Chapter Fifteen | Part 1

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The room still smelt of smoke. Ash and dust lined the window panes and broken, charred boards littered the floor. Sunlight slid along silvery spider webs and Aria stood at a slightly blackened desk in the corner. Her dark hair shielded her face, she was clutching a magnifying glass and her emerald eyes scanned repeatedly over the lighter.

“How’s it going Nancy Drew?” Lacey twittered, striding to Aria’s side. I followed closely, eager for answers.

“Not great Sherlock.” Aria replied quietly, a small grin rushed over her lips, it left almost as quick as it had arrived. We had previously come up with aliases for each other. Aria was Nancy Drew, Lacey was Sherlock Holmes and I was Watson.

“I’ve found practically nothing. The thing is way too damaged…” Aria murmured, her deft fingers brushing over the little device.

“Can I look?” I asked, stepping forward slightly. Aria nodded and placed the scratched metal in my hands. I flipped it over numerous times, each time hoping for a clue to arrive. Lacey’s eyes were glued to the thing.

“Al- I mean - Watson, can you flip it over?” She asked. I eyed her suspiciously, and turned it over in my hand. Lacey pointed to some scratch marks.

“DH. Can you see it?” Lacey said. Aria strained her neck, her eyes grew into saucers.

“Ohmygosh. How did we not notice that?” I asked, incredulous. They had to be initials.

“Lacey, get the riders list now.”

The girl sprinted away.

A wide smile was plastered to Aria’s face. She kept babbling about how silly she was for not seeing it.

“They start rebuilding today.” I said. Aria paused and nodded.

“I hope they get it done quickly. The horses are out in the cold 24/7!”

Lacey returned, the dusty binder in hand. She slammed it down on the desk and turned to H. We devoured the book, taking in any possible suspect. In the end we found only three names that could possibly fit, all of which were junior riders.

We slumped down, dejected and irritated. Then Lacey’s eyes lit up.

“I’ll be right back!” She said, exploding out the door.

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Super short chapter, really sorry!
I wanted to get something out for you, even if it's terrible like this...
But hey, there's a Part 2 coming!

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