The Boy Who Cried Murder

Chapter 2

Sandra led Will through the double doors of a store called At Your Convenience. It was run by a friendly local couple, though right now they were on summer vacation in Greece, leaving the store in the questionably reliable hands of their teenage employees. The shop sold the basic convenience store items, like the drinks cooler, trail mix aisle, safety equipment, toothbrushes, and an outdated magazine rack. But they also couldn't resist stocking the weird, the unwanted, and the extraordinary. Knowing this, Sandra hoped they had what they needed.

"Come on, at least tell me what you're looking for so I can help," said Will as they browsed the back aisles. "Stop trying to be all mysterious."

"I'm not trying to—" Sandra huffed, realizing that he was right. "I'm looking for a Ouija board, although I guess a pendulum would also be fine."

"You know those things don't work, right?" Will questioned.

Sandra replied, "Of course I know. We won't be contacting a ghost or spirit, they don't exist. But I've read that Ouija boards can help you tap into your subconscious mind, your deep psyche. I figured we could try to amplify your psychic powers through it."

Will listened to this with fascination, but at her last words he cringed and glanced around. "Not so loud, we're in public!"

"Sorry," said Sandra. "Hey, look, there's one right here!" She picked up a faded mahogany board off a pile of random knick knacks. It was lettered in a scripted font with the alphabet, 'yes', 'no', and 'goodbye'. A triangular wooden piece came with it, which was called a planchette.

Sandra carried the item to the cash register. She had to stand on her tippy toes and placed the package on the counter of the general store. The girl at the counter glanced down at her over the bridge of her nose. "Two dollars, please." By the tone of her voice I could tell she had other things on her mind. Sandra gave her the money somewhat curtly, took the package, and began to walk out of the store with Will.

"Where'd you read that anyway? The bit about the subconscious. I've never heard it before," said Will.

"The Internet," Sandra admitted. "But it can't hurt to try," she added defensively.

They arrived at Will's house. With a quick hello to Will's parents, they headed upstairs to Will's bedroom. The room was covered in posters of girly pop bands, which Will was not afraid to profess his admiration for. Next to his unmade bed was an extensive bookshelf containing volumes of fantasy, fiction, but mostly mysteries. Will kicked aside some laundry and to make room for the Ouija board on the floor. He closed the curtains and flicked on a teal lava lamp, which cast the whole room in an eerie and mystical glow. Even if there were no ghosts involved, it set the mood perfectly.

The two of them sat cross-legged on either side of the board and placed their fingers on the planchette. "Alright. Let's give it a go," said Sandra.

"Spirits!" commanded Will in an overly dramatic voice. "Tell us the name of the soon to be departed!" I stifled a laugh as I watched his theatrics.

Slowly, the planchette slid towards the letter W. "It's working!" Sandra exclaimed. "Keep going!"

The letters that followed spelled out a name: WATTS.

"Old Leonard Watts?" Sandra supposed.

"What other Watts do you know? It's got to be him," Will said confidently. "Bit of a weirdo, isn't he? I've seen him in the park sometimes. He was watching me like a creep." He shivered.

"I've seen him too. But we still have to do something. When will the murder occur?"

The planchette spelled out 'tomorrow night'. They gulped, that wasn't a long time!

"Try asking the board the name of the murderer," Sandra suggested.

Will tried, but the planchette just kept sliding over to the word 'No'. "Oh well, at least we have a start," said Sandra optimistically. "We should try to find out as much as we can about him. Starting by talking to him."

"We have to talk? To that dude? No way." Will said seriously. "One time I went to the library to pick up a book at the desk, but they gave me a different book instead. Said that was what I had requested. And on the way out, I saw Watts and he winked at me!"

"Did you like the book?"

"What?" Will spluttered. "I mean, yeah, I liked the book, it got me hooked on the Trenchcoat Tucker mysteries, but that's not the point! He must have hacked my account, which means he knew my password!"

"If he's such a stalker that he knows all your passwords, he could have done a lot worse than just indirectly recommend a book. He can't be all bad," Sandra reasoned.

Will sighed. "Maybe you're right." A second later he got up and went into the next room. He returned with a sleek black laptop. "There is something we can do right now without even meeting him. Ever heard of–" he opened the laptop and typed 'Leonard Watts' into the search engine "–the digital footprint?"

"Brilliant!" Sandra scooted next to Will so she could also see the screen.

The first result that came up was a Whitepages site that listed his name (Leonard Watts), age (71), address (1679 Broken Lantern Way), and relatives (none living). They scrolled past this and clicked on the second result, a news article from the year 1962. Together, they began to read.

YOUNG SCIENTIST WINS STATE LEVEL SCHOOL AWARD

The article told the story of how a 17 year old Leonard had taken the science fair prize for Boysenberry County with an invention that could read and transmit electric brain waves between headsets. They didn't pay too much attention to the scientific principles behind it, but they got the impression that he had been a very priodigious student. Scrolling down even further, they came across another local newspaper article, dated January 21, 1999. The headline read, GROUP OF RESEARCHERS SHUT DOWN PROJECT, NO EXPLANATION GIVEN.

Yesterday, the members of the Rinehart Project, headed by Captain Alan Vanover and including Boysenberry County's own Leonard Watts, announced their decision to end the project and shut down the research facility. The government-sanctioned Rinehart Project has been ongoing for nineteen years, with little known about the type of studies being done. All Watts had to say on the subject was, "It's in the public's best interest that the research does not continue."

There was no more useful information after this, even though they tried searching on "Rinehart Project." It was time for Sandra to go home. Before she left, they agreed that they would meet again tomorrow morning and pay a visit to the old man. They wanted to know more about this mysterious Rinehart Project.