Chapter 15: Its Over Now

"I cannot believe you solved a murder that the police couldn't." Sleepy, being miraculously vocal for once, said the next afternoon at our "family" lunch.

I don't see how it was much of a family lunch since Sleepy's girlfriend, the one who had been teaching the summer course, had joined us. It turns out that Doc had done some snooping of his own and ousted Sleepy to Andy causing him and my mother to invite her over.

Dopey's girlfriend, my mortal enemy Debbie, and Jesse had also been invited to lunch. I think the only reason Jesse had been invited was because he saved my life. Again.

"Seriously Suze! That must have been amazing! Although Jake, the police would have solved it eventually. Over 98 of major murder cases get solved by the police department. Suze just figured it out first." Doc exclaimed.

Andy passed me the plate of surf and turf before giving it to anyone else. If he had given it to one of my stepbrothers, there wouldn't have been anything left.

"Jake, David. Do not encourage her. If Jesse hadn't have been there to save her who knows what would have happened." My mother scolded them. She was pretty pissed off at me for getting into a sticky situation. Again. She was so angry that she grounded me last night at the hospital.

"It was nothing Mrs. Ackerman. I would do it again if I had to." Jesse replied modestly.

"Well…Lets hope you won't have to." She replied and took a bite of chicken.

I glanced at Jesse and tried not to burst out into laughter. He was also trying not to snicker. Both of us knew that I would get into trouble again thanks to my "ability".

"Suze, I have to admit, that was pretty cool of you." Debbie chimed in, most likely trying to make good with me so it would appeal to Dopey. A wasted effort if I do say so myself.

My mother set down her fork and said, "Oh Susie. After lunch Jesse is going to drive you to the police station to make your statements. Just there and back ok? No stopping for ice cream or anything like that."

Stop for ice cream? What era does my mother think we are living in? The era of Judy Cleaver? If Jesse and I were to stop for anything it would be for a much-needed make out session on his couch in his apartment in the attic. Not for some bubblegum flavored ice cream from the local creamery.

"Ok Mom. No problem…" I answered.

And that is how I found myself in Jesse's car after lunch.

"Here's what I don't get…How did Larry manage to hide the leaves from the foxglove in the coffee? Wouldn't he notice? And what does Anna have to do with all of this?" Jesse asked as he drove.

"Well…I don't have any clue about Anna. But as for the leaves, he always drank it with a lid, and it was this weird kind with coffee beans in it…so he probably didn't notice. Or Larry just told him that's how they make it now. Which Eric would have believed." I replied tearing my gaze away from the ocean.

Jesse grunted a reply as he turned on to Junipero Avenue. He maneuvered the jeep into a spot on the side of the street. We both got out of the car and he fed the meter.

As we walked down the street I stopped and paused when I came face to face with the station.

"That's the police station?" I said apprehensively.

"Yeah…I guess it is." Jesse laughing at my expression.

"It looks like a mission!" I exclaimed.

The adobe bricks were painted white, giving it a clean look and it had a Spanish influence to the architecture like most old buildings in Salinas Valley. The police station was nicer then most of the apartment complexes in Manhattan.

"I tell you…Carmel is weird." I muttered and the two of us ventured inside.

Once in the station, the receptionist told us to wait for the head detectives of the case.

I picked up a magazine sitting on the coffee table in front of us while Jesse leaned back in the chair and stretched out. I hadn't gotten past page 4 before two colorfully dressed detectives approached us.

The woman was dressed in white pants and a hot pink tank top, giving her the look of a model rather then a detective.

Meanwhile, the man was dressed like he just stepped out of an episode of CSI: Miami as the main character Horatio. Horatio is the one who is constantly putting on his sunglasses after saying a witty liner. The detective even had red hair, similar to Docs, although his was straight; not curly. Both of them couldn't have been older then 26, which made me, wonder how much experience they really had. Oh well. Who am I to judge?

"Miss Simon? Mr. De Silva? Please come with me." The woman nodded towards the hall. We proceeded to jump up and follow the best-dressed detectives in Carmel.

"Miss Simon, you'll be with me." The woman said and stopped in front of two doors. "And Mr. De Silva you'll be with my partner Detective Reilly."

She opened one of the doors and gestured for me to go in. Before I walked in, I shot a pleading glance at Jesse, who returned my facial gesture with a half frown, half smile. I had an unpleasant feeling about this…

.OOOOOO.

"Now, Miss Simon my name is Detective Walsh. You can call me Lisa if it would make you more comfortable. May I call you Susannah?" She asked.

I nodded and leaned back into the metal chair.

I was in an interrogation room. It was obvious since all that was in the room, which was painted a calming color of purple, was a table, two chairs and a double-sided mirror. Maybe the decorator thought the soothing lavender would make someone confess quicker. I knew that it made me want to. Confess, I mean. And I had done nothing wrong. Except the time I stole gum from my grandmothers purse when I was 4.

"Ok Susannah it is. I'm just going to turn on this tape recorder ok?" She asked and flipped on the recorder before waiting for a reply.
Nice to know my opinion counts.

"Can you state your name and age please?"

"Susannah Simon. I'm 17." I muttered.

Why was I being interrogated? If anything I should be rewarded. I had, after all, solved a murder. They should give me a medal or name a street or something after me.

"Now what is your parents occupation?" She continued.

"My mom works at a news station in Carmel and my dad was a lawyer before becoming a stay-at-home dad." I replied meeting her gaze.

She frowned and instantly I knew I answered wrong.

"You mean my stepfather Andy. Andy owns his own construction company and has his own home improvement show…Kind of like the show Home Improvement."

She offered me a weak smile. Score one for me, I can presume that I answered correctly.

"Alright. Now I'm just going to ask you a few questions about the case if that's ok?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

"Is it true you discovered foxglove in Larry's desk?"

"Yes."

"Did you take it upon yourself to solve this case by yourself?"

"I guess I did...I just wanted to find out the truth." I replied.

"Did you not have any confidence in the police?" She asked me in a non-hostile tone. Her features softened, showing off that model look she had going on.

"I do have confidence in the police…I really do. I just felt I needed to do something. I mean, he was my moms best friend…and I felt something was just off."

There was a long pause before she continued.

"You seem to have a long run in with the law." She said and opened a file I hadn't noticed before that was on the desk. She flipped through it.

I knew instantly what she was looking at. She had looked up all my records, the ones that the courts had promised my mother and I was sealed. She knew about all the times I'd been brought home by the police back in New York. She knew about the property damage I'd done to peoples homes and not to mention my old school.

She probably knew about the time I shattered that ladies window while she slept when I tried to get back a necklace. It was so I could give it to the ghost's sister. The necklace had been auctioned off to some random person by mistake.

I rubbed my temples and tried to keep myself from letting out a sigh. An awkward pause filled the room.

"I suppose so…" I replied weakly.

Lisa stopped beating around the bush and said, "Susannah, on that tape you gave us that has Larry's confession, it has you saying something about Eric. Why where you talking about him as if he was a ghost?"

I paused, ready to come up with the best lie I could muster, but the door to the room opened with Detective Reilly bursting in to unintentionally save me. I watched as he motioned to Lisa to come over to him. I strained to hear what they where saying but heard nothing.

As they talked they kept glancing at me. Finally, they ended their conversation and Reilly left.

"Sorry about that." She said.

"No problem."

"Where were we?" She asked as she sat back down.

I feigned forgetfulness but it didn't work.

"Right. The ghost of Eric." She said.

I could go the route of saying I had a dream. But what if Detective Reilly was questioning Jesse? If he said something else it would contradict my story. Best to go the route of dumb blonde. Even though I was a curly brunette.

"I don't really recall asking Jesse about Eric. All I remember is Larry coming at me with a baseball bat." I replied and gave her a half smile. You know, where only one side of your lip creeps up while the other side stays straight.

"Hmmm…. Convenient." She said snootily and flipped through the files some more. Whatever she and Reilly talked about clearly had her pissed off.

"The doctors said I could have some memory lose from hitting my head."

This was technically not a lie since the doctors did say that. Only thing is, I remember every single detail.

"Must be…" She said. "Well, maybe it will help if you tell me everything that happened that night."

I proceeded to tell the story for the umpteenth time. My version of course was without ghosts. When I finished she stared at me and chewed her bottom lip.

After a moment she said, "That's a nice story Miss Simon. For now, I suppose I have no choice but to believe you. That is all. We'll be in touch."

I sat there stunned. After all of that she merely tells me to leave? And why was my story so unbelievable?

Miss Snooty-white-pants had a big stick up her butt and clearly knew more then she was letting on. But the question was, what did she know?

I got up and walked across the room, leaving her sitting at the table scribbling on a piece of paper.

"Oh Miss Simon." She hollered.

I turned on my heel to see her looking at me with her baby blues.

"Realize that my partner and I will be watching you."

Wait. What?

I felt the need to let her know that she wasn't rocking my boat as much as she thought. So I said, "I'll make sure I'm always looking cute then." Then I walked away.

.OOOOOO.

"What is her glitch?" I hollered later in the car.

"Well Susannah, Detective Reilly told me more then Detective Walsh."

"That wouldn't be hard to do. She told me nothing."

"It seems to me that they think either you or I can talk to the dead."

I turned in my seat to face him as he drove. The expression on his face was somber.

"What?" I whispered.

"He kept talking about a psychic and a medium and how they needed help and if one of us could talk to the dead we should confess." He continued like he was talking about something as mundane as the weather.

"Help? Help how?" I said.

"I don't know but I bet we'll find out."

Ok. This was weird. They need help on a case so they're turning to a potential psychic?

"Did Detective Reilly leave in the middle of your interrogation?" I asked him.

"Yes he did. How did you know?"

I tugged at my seat belt uncomfortably.

"Well, he came into the room when she was questioning me." I replied.

"Oh."

"Did you say something particularly interesting?" I pressed.

"No. We had barely gotten started. He said he needed some water and then got up and left."

"Jesse…How do we know they aren't trying to bait in a couple of crazies?" I said.

"I guess we don't…" He said as he pulled into my driveway.

"What now?" I asked and unbuckled my seat belt and leaned closer to him.

He unbuckled his seat belt and leaned in as well.

"Now we wait and see." He replied with a kiss.

.OOOOOO.

As soon as I stepped into my room, I heard a familiar thump on my window seal. It was Spike, coming into my room for the first time in ages. How he got from Jesse's place to mine, I'll never know.

"Hey kitty." I said not bothering to pet him, for it would be a wasted effort.

As I flopped onto my bed the phone rang.

"Hello?"
"I want an exclusive." A familiar voice said.

"Cee? Is that you?"

"Yes it's me. Who else would be asking for an exclusive?" She said. "Scratch that. I bet your mothers station has called to already bring you on in the morning."

Sadly, this was true. My mother refused to let me go on though, because she says it is a "blatant exploit of my privacy and my youth". Whatever that means. She also said that it would be encouraging my investigating tendencies.

"If I give you an exclusive will it help better your career as a journalist?" I asked.

"Yes it would. And I would forgive you for not trusting me with this little secret you've been carrying around."

That right there was worth it. CeeCee is one person you should never cross if you value your reputation.

"Ok then. I suppose you need an exclusive. Oh Cee hold on that's the call waiting."

I switched the phone over.

"Hello?"
"Suze. It's Paul. I'm coming over."
"Wait why?" I said quickly.

"Eric. He doesn't believe you got Larry turned in. He wants to talk to you. And frankly, I need to hear it myself as well." Paul replied. I could hear the wind blowing in the background.

"Paul…Are you in your car?"

"Yes. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"I'm hanging up now Paul."

I clicked off and went back to CeeCee. I proceeded to promise her that I would call her tonight for an interview (I was still grounded after all) if she figured out what Anna had to do with it. She then informed me that the police had taken her off for questioning earlier so we would find out soon enough.

As soon as I got off the phone with CeeCee the doorbell rang. A moment later Paul appeared in my doorframe.

"Your mom said I have 10 minutes to talk." He raised an eyebrow as he said it. Clearly, my mother did not explain why he only had 10 minutes.

"I'm grounded." I replied and picked at the pink fringe on my pillow.

Paul whistled and said, "Your parents are harsh. Well then. Lets get down to business."

He closed the door to my room and went and sat on the window seat next to Spike. He stroked Spike's back (the cat is a traitor) and called out Eric's name.

Eric appeared, all glow-y and such, making his tan even nicer.

"Is it true Susannah? Did you get Larry arrested?" Eric wasted no time asking.

"Yes it is. I got him confessing on tape."

"So…Does it mean I can move on?" He asked.

I glanced a look a Paul, who looked amused by the whole situation.

"Yes it does. And don't worry. I'll tell London you love her and the kids." I got up off the bed as I said this.

"Thank you for everything. Susannah…Tell your mom goodbye for me too ok?" He asked. As he said this, his glow became fainter.

I grinned and nodded as Eric faded away.

"So that's it huh?" Paul said after a long moment of silence.

"I guess so."

"Everything turned out ok in the end." He said and got up from the seat.

"I suppose so."

Except now the police are watching me, (most likely so I'll crack and they'll have reason to believe I'm a mediator) I'm grounded, and I still don't have a cell phone.

"Suze!" I heard my mom bellow. "It's been 10 minutes!"

I groaned as Paul laughed.

"Well then Simon, I'll guess I should be going. How long are you grounded for?"

"Two weeks." I replied bitterly.

He laughed again as he left my room.

I guess I should take a moment to say that it was all worth it. And that being a mediator can have its rewarding moments, like for instance the one I just had with Eric.

Because that is what being a mediator is all about. Warm fuzzy moments.

AN: I'm writing a sequel. I'll try to have the first chapter up before I leave for Italy on the 4th. Let me know what you think.