Chapter 5: A Killer's End
A.N. Hey all, GreenWiggle2018 here. Well, here it is, guys, the finale of Horseland Homicide! I bet none of you were expecting Mrs. Stilton to be the murderer as it was revealed in Chapter 4, were you? Well, this was my plan all along, to have Amar's killer be a woman, specifically Mrs. Stiton, because I'm sort of a fan of the "femme fatale" (if you know what I mean) trope.
The day after Arnold Fox's arrest, the Stilton family was at home enjoying a nice quiet lunch of penne pasta when all of a sudden, there was a sharp knock at the door. When Brendan opened the door, he found Detective Washington with an officer.
"What's going on?" Brendan worried.
"Is Rachel home?" Detective Washington questioned.
"Yes, she is." Brendan answered.
Then, Rachel, having overheard, approached, followed by Zoey and Chloe.
"What's the problem, officers?" she inquired.
Detective Washington then held up the arrest warrant.
"Rachel Stilton, you're coming with us." he then announced. "You're under arrest for the murder of Amar Achaval."
Brendan was apalled as he watched the officer place handcuffs on his wife.
"Rachel, is this true?" Brendan asked, eyes open with alarm.
"No, this is absurd!" Rachel hollered. "You don't have any proof!"
"Come with us to the station." Detective Washington ordered. "Then we'll talk."
"Detective, may I come with?" Brendan asked. "I need to find out for myself."
"By all means." replied Detective Washington.
"Us too?" Zoey piped up.
"I suppose so." said Brendan.
With that, Detective Washington, followed by Brendan, Chloe, and Zoey in the Stilton family car, drove to the police station, and before long, Rachel was in an interrogation room where she vehemently denied any involvement in Amar's murder, but when confronted with the letters from Arnold, the death threat message to Amar, and the tape recording of Arnold's testimony, she had no choice but to admit that she was indeed involved in the crime. However, instead of Arnold's original testimony that labeled him as the driver and herself as the shooter, she told them that it was the other way around, and even willfully submitted a strand of her hair and her fingerprints to prove it, but ultimately conceded when the results came back and showed that her fingerprints perfectly matched the ones found on her husband's pistol and that her hair matched the hair found on the inside of the ski mask and sweatshirt that she had worn when the crime was committed. An analysis of her handwriting also matched the handwriting on the death threat message. Thus, she was confirmed to be Amar Achaval's killer. Brendan looked on in disbelief as she was taken away.
"I can't believe this." Brendan sighed. "My own wife, a killer."
"It's okay, Dad." Chloe smiled sympathetically as she placed a hand on her father's back.
"Yeah, you didn't know Mom was even capable of this." Zoey added.
"Altough, I must admit that I sort of knew it would end up like this." confessed Chloe. "I mean, since Mom's the only other person besides you who has a key to that drawer where your gun is, I figured it would have had to been either you or her."
"I guess that makes sense." agreed Brendan. "But still, I just can't believe this is happening."
"Well, at least we now know that Amar's family can now be at peace knowing who took his life, right?" Zoey asked.
Brendan smiled.
"You're right, Zo." he said.
Chloe then sighed.
"But you know, I'm gonna miss her, since she'll probably be locked up for life and never get to see us again." she confided.
"We're all gonna miss your mother." Brendan agreed. "But as my father would say to me, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."."
"Yeah, that's true." smiled Chloe. "Well, I guess as long as justice is served for Amar's family, it really won't matter anyway."
"That's right." agreed her twin.
Later, Chloe and Zoey had broken the news to their friends about their mother being the killer, and all of them were shocked. All of them, that is, except for Molly, who had already been informed.
"I don't believe it!" Sarah cried out in shock. "My parents are gonna flip when they hear this!"
"That was very disgraceful of her to commit such a crime." huffed Nani.
"And disgusting." added Alma.
"And despicable." finished Bailey.
A few days later, the funeral for Amar Achaval was held, and his parents, father Chirag and mother Zohana, had flown in from their native India to attend. By request of Mr. and Mrs. Achaval, Amar's remains were cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the spot in the woods surrounding Horseland where his body was discovered. Time passed, and with it the trial of Rachel Stilton and her accomplice Arnold Fox, at which Rachel pleaded guilty to first degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Arnold Fox pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and was sentenced to twenty years. In light of the whole case, Bailey's parents, the owners of Horseland, and Alma's father, the foreman, all agreed to name their children and their friends' favorite trail the Amar Achaval Trail in his honor, and the hotel where Rachel used to work as housekeeping manager was renamed to Amar's Place Hotel & Spa. Bailey and his friends were also rewarded for their parts in the investigation with fifty dollars each, which they pooled in to have a memorial for Amar be erected by the stables at Horseland, and one week after the trial, they watched with pride as they watched it happen in the hands of Mr. Rodriguez.
"We did it, Amar." Bailey smiled. "We found the people responsible for your death and they're now serving their time in prison as penalty."
That night, Zoey and Chloe were sleeping when they both had a dream. In this dream, they found themselves in an environment surrounded by white light.
"Where are we?" asked Zoey.
"I don't know." replied Chloe.
The twins then saw what looked like a gate and advanced toward it. When they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a gate. The gate's doors were made of solid gold, and they opened slowly on their own. The twins walked through them and saw a figure of Amar, dressed in the clothing his dead body had been found in; a red t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and black Chuck Taylor sneakers. In addition, he also had a halo over his head and had somehow sprouted wings coated in large white feathers from his back.
"Amar!" they cried out in amazement as they ran to him.
"What's going on?" questioned Zoey. "What is this place?"
"This is Heaven." Amar explained. "I called you two here to thank you for helping to find the people responsible for my murder. My family is forever grateful to you two and your friends for your courage in finding my killer."
"It was nothing, really." smiled Zoey. "We really miss you on Earth, Amar."
"Don't worry, when you two cease to exist, we will see each other again in Heaven." promised Amar.
Amar and the twins then hugged just as the dream ended.
"Wow, that was some dream I had." Zoey declared.
"I can say the same." Chloe remarked. "We visited Amar in Heaven."
"Wow, I had the same dream!" Zoey gasped.
"No way!" Chloe cried.
"Way!" Zoey giggled.
The two girls then heard their father calling them downstairs for breakfast, and as they skipped down the stairs, they got ready to tell their father about their interesting dream.
The End