24 hours. The fastest I have done so far.

Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and encouragement. Enjoy the story!

Story So Far:- After Ariana's murder, her sister Jenny also gets murdered, though the police initially considered it to be suicide. Among other details, one of the police officers, Dan, happens to come across an e-mail. Something unnerving. Read on to find out what made Nancy's stomach churn...

Chapter 10: Dear Diary

I registered Dan saying, "This mail was exchanged between Ariana Willin and Jenny Willin over a year ago. We have been told that Jenny Willin came over to this bungalow shortly after that."

I read the mail again to ensure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Ariana had written,

"Dear sis,

You know pretty well, how much money is required for the maintenance of this estate. It is indeed quite big. And you know how my resources are getting depleted. At this rate, I won't be able to buy more than one Lamborghini a year. You know how sad that is.

I know that now you have a respectable position in the society. Surprising though it is, you are as honourable as anybody. What if I were to spill the beans on your past? What is to prevent me from, say, leaking all those contract murders you committed? I have a reasonable number of video clips of your dealings, after all.

Oh, poor you, absolutely nothing to threaten me with, right? That's why you are the younger one and I am the older one.

Wondering what I want? Why don't you come over here for a few years and handle the expenses? Meanwhile, it's time for me to chill a little. And it's been a long time since we had some sister bonding. We will get time for that too. So, why don't you come over next Sunday, with all your boxes full of loose cash which, if I am not wrong, are enjoying a long holiday in your basement?

From,

Your loving sister."

Ok. This was certainly a whole new panorama. Blackmail. Ariana Willin was blackmailing her sister Jenny. There was definitely something off between the two of them, but I hadn't guessed it to be a conflict of this level.

First, Jennifer Lincer, whoever she was, was heading a hijack operation. She is probably related to the Willin sisters and now, Jenny Willin, our hostess for the week turned out to be a contract killer.

There was no doubt to its authenticity if she had come over to this isolated bungalow on receiving a simple e-mail. Sending an e-mail was perfect. It would be much more intriguing and infuriating, and as a result more effective than a phone call.

Having nothing more to do there, we headed back to the camp. Both Alex and Dan had assured me that they would keep me updated, be there any further developments.

On reaching the logs, we spotted Michael and John. John beckoned to us to join them. When we went over to them, John gladly slid off the log making space for us.

George squatted down on the ground, as ever, and today I joined her. Actually, from the ground, I was facing the entrance to the bungalow and it would be better for me to have a general idea of what was going on there.

Bess, being squeamish, wrinkled her nose on seeing just how dusty the log had become over a week. She precariously seated herself at the edge of the log, making sure that her jeans would get the least of it.

John, who had joined us on the ground, smiled and said, "Had I known you would be so uncomfortable on the log, I would have brought out the folding, portable chair," he proceeded to get up, "Maybe I can go and get it right now."

"Oh no John, it's ok," Bess said sitting properly on the log.

We chatted a little bit more about the camp which had been...a flop.

I soon got distracted. I looked at the huge bungalow. Both of its owners were dead in two days. I wondered what will happen to it. Maybe Mr. Derek will get it.

Dad had said that he will check on the fire incident. Dad! I had completely forgotten to call him. Not only that, I had also forgotten about checking out the reliability of the police postings.

Uh! What was wrong with me? How could I have forgotten` to check out this lead? Mental notes, I tell you!

I stood up. "I will just go and check out a tiny detail," I told the four of them at large. Both Bess and George offered to accompany me, but I assured them that I won't be long.

After asking around for half an hour, what I learnt was roughly this; eight constables had been appointed for the night patrol, four at the front entrance of the estate and rest of them at strategic intervals. It was indeed secure and any movement in such a deserted place would attract attention. That meant for both the murders, somebody within the four walls of the entrance was responsible.

Sweating profusely, I trudged back to the camp and sat down at the very place where I had previously been sitting.

I rang up Dad. He would probably be waiting for this call. "Hi Nancy, he said, picking up the call on the second ring.

"Hi Dad," I said, "I am not sure if you have heard..."

"...about the last murder?" he provided before I could finish my sentence. I didn't even bother wondering how he knew this.

"Yeah, that," I said.

"Yeah, I heard about it. I also heard that you were the first one to suspect murder," there was a pause, "Well, I guess there's no stopping you now," he had a hint of pride in his voice. He wasn't condemning any more.

"Yeah that's true, and an e-mail was found..." I briefly told him about the contents of the mail and a sudden idea struck me, "Could Jenny Willin has murdered Ariana?" I asked.

"It could be possible, yes, but do you have any evidence?" Dad said as he always did. He refused to consider a possibility without concrete proof.

"It is evident from the e-mail that Ariana was blackmailing Jenny, and all of us saw how the two of them snapped at each other over the most trifling matters. Maybe things got too much in the end," I suggested.

"Hmm, but it still remains a theory. And there also remains the question of why Jenny herself was murdered. Also can this theory be linked with the rock-climbing sabotage incident? You need to think these through at first."

True. How can Jenny Willin's death be linked to this? Maybe these two are separate incidents, but even then I can't satisfy the rock-climbing incident. With her chubby structure, Jenny Willin was hardly making any headway on the slope. She wasn't even half-way up when Ariana's rope was severed. So, where these three incidents completely unrelated?

After a few more exchanges, I turned to another pressing topic, "Dad, do you have any further news regarding the fire I mentioned in Mr. Derek's house?"

"Oh yes, just a second," there was the sound of shuffling of papers. "Here it is. Firstly, it is believed that it is not an accidental fire. Someone had deliberately set the mansion on fire. It was a big mansion, and the fire was even bigger and the fire-fighters were really late, so most of the mansion was demolished," he gulped before continuing, "Luckily, the people were evacuated soon and there were no casualties."

"Whom do they suspect?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"As of now, nobody. Mr. Derek had recently returned from abroad, and though this was his hometown, he has no idea why somebody would try to destroy his house," he sighed, "It was a great mansion."

I didn't know what to say. "Was there anybody who had a grudge against him, maybe even an old grudge?"

"He says that he can't think of anyone," Dad replied. I let out a deep sigh. After another round of casual small talk, I hung up.

I turned my attention to the ongoing conversation. George was having an intense sports discussion with John. Bess was clicking selfies of herself. Michael, I hadn't noticed earlier, had been listening to my side of the phone conversation with avid interest.

On realising that I had noticed his interest, "What was the fire you were talking about?"

I remembered that Bess, George and I had forgotten to mention that incident to any of our fellow campers. I narrated the whole incident to Michael, who listened intently.

He pondered for a while before commenting, "Once I read a story, where a few people had started a fire to destroy some crime evidence, but it went out of control and destroyed a lot more evidence than was originally intended." Suddenly his eyes widened, "I just remembered this from my past," he said in a small voice.

"Wow! That's great for you," I said genuinely overjoyed. It must be a wonderful thing for him.

"He has been put on a new medication from today morning. Who knows, this might be it," John said.

After lunch, Amelia suggested that we could go to the pond on the other side of the estate. The police were still here. Mr. Ropkins had ordered for another thorough search of the estate, and Alex had told me that he would soon suggest breaking the house for hidden passages. Meanwhile, I had procured a notebook and was just thinking about making a brief sketch of the situation. It would be a little bit distracting in all the bustle and din of the camp so the pond would be appropriate. Amelia informed us that hardly any of the campers knew about it as of yet.

The pond was small but beautiful. There were some stone benches surrounding it. Lack of care had marred the beauty of the place but nature had come to its rescue. The surface of the pond was covered with a layer of weeds and water-lilies alike. The trees surrounding the place weren't very tall but they gave a comfortable shade. Had the place not been so disused, it would have made a nice picnic spot.

I sat down with my notebook. It was time consuming work requiring a lot of concentration, and at the end it stood somewhat like this,

1) Sabotage during rock-climbing

Victim: Ariana Willin

Points to be noted:-

a. The sabotager was surely somebody was still on the cliff.

b. The rope had surely not worn out, it had been severed.

c. Fatal injury, maybe even death, was luckily avoided.

2) Murder

Victim: Ariana Willin

Suspects: Jenny Willin (no evidence)

Points to be noted:-

a. She had been stabbed with a knife

b. She was blackmailing her sister for money.

3) Murder

Victim: Jenny Willin

Points to be noted:-

a. Hung by her neck from the ceiling

b. No footstool found

c. Whoever killed her had to be really strong to have lifted her

d. She had initially inhaled chloroform hence no protest.

Additional Notes:-

1. The fire in Mr. Derek's house was intentional.

2. If the murderer was somebody from the camp, they would have to sneak out before dark.

3. It is unlikely that somebody outside the estate was directly linked to the crimes.

4. Does Jennifer Lincer have any link to this?

I looked up and noticed Bess and George looking intently at me. They obviously had some news to share. On seeing that I had closed my notebook, George said, "There are some sole-prints over here," she pointed towards the ground.

I went over to look at them. There they were, one set of footprints walking all over the soft edges of the pond. Disappearing near the grass cover but always reappearing. Somebody had been walking around here recently. For some reason, they didn't bother me at all. They could be here for the same reason ours were there. Sometimes, my friends will find a mystery in everything.

We went back, not to the camp, but to the bungalow. I wanted to have a look around in hope of picking up some important clues. A part of the police force was still there but nobody took any notice of us.

In front of Jenny's room, we found Alex. The room looked remarkably untouched.

"Has anyone even been here?" I asked a little surprised.

"Uh...no," Alex replied, "Mr. Ropkins thought it was impossible that the murderer would be hiding here. That's what he has been doing. Looking for the murderer in every imaginable and quite a few unimaginable places."

I smiled and went over to the table, rummaging through the drawers. For some reason, Mr. Gordon stood in the corner of the room following our every action. Alex asked him to stand outside the room but he mutely stood there.

The first few drawers held ordinary stuff. I was secretly hoping to come across some contract killing documents, instead, in the bottom right drawer, I found a diary.

On opening it, I was a little perplexed. There was only a single entry made yesterday. All of its previous pages were missing. Alex was equally surprised. It was Mr. Gordon who solved the mystery.

"Miss Willin would often do this. She wasn't one to trust people. Every week she would tear and burn seven pages so that there wouldn't be any sign of it. Yesterday was no different," he said.

I read through the only page. As I read it, I couldn't help the smile on my face. Here was the evidence I needed, but something was wrong: the bottom quarter of the page appeared to be cut, not torn but neatly cut in a straight line, as if, I thought with a jolt, as if with a knife. A knife again!

The diary went on like this,

"Dear Diary,

I did it last night you know. I did eliminate a potential threat to my survival. The way my sister was taking money from me, I would soon be bankrupt. At first I was unsure of whether I would be able to murder my sister. It sounds harsh but it wasn't all that difficult after all. I mean, I have had plenty of experience as far as murder is concerned, right?

By the way, I used a knife which I had happened to find, but more about that later. As I told you yesterday, I was initially worried about what weapon to use. Fire is always the best course of action but I could hardly set her on fire. It would attract a lot of unnecessary attention. My next plan was choking her but it would complicate things a lot. So, it was actually a bit of luck that I encountered the knife. Intrigued how? Just hold on a second.

Aren did set Derek's house on fire. That was the only way we could keep him away. And anyways, it was time his mansion was destroyed. It is so unfair that he got the grander deal which is also much more hassle-free. I hope the ball room was burnt to the ground.

Interesting turn of events last night. The knife, you know..."

That was all. Jenny Willin must have decided to destroy the last part. I wonder why.

After Alex had made the necessary phone calls to Mr. Ropkins about the diary and 'Aren', I pointed it out to him. He, however, appeared to be unsure, "It has been cut with a knife, right? So I don't think Miss Willin herself did it. Cutting wasn't her style. Burning was," he said.

Hmm. That was true. I remembered how she had burnt the newspaper cutting yesterday. She preferred burning. So, did that mean someone else had cut off this part. Someone who preferred knives. Probably the same person who had murdered her.

I looked through the entry again. So Derek's house had indeed been deliberately burnt. I remembered the day vividly. Hadn't...hadn't Ariana Willin been telling Derek about a bonfire, but there were no visible arrangements. Nobody had been gathering firewood, for that matter. And Ariana didn't sound one bit shocked, rather like she was expecting it. The two sisters knew very well then, that he wouldn't be coming.

I was about to close the diary when I noticed something on the inner side of the front cover. Two letters-BL. What did that mean?

I remembered something suddenly. I turned to Alex, "George noticed that yesterday morning, Jenny had been online at 03:22. I hadn't thought much about it before but from what the doctor said about the time of death being between 1 am and 5 am, that tally as well," I remarked, "And she was really looking nervous yesterday. Remember, she was being very upbeat about the whole thing and she tried to blame the whole thing on Mr. Jones," I added, "That act was probably an attempt to throw us off the scent," I muttered more to myself than to anybody else.

Alex made a note of that and went outside after taking the diary.

I rummaged the drawers searching for any other leads. The only other thing that caught my attention was a framed picture of Ariana Willin. It was probably a few years old. Maybe Jenny used to keep it on her bedside table. Maybe she stopped doing so as they drifted apart gradually.

I walked out of the room. Just as many new questions had been asked as had been answered, ever since I had last crossed this particular threshold.

Why was it preferable to keep Mr. Derek away? What did 'BL' mean? What was up with the knife? These were the questions which bothered me as I slipped into an uneasy slumber that night.

Author's Note:- A big mystery solved, but as Nancy says, just as many questions remain unanswered as were answered. Do tell me what you thought about the e-mail and the diary entry. I hope they were Willin-worthy. I tried hard to make it realistic, but you guys are the best judges.

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