Chapter 10: Helping The Police

"Apple," Emily said. "Book. Spoon."

"Bon," Remy said, a proud smile on his face. "You are getting better, Emily."

Since she had begun talking again, everyone pitched in to help her learn at least three new words a day. She had gotten to the point now where she could form a small sentence, but it was better than not being able to talk before. The three words she had spoken were ones Remy had decided to help her learn and he was very pleased she had caught on quickly. "Doing better?" Emily asked Remy, pointing to herself.

"You are, chere," he said, smiling.

Oxana came in and smiled. "Did someone learn some new words today?" She asked, having a feeling her youngest daughter had.

The young girl nodded. "Book," she said. "Spoon. Apple."

"Great job, sweetie!" Her mother said, picking her up and holding her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Emily giggled, hugging her mother back. A moment later, a knock came at the door and when they answered, it was the police sergeant and he nodded his head politely in greeting. "Mrs. Hauntley, forgive me for arriving without a call, but my fellow officers and I felt that you should get an update about how the investigation is going," he said.

"Oh, no trouble at all, Sergeant," she said, inviting him in. "Have you had any luck finding those awful people?"

"I'm afraid not," he said sadly. "We are having a hard time finding them. They've covered their trail well, which tells us that they've either done this before, or have been working on this for a long time to cover their trails."

Emily looked at him and wondered something. "House?" She asked.

He guessed she meant had they looked at the Stemwrithes' house. "We checked there. Clean as a whistle," he said.

She shook her head. "Other," she said.

Boris, who had just come downstairs from seeing that their current guests were settled in, went up to his wife and youngest daughter. "Emily, do you mean there's another house they had?" He asked.

She nodded and held up one hand, moving her fingers to as if she was telling her age. "Five. Eight. Three. Nine," Oxana said, to which Emily nodded and then moved her hand into the familiar letters of the alphabet. "J. A. K."

"5839 JAK road?" The sergeant asked. Emily nodded and he stood up. "Emily, could you show us?"

While directing the police to the address was easy, they found it to be an empty field, but Emily pointed into the field and led them down into a meadow and just as the meadow's edge was another house that was no bigger than either a shack or an outdoor shed. The sergeant called up some maps and his eyes widened. "This is on someone's property," he said. "The property belongs to a good friend of mine."

"Does that mean this shack is here illegally?" Boris asked.

"Yes," the sergeant replied, getting the okay from his boss to search it, but not seize anything yet. An official search warrant was being written up upon hearing the property was a vacant lot and the shack was illegally on someone else's property. Another couple units would be there shortly. The sergeant found the door unlocked and opened it.

He only had to take a look inside to know they hit pay dirt. "An arsonist's stash house," he said instantly, taking a closer look with the Hauntleys and Emily peeking in. "This is stuff they'd use in a fire."

Emily nodded, pointing to some of the items and shuddering. The sergeant looked at her. "You saw the things they used in that fire?" He asked gently.

She nodded again and he nodded. "That's building a good case against them," he said and he spotted something else. "Well, what are these?"

False documents were strewn on a table along with counterfeit cash. The sergeant picked up one of the bills and felt it. "Too smooth," he said. "Fake money. Fake documents."

Boris found some newspapers. "Look," he said, noticing the date and the articles. "Is this…the same fire that…Emily's parents died in?"

The sergeant looked at the articles and nodded. "The same one she was forced to watch," he said as Emily hugged Oxana, recalling the horrible day she had watched her parents die in the fire.

A couple more policemen arrived with the warrant to search and the warrant to seize and they took everything in the shed, documenting it for evidence. "This is enough to put the Stemwrithes in prison for life," one policeman said. "Child abuse. Arson. False documentation. Counterfeiting. Tampering with evidence. Fraud. Negligence of child. And to top that all, murder."

The sergeant nodded. "Definitely enough to put them away in prison and never get out again," he said. "They'd lose everything."

"Now we just have to find them," the other policeman said.

Emily didn't know how much help it would be, but she spoke up. "They like bright lights," she said. "Big buildings. Lots of lights."

Boris and Oxana smiled at their daughter, proud of her for speaking up and almost forming longer sentences. "Well, a lot of places have bright lights and big buildings. And lots of lights," said the other policeman.

"Emily, do you mean like neon signs?" The sergeant asked.

She gave him a curious look and he pulled out his phone, pulling up a picture of a neon sight all lit up and held the phone out to her so she could see the picture. She looked at it and then nodded. "Lots," she said.

"Sounds like maybe Las Vegas, sir," the first policeman said.

"Maybe," the sergeant said. "Call the other police departments in the major cities and put out a BOLO. Every city and wouldn't hurt to put the BOLO in to the towns surrounding those cities too."

"We'll catch the Stemwrithes soon then."

Emily clung to Oxana, a bit scared. She felt both her parents rub her back. "Don't worry, Emily," Oxana said. "You'll be safe."

"And soon, those people won't be able to bother us again," Boris said.

But they had no idea that the Stemwrithes were about to strike again. And much sooner than they would have expected.

Well, while the police have the evidence, the Stemwrithes are still out there and are about to strike again. Where will they strike next? And will they get to Emily? Stay tuned to find out! And for those of you who love King Pepi, he'll be making an appearance in the next chapter. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

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