Foreword: This is the last chapter in the disclosure. The motive is finally known, and there will be another mystery solved... The ending will truly shock some of you. Also, next chapter will tie all loose ends together, so don't miss that one, either!

In this chapter, the tragic past of the two killers are revealed, and the pieces of the puzzles are starting to be put together. Why did they decide to kill two people? What made a sister and brother murderers? How can love towards someone turn into hatred towards the others? All pieces of the puzzle are interconnected, and the complex web of intrigue, murders, love, hatred, and greed are beginning to be revealed as well. What will happen next?

Read, enjoy, and review, please! I'd really appreciate if you could just say a few words saying about what you felt when reading this story.

Chapter 18

Disclosure 3: Haunting Past

Everybody stood there, astounded, staring at the two people who were just accused of murder. "But…how did you know?" asked Edna. "I never thought that they were siblings. They don't have many things in common."

Nancy grinned. Sometimes, siblings don't have the same traits as each other. Look at Frank and Joe. One is dark-haired, and the other is blond. It all has to do with the gene pool. But I'm sure when their blood are tested, the result will surely turn out clearly."

There was a thief that entered my house at dawn just a few days ago. And the thief happened to drop a ring behind after stealing the file that contained papers and information about the case that my mother solved fifteen years ago. The ring had the initials BP and IM. My father did some research and found that BP was Bertha Palatine and IM was Ian Milton. They were married twenty-five years ago, and they had two kids. One was a boy named James and the other was a girl named Diana."

The two killers didn't say a word. Nancy grinned. "I knew it," she said. "Because you two were the sole witnesses of the murder that took place at the mansion, you were put into the witness protection program so you won't be targeted by the people who wanted to avenge the killer. But you two kept in contact years after you two were separated. And when you two finally met, you found that the same three people killed both of your parents: June Quinn, Linton Quinn, and Gary Friedrich. You thought of a way to avenge your parents' death by killing all three of them, but Linton was sent to jail a while after being sent to prison. He killed himself in there, and you decided to kill June and Gary instead."

Nancy turned to the two killers again. "But somehow, you found out that my mother was killed by the two people whom you were planning to kill. Therefore, you thought that I was a perfect scapegoat, since I would have the motive to kill June and Gary. So you decided to knock me out just before you committed your crimes, so I won't have a single alibi for any of the murders that are committed here."

Silence followed. Nancy and all the detectives looked at the two suspects who were looking at them without saying a word. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Edna muttered, "I can't believe it! You two killed June and Gary? But why did you have to do that? Wasn't a better way to resolve these situations?"

Suddenly, Derek broke out into laughter. The others stared, dumbfounded, as the man continued laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Henri.

Derek snickered as he opened his eyes and looked at him straight into his eyes. Henri flinched. The man's dazzling blue eyes were suddenly as cold as ice, and his face seemed like a white mask that held no expression.

"I have to say, detectives," he said, turning to the detectives, "that I didn't know that you were such brilliant detectives. I'd say that I haven't met a single person more cunning than you."

He then looked at the window. "Yes, I'm the Magician," he said. "I am the magician that lives to get revenge. You see, ever since my sister and I witnessed the horrifying murder in which my mother was killed, we were planning to avenge her."

"But why?" asked Callie. "I don't understand why you are avenging your parents in such a complicated way! Did you really have to use this mansion as the scene of the crime?"

This time, Norma was the one to talk. "I know that this feeling of hatred won't be understood by anyone. From the time our parents were killed, we held the fire of hatred that burned inside us until the second we accomplished our revenge."

Derek grimaced. "All these started just sixteen years ago…

…

Our father was the CEO of a large corporation that earned billions of dollars of money worldwide. In fact, it still would be if he weren't killed. When we were still young, my father died in a mysterious car accident that took his life. Because he died, our mother became the new CEO of the company. At that time, June Quinn, Linton Quinn, and Gary Friedrich were mother's good friends. But as my mother took control of the company, those three started to show their true intentions.

One day, when we two were at home with our mother, we heard a knock on the door. When mother answered, she saw three people standing there. They were June, Linton, and Gary. They said something about making a decision for the company that mother was now the CEO of and went into the house. We were in our room playing, so we didn't hear much, but when Diana here went to the kitchen to get a cup of water, she saw the most horrifying sight. Mother was on the floor with blood on the floor. My sister and I didn't know what was going on, so we went to her, and we saw the three people kneeling over. One of them, who turned out to be Linton, had a knife on her hand, and it was red. They might have been surprised to see us, for they then went out of the house as fast as they could.

The police then came to our house, but due to lack of evidence, the investigation did not go quite well. But we saw the killers and told the police all this, but they didn't find anybody who fit the description that we gave them.

Even though the police were baffled by this case, a detective that was known for her skill in finding evidence was not. She used her time to collect evidences that the police had missed. And by finding the strand of hair that was left under the desk at the scene of the crime, she was able to convict Linton of first-degree murder.

However, Diana and I were put into a witness protection program that gave us new names and identities. Because of this, we lived our lives as Derek and Norma. Also, because of this, we were separated from each other for years.

But one day just a few months after Linton was convicted, I was at a mall when I witnessed a hit-and-run. What shocked me the most was the fact that the two people riding the car were actually the two people who came to our house right before mother was murdered. I immediately ran away, afraid that the killers might have seen me.

The young redheaded girl who also saw the faces of the killer was too shocked to say anything, so I decided not to say anything because of fear that the two people will try to kill my sister and me.

Years passed after that, and I was at France as a chef's apprentice. By chance, I met Diana, who was there on a business trip from the US. We immediately recognized each other and talked for a while, sharing our memories for the last decade.

Also, that was the time when Nancy Drew was coming to France with her friends to solve a mystery involving ninety-nine steps and an alchemy lab, as we found later. When we saw her face in the newspaper, we immediately knew that she was the girl from the car accident. And after searching through a few websites and newspapers, we found that the woman killed by the two people who killed our mother was a detective who convicted Linton but not the other two.

After more research, we found the truth behind our father's mysterious death. According to the article, the car was a gray Volkswagen, and the car that ran over Mrs. Drew was also a gray Volkswagen. We then knew that our father was also killed by the three devils!

…

Derek finished his narration and clenched his fist. "Because of them, our lives were completely destroyed. Because of their greed, my family was shattered. I could never forget them, and I never will. If they were still alive, I would still murder them with my own two hands! They are the devils that should be punished for their greed!"

Frank asked, "But why did you make your plan so all the blame would go to Nancy? She didn't do anything bad to you!"

Norma looked apologetically at Nancy. "I'm sorry, Nancy," she said. "We didn't mean for you to get all the blames, but we needed someone who can be the scapegoat. We wanted a person who could get others' attention so we could finish our revenge. I'm really sorry."

"But why did you knock me out and locked me in the freezer?" asked Nancy.

"Huh?" Derek and Norma both looked at each other, confused. "We didn't do that, Nancy," Derek said.

"What?" Nancy was also confused. "Then who…"

Suddenly, before anybody could say anything, Henri lounged at Norma and pulled something out of his pocket. He pointed the black object to Norma as he grabbed her neck.

"Ah!" Norma screamed. The guests and the detectives stared in amazement as Henri showed them what he was holding: a gun.

"What are you doing?" shouted Frank.

Henri snickered. "I'm afraid this is the end here," he said. "I'm glad you detectives did all the jobs for me without my getting my hands dirty."

Nancy suddenly realized the truth. "I knew it! You are the relative of the magician and know that there is treasure hidden in this hotel. And you tried to find it while disguised as a hotel guest!"

Henri was quite amazed at Nancy's deduction. "I'm surprised, Miss Detective," he said. "And yes, I'm the grandson of Piermont and wanted to get my hands on that treasure ever since I was a young boy. When I found this hotel, I was more than delighted to go and look around. However, you detectives were able to find the treasure more efficiently than me. Felicitations!"

"But let Norma go!" Derek shouted.

"Uh-uh-uh," Henri said. "I must get the gold bars into my car first. You see, I came here already in my car but hid it in the forest. But I sure was surprised to see Nancy going close to my car. I had no choice but to knock her out and lock her in the freezer." He paused, as if thinking to himself what the next action should be. "Now then," he finally said, "let's get the gold bars into my car out in the forest, shall we? And don't do anything funny, since I'll be holding this girl hostage." He pushed the gun to Norma's temple. She winced as she felt the coldness of the weapon.

Derek gritted his teeth but could do nothing to save his sister.

"Okay, let's see… You and you," he said, pointing to Frank and Xavier, "carry one of the gold bars into the car while you two"—he pointed to Ned and Derek—"carry another bar to my car."

Just as Frank and Xavier were about to go to the hidden passageway, Ned threw a vase into the wall. While Henri's attention was drawn to the vase, Ned lounged at him and grabbed the gun away from him. With a grunt, Henri fell onto the ground.

Norma managed to free herself from the captor's grasp and ran to the door. As Ned and Henri quarreled, Ned kicked the gun right out of the window. With a splash, the gun sank into the bottom of the ocean.

Furious, Henri grabbed Ned by the neck and threw him away. Then, he ran to the hallway.

"You won't get away!" Ned shouted and ran after him.

Nancy realized that it was a trap. "Ned! No!" she shouted, but her boyfriend didn't hear her. Ned continued to chase after Henri.

As Henri got to the wide window, he turned around and waited. When Ned turned around the corner, he noticed Henri. Henri then punched Ned in the stomach and kicked him to the window. The brown-haired detective stopped just before the window, and the culprit ran to him to attack again. However, Ned dodged the man's punch just a fraction of a second before.

With a scream, Henri fell out of the window. But as he did so, he grabbed Ned's arm, and the detective was pulled down into the rough ocean.

Nancy arrived just when she saw her boyfriend disappear behind the open window.

"Ned!"

Postscript: Because of the busy schedule in the summer, I will be taking a short break from writing. But I do promise that my next mystery will be just as shocking as, if not more shocking than, all of my previous mysteries! The name of the next mystery in this series will be announced next week, right after the epilogue to this story. There will also be a short introduction as to what the next story will be about. The next mystery will start in the middle of July, and I wish you'll keep reading my next story just like how you kept reading this one. Thanks for reading, and please review!