Chapter Twenty – " Gathering the Posse"
Previously: After Lily's startling and completely unbelievable revelation that she had concluded Ethan was responsible for all of the Vanishings, Kendall and Ryan raced to rescue Zach, who had gone to meet Ethan at the Dump and may well have wandered into unfathomable danger. Before he left for the Dump, Ryan called Derek so he could meet them there. But once he heard who solved the Mystery, Derek all but hung up on him. Amanda, joining the group at the penthouse, tries to explain to Lily how overwhelmed Derek was as Pine Valley continued to disappear on his watch.
After hearing Amanda's account of Derek's current state of mind, Jonathan and Lily exchanged doleful glances.
"You're right, Lily," Jonathan sighed. "Derek won't believe us."
"He's really over the edge. He practically threw me out of the police station when I told him I thought my Mother was the Maniac. Thank goodness I overheard Babe telling JR that all of you were here. There aren't many places left in this town with people!"
"I wish Derek believed us," Lily sighed. "I wish there was some way we could make him believe us!"
Happily enough, Amanda had a bright idea.
"Look, JR is crazy with worry over Adam and Stuart. Maybe if we tell him who the Maniac really is, he'll be able to convince Derek to have Ethan picked up at the Dump. Anyway it's worth a try!"
They had already explained to Amanda the solution to the Mystery that Lily had come up with, and while deep down she still thought her Mom was probably responsible, she was beyond overjoyed to consider an alternative theory.
"But why should JR believe us?" Erin asked in utter and complete despair of ever seeing Aidan again.
"Because JR is always ready to believe the worst," Di replied knowingly. "And Ethan being the Manic is pretty bad." But not the worst. The worst would be Dixie being the Maniac. But Lily's logic had almost freed Di of that worry, despite the gold necklace they had found in the second basement and "You Are My Sunshine" playing on the voice mails of the Vanished. The truth was, all she could think about now was finding Tad. She prayed that he was still alive. Although she realized if he were, she'd have to tell him the truth about Dixie. Too many people knew Dixie was alive for Di to keep it from him any longer. "I'll tell you everything, Tad," she promised him silently. "Even though that will finish Sherlock and Watson forever."
--
"Where the hell did that come from?" Kendall wondered aloud when she and Ryan reached the Dump and saw the Big Black Building for the first time. "That wasn't there before. That's never been there. Has it, Ryan?"
"No, I would have remembered," Ryan was sure. His last trip to the Dump had been to dispose of Michael Cambias' body, after having dug it up, along with Aidan and Tad, from his initial final resting place in the Pine Valley Cemetery. A building that size would definitely have caught his attention. "I wonder why --"
"Shush, listen!" Kendall demanded. "I hear music! There's music coming from it!"
"And laughter," Ryan perceived. "Sounds like a party."
"Here?" Kendall asked. "How can there be a party here of all places?"
--
"I'm sorry, but JR is lying down," Babe told Amanda and the rest of the Posse when they came to Casa Chandler's door. "And take it from me, Amanda, you're the last person he'd want to see."
"Lily's solved the Mystery," Jonathan tried.
"We need JR to convince Derek to go after Ethan," Di elaborated.
"Before Ethan kills Zach," Erin went on.
"And vanishes Kendall and Ryan," Lily added, remembering how much Kendall meant to JR.
"Kendall's in danger?" JR howled, racing down the stairs two at a time. "Babe, let them come inside!"
"Damn, I wish I understood what that skinny skank has," NuGreenlee muttered.
"Honey, you're either born with it," Krystal told her wisely if not kindly, "or you ain't."
"Has Kendall been vanished?" JR asked, fear stabbing through him.
"Not yet," Lily reassured him. "She and Ryan went to save Zach from the Maniac."
"We think Ethan is the Maniac," Di clarified. "Lily worked it all out."
"Lily?" JR asked skeptically.
"Lily is a born detective," Jonathan spoke up.
"That isn't true," Lily demurred. "I wasn't born a detective. I've had to study really hard by reading lots of detective novels. I wasn't always a good detective."
"But you're a good detective now, Lily," Jonathan said.
Lily blushed with pleasure.
"Lily solved the Mystery?" JR repeated.
"JR, this is the first Mystery I've ever actually solved," Lily told him quickly, guessing correctly that he was close to throwing them all out of his Mansion. "I knew I could solve it because I'm really good at solving puzzles, and that's what a mystery is." She stopped to make sure she had his attention.
"Go on, Lily," he told her as if he could read her mind, which she was fairly certain he'd never be able to do in a zillion years. "I'm listening, Lily. Go on."
She went on.
"Okay. Here's my theory of the case: Ethan had the motive, means and opportunity. Also, he isn't in the Script. And he lied about having read it. Also, we found him in the Casino's second basement for no reason except that he possibly planted a gold necklace that Di says belongs to your Mother."
"My Mother?" JR echoed hollowly.
"We'll talk later," Di told him. "Right now, JR, we've got to get Derek to the Dump to save Kendall, Ryan, Zach, and the Vanished!"
--
Chief of Police Derek Frye was listlessly turning the pages of the Script that Ryan had given him. If he were to believe what it said, Zach Slater was the Maniac. But Derek didn't believe that anymore, although he wished he could. Finding the Maniac would bring him closer to finding his sister, Livia. Among others. He sighed, took another swig of coffee, and began rereading the Scene in which Lily solves the Mystery.
Scene: Jonathan and Lily's Tree House.
Lily: Jonathan, I've solved the Mystery!
Jonathan: I knew you could, Lily! I never doubted you for a second.
Lily: Thank you, Jonathan. I couldn't have done it without you.
Jonathan: I think you could have. You're a wonderful detective.
Lily: Thank you, Jonathan!
Jonathan: So whodunit?
Lily: Who done what?
Jonathan: Who's the Maniac?
Lily: Oh. The Maniac is Zach Slater.
Jonathan: I should have known.
Lily: I can't believe it took me so long to figure it out! The proof is Zach's total lack of character. He denied his own son. It's obvious he'd be capable of kidnapping all our friends and family. What a fiend he is! What a heartless villain!
"Whoever the hell wrote this sure had no love for Zach Slater," Derek thought to himself. "Now who hates Slater?" Everybody, he thought. Well, maybe not Kendall Hart. After all she married him and went into business with him. There must be something perking between those two. And Myrtle Fargate reportedly had a soft spot for him in her big heart. And Bianca liked him, in spite of his twisted brother, Michael.
Derek drank some more of his coffee. "Some family," he thought. "Lots of folks hate that family. Lots of folks hate Slater." He knew that Erica had hated him since they met in Vegas, but she was only one of an extremely large and varied group. Zach Slater was a man of many enemies. But who hated him the most? Wait a second. Didn't Ryan mention somebody in that call a little while back? Somebody he said Lily suspected. Derek sat bolt upright as it all came together for him. Dammit if Jack's daughter hadn't hit the nail on the head!
Derek was out of his office and on his way into his squad car in a flash. He knew who the Maniac was. It had to be him. Had to be. About to get in his car, he noticed a Mercedes and a Jeep Cherokee pulling up to the Police Station, breaks screeching. All of the people he had come to like the least in the universe were getting out and running right toward him screaming something over and over again. What was it? A name? Yeah, that's what it was. JR reached him first.
"It's Ethan," Derek greeted a winded JR. "Good work, Lily."
She glowed her thanks.
"We better get to the Dump before it's too late," JR said. "I've got to save my Father and Uncle Stuart! And Kendall!"
"Go home, all of you!" Derek directed. "Stop trying to do my job!"
"If Lily hadn't done your job, the Mystery still wouldn't be solved," Jonathan couldn't help but point out.
Lily began seeing red.
"We're wasting time!" she shouted at Derek. "Terrible things may be happening to the people we love!"
Will the Posse get there in time to save most of Pine Valley? Any of Pine Valley? Well, gentle readers, if you imagine you know what's going to happen next, then imagine again! Please come back for our next (hopefully) thrilling chapter! Reviews are cherished!