Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (56 page)

“Hey
friend
, you’ll go back
to where you came from
if you interrupt
us
like that again,”
he laughed, handing him to me.

My mom entered the living room to
greet
the new puppy
,
and
within moments, my dad arrived and did the same.
I couldn’t comprehend how
Wolfe
pulled this off. He
had gone to
so
much trouble to get it approved by my parents
, as well as Janice,
for me to have a puppy.
At dinner,
Haley was well enough to joi
n us and took a seat next to me, Wolfe
taking
the other side.
Right as we sat down, I noticed a text from the detective. Given we had just solved the
case
and were all in a celebratory mode
;
I felt it appropriate that I read it aloud to everybody at the table.

We
collected enough evidence at Melanie’s house to put her away.
T
he Houston Police
contacted us
—
they
had
located a bag of bloody clothes, women
’s
size
8, the day after the murder in an alleyway dumpster behind the hotel that Melanie stayed in when she went to the craft fair after the murder
.
We followed the receipts
,
studied the chronology, and
Melanie put gas in her car the evening p
rior to the murder but she didn’t
leave Godley Grove until the next morning, after she murdered Jody.

As I said before, y
ou should all be proud of your contributions to solving this case.
Another note, please share with Wolfe that the scorpion he found at the initial crime scene was a
species
match to some
pet scorpion
s
of Melanie’s we recovered in an aquarium in her bedroom.
This guy must have
ridden
along with Melanie in her stuff she brought to the crime scene
, most likely
without her knowledge.
They’re not
indigenous
to Godley Grove, nor are they sold at
local
pet stores
.
Good work.

“Well, good job, kids.
I’m so proud of you!
”
m
y mother squeaked, passing the bowl of
fried rice
to my father
.

“
Is
Maddie
alright
, Fiona?”
my mother inquired with a sigh.

“Yes, she is fine.
She made it out of that mess with
only
a scratch
—
literally.
She’s out
on a date
with Carden Doyle
right now
.
I heard that the Christie’s fronted for a limousine to take them out.”

“Now, that’s spoiling her, huh?” my mother
asked in a casual voice, looking at my father who was
adamantly
shaking his head in a
yes.

The conversation stalled as each of us dove into
Janice’s culinary masterpiece.
Minutes went by before my
father broke the silence
, startling me
.

“
Are you
going to tell Fiona the
good
news, Haley
?
”
he
bellowed in
a
cavernous voice.

She
nodded with a smile
, turning her bright blue eyes
towards me
and setting her fork down on her plate.

“Fiona, I’ve decided to stay here in Godley Grove and not go back to New Jersey
.
I’ve had a long talk with my parents and your parents, which I am very grateful for, by the way.
And we feel that the best thing for me to do is to stay here and
for me to f
ocus on my s
tudies,
and
try to make something of myself.
Maybe if I turn it around, I can go to Hartford?
”

I looked at my
mother;
her eyes spark
l
ed as she tilted her head to the side, her hair
fanning
onto her shoulder.
My father nodded slowly.
I was already coming around on Haley, but wasn’t sure if I
w
as
ready to commit to her full time again
.
I had been excited for her to leave, but I suppose I would have missed the new Haley
if she had lef
t.

“Fiona, she’s shown an aptitude and interest in science, so we
thought
that maybe—
”

“Well, there’s an opening
in Fiona’s club
since
I resigned
,” Wolfe sounded.
“But I will be there a
s a consultant if
needed
.”

My mother
shot a glance of concern at
Wolfe
,
her
lips curling down at the corners
.

“
Y
ou quit the club?”
she
asked tersely.

“Yes, Dr. Frost.
I did.
See, you can’t fraternize with employees, especially boss
-
to
-
employee.
Since our lab is a training lab
,
and Fiona was technically my boss, I can’t be her boyfriend
and
be in her program,
”
his grin stretched wide across his faultless face.

I suppose
Wolfe
declaring the boyfriend status to my parents made it official
—
there was no denying we were a couple
.
It felt exhilarating, but
at the same time,
I sensed an overwhelming dread that some things would have to change.
Internally e
lated,
I turned, gazing into
Haley’s eyes
, trying
to determine if she was sincere in her quest.
She seemed to have changed, but I was unsure
.
I trusted my parents
.
I
had faith in
their
judgment
.

“Uh…Haley, you want to b
e in my training program?
”

My question
caught
her off guard
.
She was quiet for a long moment.
I gazed at her,
her
expression seemed eager
, animated
.

She nodded her
head with a smile and said,
“
Yes, Fiona.
I do.
”

Dr. Bon Blossman is a published fiction author, C.E.O. and founder of the world’s top international murder mystery company, MyMysteryParty.com, a recording artist, and a developmental physiologist. She is also an adjunct professor with years of college level teaching experience including a year of teaching forensic science to high school students.

Dr. Bon Blossman completed her Bachelor of Science in Pre-Medicine (Biology major and Chemistry minor), her Master of Science in Biology (Microbiology) and her PhD in Integrative Developmental Physiology. She continued with a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in a developmental cardiovascular research program.

Dr. Bon is a member of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemical Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society, National Scholars Society and is listed on the Cambridge Society's Who's Who List. She also has held memberships with the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Biological Science.

Since 1998, she has published over five scientific journal articles in the fields of microbiology, mammalogy, and physiology, including a landmark paper in metabolic allometry, with her most recent research focused on the development of the embryonic cardiovascular system. She currently serves as an ad hoc reviewer for the Royal Integrative Society.

Head over to FionaFrost.com and read more about Fiona Frost and her friends, solve a quick whodunit challenge, purchase cool fan gear, a murder mystery party or work on the mystery of the month!

On the site, check out some of our pics the group took from Arles Cave – there are pics from Wolfe’s camera from The Room of Orbs. One even has an orb on it!  Or as the detective says, it’s just a speck of dust! You decide what it is!

---------------------------------

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