A/N: Hi. . .I'm really sorry that I didn't post anything for a month! My last update was the last day of October, and now it's the last day of November. I've just been really busy. Jazz band and regular band class have had extra rehearsals at the same time as show choir this month, so I had to compensate. Then I would have to do the (surprisingly low amount of) homework I got. I'm pretty lucky that I'm on the TEAM I'm on at school, the other two teams are LOADED with schoolwork! But I do have a lot of extra cirriculars which takes writing time away. But now, I've got enough free time at the moment to get in another chapter. Thanks for your reviews on the previous chapters, and I hope you enjoy this one!

Suspicion and Unclear Clues

Wow, I look like a porcupine, Ren thought as she looked at herself in the mirror. The drapes of the window in the room she was staying in were still closed, leaving a scattered beam of sunlight across her wooden floor.

Senator Stevens had never been anywhere near Ren's clothing size, and was unable to supply her with an old dress that her daughter could borrow. Therefore Ren had to borrow her costume from her friend Ruby, who was loaded with old garments and dresses. From the look of the clothes Ruby had in her closet and attic, the borrowed gown actually looked pretty close to an old English puadasoy dress. Although it matched Ren's time period, she still thought she looked like a porcupine. Her hair was in a neat bun, but by the look of the dress's broad shoulders and spikey-looking texture, she ended up taking her hair down. As she reached for her comb to rebrush her hair, Ren accidentally knocked it off her dresser.

With a sigh, she kneeled down (as well as she could in that dress!) and was about to grab the comb when a grey blur swept past her from underneath the dresser. As she focused her eyes, the blur came to a halt, and stared back at her.

"Eek! A mouse!" Ren yelped and jumped backward.

The little grey mouse looked back at her with beady, black eyes. Before it rushed off underneath a large crack in the wall, Ren noticed that it was holding a small, sewing needle in its little fingers. Then it was gone. Ren looked over her bed at the crack the little critter had just gone under, then turned away. After picking up her comb and giving her hair a few quick swipes, she decided to find Miss Pateer and report the tiny intruder.

As she stepped out of her bedroom two boys ran past her, almost knocking her clear off her feet.

"Hey! Watch out next time, boys!" Ren shook her head, annoyed. The boys paid her no mind.

It was even more difficult to get through the hallway and down the stairs, 8th graders all over the place were goofing off with each other, making fun of each other's costumes, or just ignoring the murder mystery game and acting as if they were at each other's homes. Ren pushed her way through the crowd and finally got down to the parlor. After looking for Miss Pateer for a few minutes, she moved into the giftshop.

For awhile, she became a bit distracted from her search, and started strolling around the small room filled with old items. She stopped at the postcard rack that was set upon the counter, next to the cash register. One caught her eye and she picked it up. It looked familiar. Too familiar. It also happened to be the one Tom had been looking at. In the black and white photo on the postcard, stood a dark figure in front of Stevenson House. She couldn't really make out the face of the person, but there was something awfully recognizable on it. . .maybe it was the eyes, or the nose. . .something.

"Hmm." Ren placed the postcard back on the rack.

"Hey, stop it!" Came a girl's voice from behind her.

Ren turned quickly as one of the students rushed past her, being chased by a boy. As the girl passed Ren, she stepped on the hem of Ren's long skirt, pulling it with her for a split second, and then wrenching it free.

With another sigh, Ren bent down to examine her skirt as the two 8th graders raced out of the giftshop. As she patted her skirt carefully, she suddeny froze at the sound of a loud thump. She slowly stood up, and turned her head in the direction of the noise. Thump. She heard it again. It sounded like it came from behind the counter. It was then that Ren noticed a door there. Her first instinct was to walk around the counter and push open the door, but then she hesitated. Maybe it was nothing.

Just as she headed back to the parlor, the door opened with a loud creak that made Ren flinch. Where the door had been closed, there now stood Miss Pateer, looking straight at Ren. She had an unfamiliar look about her—hate almost. Only when Miss Pateer asked "Can I help you with something?" did Ren realize that she had been practically gawking at Miss Pateer for a few seconds.

"Oh!" she snapped out of her train of thought. "Sorry, I uh—"

As Ren tried to remember the reason she had come down, Miss Pateer left the giftshop and made her way over to the sofas. She slowly lowered herself far enough to see the shelf underneath a coffee table.

"Um, do you need help with something?" Ren asked.

"What? Oh! Oh, no, honey. I was just. . ." Miss Pateer quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry, was there something you wanted to say?"

Ren had a sudden urge to leave the room. "Oh, no. I was just looking around."

"Very well," Miss Pateer flashed her a seemingly-fake smile. "Well, you enjoy yourself, too, missy. Just because you're the helper doesn't mean you can't have some fun!"

"Oh, I will!" Ren replied with as much enthusiasm as she could work up. "I think I'll go check on the kids upstairs."

"Well, make sure they're careful," Miss Pateer told her, as she looked under another coffee table. "I have a hunch that the first murder is coming up. I can feel it in my bones."

"Okay." Ren grinned. "Well, thanks for everything you've done for us."

Miss Pateer didn't respond, so Ren quickly walked to the stairs, as well as she could at least. Her dress restricted her from taking wider steps.

"Oh, hey, Ren!" Tawny said as she passed Ren on her way down the steps. "Haven't seen you lately."

"Yeah," Ren said. "But I've got to go now. I need to take care of something in my room."

She had a disgusted look on her face.

"Okay," Tawny replied.

She got to the bottom of the steps and headed straight for the dining room.

"There you are," she said to Louis, Twitty, and Tom, who were huddled in a corner. "Where have you been?"

"Look what we found!" Twitty said, holding out his hands.

"Ugh!" Tawny almost shrieked, causing some kids around her to look at her. "Where did you find that?"

"Aw, come on Tawny, it's just a little mousie," Louis said sweetly.

Tawny rolled her eyes as Tom said, "I-I agree w-w-with T-Tawny. Y-you sh-should

put that m-m-m-m-mouse back where it came from—GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

"Shh!" Tawny said, looking cautiously at the kids around them. "Have you two seen Allison?"

"Oh, I'm here!" came Allison's sweet voice. "Sorry, I was just in the giftshop."

"Oh, well I think we should start to—" Tawny began.

"And we have a slight problem." Allison interupted.

Tawny looked incredulously at the girl. She got over her shock and managed to say, "Oh. What's wrong?"

Allison leaned in and said in a hushed whisper, "I think Miss Pateer knows there's a photo album missing."

"What's the big deal with these albums anyway?" Louis yawned. "They're just a bunch of old, icky pictures."

"And is it our buisness anway?" Tom asked.

"I really don't know," Tawny said. "I don't know why it's so important. It's just mysterious, I guess."

"What is so mysterious?" Twitty demanded.

"The whole thing!" Tawny said. "It seems impossible that Miss Pateer couldn't be up to something. It's just one of the things that you know but can't say why or prove it."

"I know what you mean," Allison said. "I have the feeling too."

"Ugh, this mouse just won't let go of this needle!" Louis said suddenly. "Ouch!"

"So what's happening with the whole murder mystery?" Tom asked, being the one to ignore Louis this time. "Why hasn't anyone gotten killed yet?"

"Maybe they're just biding their time," Louis said evilly. "Waiting for their chance to pounce!"

He managed to give Tom a good scare. "Stop it! How do I know you're not the murderer?"

"Oh come on, Tom. Get real," Louis told him in a sly tone.

"Would you knock it off?" Tawny asked. "Anyway, I know that something's up. And I'm going to figure it out. I just hope we're not getting ourselves into something too deep to get out of."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Louis asked. "Look, it's probably nothing."

"The woman locked you in a room, Louis!" Tawny whispered loudly.

"So? That stuff happens to me all the time!" Louis grinned.

"Well, I think we should go back and look at that photo album again," Tawny said. "There's something there, I know it. And put that mouse down!"

The group walked through the crowded parlor and back up all the stairs to the girls' room. After a few dirty looks from Tawny (and Tom), Louis reluctantly let the mouse go. As they shut Tawny and Allison's door, it scurried across the floor, down the hallway, and disappeared into the darkness.

A/N: Again, I'm sorry. I'm going to try my best to update as fast as I can! Just understand, I'm pretty busy at the moment, but I hope this chapter made up for the wait. Thanks!