Amateur Detectives

Sweater Weather

      The treehouse was about the size of an average dining room and only had two rooms, though there was no door. Only a small border separated the rooms and it looked like the two of them had to climb over it to get to the other side. A mini radio box was set up on a shelf indented in the wood and was playing the news as they both played the game.

      "Today is a splendid day, indeed. About seventy two degrees with a slight chill in the wind. Perfect for sweater weather, or even tank top weather. Anyways, back to the real news. It seems like there has been a crime of some sort of shoplifting in the main town supermarket. All the cops ended up getting knocked out. Who is this criminal that so slyly escaped the supermarket? Will we ever know?

      Starla looked at Clay and grinned. "You know what that means, Clay?" She asked him.

      "Awe, come on. I'm so close to winning, though." Clay pouted.

      "Toughen up, kitty cat." Starla moved a few pieces around on the board. She made sure Clay won and then stood up afterward.

      Clay watched her move the pieces and sighed heavily. "Seriously, Star?" He asked.

      "Come on, come on!" Starla hopped over the border that separated both areas in the treehouse and opened up a drawer. She pulled out a long black cloak and then some pink sunglasses as well as a Barret hat to complete the look. She pulled out another drawer and found another matching suit and handed it to Clay. "Take these. You know the drill."

      Clay sighed, but didn't want to say anything to hurt her feelings, so he put on the suit nonetheless.

      Starla grinned. "Let's go!" She hopped back over the border and walked to the middle of the treehouse where a loose ladder hang from. Starla started climbing down the ladder and Clay followed, but had a tense look on his face the whole time. "Come on, Clay! Stop being such a baby. Go faster!"

      "I knew we should've installed a staircase..." Clay mumbled to himself.

      Starla overheard what he said and slowly shook her head. She eventually made her way down the flimsy ladder and started running toward the supermarket and followed any clues that were somehow left behind.

      Clay ran to catch up with Starla and when he did, he was breathing heavily. "Did you-did you have to run that fast, Star?" He asked her.

      "Of course not, but I did anyways." She smirked.

      Clay rolled his eyes. "Of course you did." He looked down and spotted a foot print. The shoe was incredibly small and seemed to be about a four and a half size in youth. "Hey, Star, look at this." He pointed to the footprint.

      Starla knelt down next to him and spotted the footprint she looked a little bit ahead and saw more prints. She looked at Clay and grinned. A new plan had emerged.

      Clay also had a plan bubbling in his mind, but he had no idea how to say it since he knew that Starla was already coming up with one and that he would surely be interrupted by her thoughts.

      Starla looked at Clay until she thought of an exact plan. Once she did, she stood up and put her sunglasses on. She looked like a real detective, now. "All right, Clay. First things first, we need to find out where these footprints lead to. Next, we have to find out who they belong to, and—" She was interrupted by a slowly dramatic round of applause. Starla looked at Clay and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, dude. I'm trying to tell you the plan."

      "It's not me, Star. I promise!" Clay said as he threw his arms up in defense.

      "Clay, you know I despise being lied to!" Another slow round of applause started and Starla was on the verge of kicking Clay in the face. Before she did so, she looked at Clay and realized that it really wasn't him clapping. Starla looked behind her and spotted someone.

      "Well done little detectives. Such an intriguing investigation." They said. They were also wearing an all black cloak, making it look like an adult version of Starla which made her stand up straighter.

      "W-Who are you?" Starla asked.

      "Oh, me? I preferred to be called Fiona Mindell. And you, missy. You're no detective, so I suggest stepping out of the way. And your little pal, too." Fiona looked at Clay.

      Starla glared at her. "Now why would I do that? Clay and I happen to be fabulous detectives." She said.

      Fiona giggled a bit. "Sure, maybe in your fantasies, but not in the real world, kid. This is reality and there are villains. Yes. Villains are real. I am one of them, so I say stay out of our way and we won't hurt you." She threatened.

      Clay hid behind Starla. "Star, let's just leave her alone." He said, trying to hide the slight tremble in his voice.

      Starla glanced at Clay, then at Fiona. "I'm not scared of her, Clay." She whispered to Clay.

      Clay nodded at her. "Yes, but she's a real adult and a real detective. Don't mess with her, Star." He begged.

      Fiona twirled around them and spotted the footprints with a smile. "Looks like I have a trail to lead." She started following the path.

      Clay watched her leave. Every step she took was graceful. So graceful, in fact, that he could point out just the slimiest bit of similarity between the footprints in the sand and her own feet. He shook the thought out of his mind by telling himself that it was just a hallucination. Then he glanced back at Starla who was glaring at Fiona as she walked away. "Hey, Star? Are you okay?" He asked her.

      Starla nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Listen, Clay. We have to prove ourselves." Starla said and turned around to look at him.

      "What do we have to prove?" Clay asked, curious as to what she would respond with.

      "Is there something you're hiding from me, Clay? Or am I just hallucinating? 'Cause it seems to me that you're hiding a little secret. And a dirty one at that."

      Clay shook his head. "I mean. I'm not necessarily hiding anything from you. I just think that Fiona isn't really who she seems, you know?"

      "How so?" Starla asked with folded arms.

      "These footprints. They're awfully small and too recognizable to anyone with those feet. Did you look at her feet?"

      "Did I look at Fiona's feet? Of course not!"

      Clay sighed heavily and slumped. "Of course you didn't, Star." Clay said slowly.

      "We have to prove that we aren't just little children trying to play a fantasy game in the real world like what Fiona said. We have to show her that we are real detectives who aren't just some ridiculous little toddlers, Clay."

      Clay sighed. This was going to be so much harder than he had thought.

      "Yes, but how are we even supposed to do that? It's not like we can follow her every footstep and knock out the case ourselves."

      As soon as Clay stopped talking, Starla's whole face lit up with excitement.

      "Oh, no. Please don't tell me I did it again." Clay whined.

      Starla took off her sunglasses and folded them. She rested them on the collar of her shirt and looked at Clay with the hugest smile ever. "Clay. You did it again." Starla smirked at him.