Chapter 6: Assistance
Tammy and the rest of the kids stopped to catch their breaths when they were far enough away. "That was too close," said Tammy. "I felt that first hand," said Ralph. "So the Watermans are back in town!" added Duckie, "I guess they REALLY wanted a sequel to their story!" "But how do we know it's them that wreaked the fundraiser?" asked Paco, "What if some random group decided to take the money and run?"
That was a good point Paco had. Either that or he wasn't thinking clearly after that fall from the second floor. "I can't tell if this is a genuine thought or if Paco fell a little too hard," Tammy said. "I didn't fall on my head!" Paco replied annoyed. "I mean, he isn't wrong," said Duckie, "But if that were the case, why the destruction? To my knowledge, they seemed destructive. Also, I don't think the couple has finger prints." This was ment to be a callback to how there were no finger prints at the scene of the crime.
"How about this, I will get my dad and the police down here," Jay suggested. "Dad!" said Dino. "Like they will still be there by the time they arrive?" Ralph said, giving his opinion, "They're going to be long gone by the time the police get there." Sadly, Ralph was probably right about this too. Now that the Watermans had their position exposed, there was no doubt that they'd relocate. "Even if they are in their old stomping grounds again and clearly up to no good, there still isn't enough evidence to prove that they caused this," Paco said.
"Hey, what's that you're holding?" Duckie asked, noticing the book Dino had been holding, "Have you been holding that the whole time?" "Time," Dino responded softer than he normally would. "W-what do you have there?" Jay asked. For the first time, Dino actually responded with something that didn't repeat what someone said, "Photo book."
He held up to book to show everyone. It was a blue worn out book with letters on the front that said: Photo Book. There was a pumpkin on the front of it, as if to give the book character. The kids were now very interested in what it contained, but were bummed when they saw a lock keeping it closed. "Aww come on!" said Tammy, "We were THIS close to seeing the mysterious book on the inside!" "Now we need a key? Great," Duckie sighed. "I'm sure we can find a key for it or break the lock open with the right tools," said Jay, "Or maybe the lock is weak enough." She then tried to open it herself, but it quickly became apparent that there was no way the book would open without a tool or key.
Ralph then stared at something that caught everyone's attention. It was a missing photo of Paxton Raglan again, this time on a telephone pole. "The disappearance of Detective Raglan is strange," said Paco, "He was supposed to look for possible suspects after what happened at the fundraiser and in 24 hours he vanishes. It was so sudden-" "He's dead," Ralph said, which shocked everyone. "How do you know he's dead?" asked Jay. Ralph did his best to keep it together, "I-I saw his clothes o-on a scarecrow and...his...missing picture bellow it."
Normally Ralph's friends didn't take what he said too seriously, since he occasionally blew stuff out of proportion. On this occasion though, judging by Ralph's face and what he went through, this was one hundred percent not overexaggerated. The mutt saw something he nor anybody was ment to see. The others didn't know the detective very well, but they knew that Ralph had known him to an extent since he was his dad's friend. It was an immediate giveaway that the Watermans, whether responsible for the crime commited days earlier or not, did in fact take the life of Paxton.
Jay put her hand on Ralph's shoulder, "I promise you, he won't die in vain, we will make sure of it." "Thank you," replied Ralph, doing very well at keeping it together, "I can't tell my dad this, I don't know if he'd even believe me." "And you don't have to," said Jay, trying to comfort her friend. Duckie and Tammy felt bad for Ralph, even if he didn't seem too kind earlier.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up in the backyard?" asked Paco. "Threw my ball too hard, went to look for it, and the rest is history," Ralph explained quickly, really not wanting to talk about it. Duckie and Tammy were confused as to why Ralph wanted the ball that badly, obviously not knowing the background behind it.
"Boozoo!" Dino said. Everyone turned around to see him having the book on it's other side. "What do you mean by, Boozoo?" asked Jay, taking a look. On the back of the book, at the bottom left hand corner, it showed Ebenezer Boozoo Sr behind a white oval background that said: Boozoo Inc.
Jay, Dino, Paco, and Ralph weren't too familiar with the name or company behind the book. "Probably a company that's long out of business," Paco said. Duckie and Tammy on the other hand already knew where this came from. "Ebenezer Boozoo, that's it!" said Tammy. "Huh? You know that guy?" asked Jay. "We don't just know him," Duckie replied, "We've delt with him before..."
The next day
It was a foggy morning. Tammy knocked on Boozoo's front door, accompanied by Duckie, Jay, Dino, Paco, Ralph, and even Sammy came along for this one. The Nash-Lake kids didn't know it, but Boozoo's toy store had shut down after Boozoo's second arrest. Now Boozoo was just staying there as a temporary home, since he lost a majority of his money and his home. He bailed himself out of jail, but it was very costly and now he was paying for it.
"Why didn't you come with us last night?" asked Jay. "Dance class, have it every Monday night," Sammy replied. "Well, we could have used your assistance!" said Ralph, looking like he had a rough night of sleep. "It's almost like I just told you!" Sammy said. "Ralph had a rough night after what he went through," said Jay, "You've heard it already, but don't take it personally."
Boozoo answered the door and when he saw who it was, he was less than pleased. "Oh for pete's sake..." he grumbled, "Didn't think I was going to see you two again. And I see you brought new friends along." "Boozoo, we need your help with something," said Duckie, "We found one of your old products." "Oh now you care about my products now that I am out of business?" Boozoo continued. "Can you stop and listen for once in your life?!" Tammy snapped, "Your only one who can help us with find clues to a mystery we are trying to solve! We found a book that the Watermans had and apparently you sold it to them!" She presented the book to the old man.
Boozoo's eyes went wide. "Where did you find that?" he asked. "We found it in the old Waterman home," replied Tammy. "Wait, you knew about this book?" asked Duckie. Boozoo knew he had a lot of explaining to do. "Come inside," he said, "We'll talk about it."
Everyone stepped in before he closed the door. The store itself had been striped of all it's toys, pictures, just about everything that would have made it an actual store. Only thing that remained was a telephone on the desk. It was odd, but it made sense given the circumstances.
"Yes, I have seen what's in the book," Boozoo explained, "But you don't want to know what lies beneath that cover! I have seen things in there that I don't wish for anyone else to see! It was horrifying!" "If you were truly horrified, why didn't you go to the police about this?!" snapped Tammy. "Because I was scared, alright?!" Boozoo snapped back, continuing on, "You think I'd know how to react to my own friends being the ones to do all that horrible stuff? It's easier said than done! After what I saw, I was so hesitant on bringing the book to the police station, but by the time I went through with it, it was already too late. The book disappeared and eventually Lorenzo and Rachel got arrested days later."
"They were your friends?" asked Jay, "Ouch..." "How did you feel knowing that they were arrested?" asked Duckie. "Regret, a lot of regret," Boozoo said, "If your friends were secretly criminals on top of the fact they took lives, how'd you feel?" The others didn't know how to exactly react to that. This only proved Boozoo's point, ironically enough. "We don't know," said Tammy.
"Do you have a certain key that can open this book?" asked Paco, "You must have some left over." "Number 1, I stopped selling those books in 1969," said Boozoo, "Number 2, not a chance of finding a key to a book that hasn't been sold in over a decade. Number 3, as I stated before, you don't want to open that. Perhaps I should take that to the police station."
However, Duckie and Tammy argued against it. "We need to be one hundred percent sure that this is evidence," said Duckie. "Maybe we can find a tool to open it," added Tammy. "Or we do what this man says," Ralph said, taking Boozoo's side on this one. Obviously, the Nash-Lake kids didn't know of Boozoo's past and how he was. Jay, Dino, and Paco felt split on what to do. Even Sammy herself felt unsure about this. Typically she'd be on Tammy's side, but she felt like the old man had a point about this.
"How about this, we go find a tool to forcefully open the book ourselves, like Tammy said," said Duckie. "You really want to see the horrors?" Boozoo asked, starting to sound angry. "If it helps us with what's going on, than yes!" Tammy argued. "Can we listen to this guy?!" Ralph said, "I've already had a rough night of trying to get rest after the miss-"
"I got a better idea for all of our sakes," Sammy suggested, "Let's go back to the Waterman home to see if you guys missed anything, and take Boozoo with us." "Oh, I am staying out of this!" said Ralph, backing out as soon as it was mentioned. "Yeah, I think I am too," Paco added, also stepping away. Jay and Dino decided they'd go along for the journey with Sammy, Tammy, Duckie, and Boozoo, despite being hesitant. "It was scary the first time, but we can do it again," Jay said with hesitation. "Again..." Dino repeated, with hesitation too.
"You sure you guys don't wanna go?" asked Duckie. "Being chased, almost hurt, AND seeing the clothes of Paxton on a scarecrow is enough for me," Ralph said, making it clear he wasn't going to return to that house. "Sorry Duckie, Jay, and the rest of you, but I'm going to have to skip out on this one," said Paco, "And no, it was not because I fell from the 2nd story in an attempt to save Ralph."
The gang knew that there was no real point in trying to convince Paco and Ralph to come along, especially after what they went through, even if one of the instances was intentional. Boozoo looked extremely nervious, probably because he didn't think he'd hear such a statement from Ralph. However, he wasn't there to experience it, so the old man could only use his imagination as to what happened. Not like Boozoo would want to anyway. "I'll be right back," he said, going elsewhere in the place.
"If we can't find anything of use over there, maybe we should give the book to this Ebenezer guy," suggested Sammy. "What? No!" Tammy replied, "This guy has been arrested twice by the police! Besides, who's to say he isn't being fully truthful about the book? For all we know, what he says might be a lie and that he could just be looking for something to take and write in himself." "The cops might think he's crazy or something," said Duckie, "Even if what he says is true, if it doesn't have anything to do with the fundraiser, they might not see it as much if Boozoo is overreacting." "And what if he is right?" asked Jay, "I'm not taking sides, but are you both willing to take that risk?" "Risk!" Dino repeated.
Boozoo then came back with car keys. "Okay..." he sighed, "Let's get in my station wagon."
To be continued in the next chapter...
(Chapter 6 published 1/28/25)
