17 – The Mystery of the Broken Guitar (2)

“Do you think it could have been Jake?” Stellaluna asked Yannick. They sat at a table outside, watching the sun set.

“It is possible. It could anyone have.”

“Even you?”

“I was today not there.” Yannick paused with a tantalizing smile. “Or was I?”

“You were.”

“Maybe. But it was not I.”

Stellaluna studied his face, but couldn’t get a read on him. All she noticed were how pleasantly high his cheekbones were, and how he had a five o’ clock shadow coming in. The look was quite lovely. She shook away the thought while deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. There were lots of servants who could have done it. Or Jake. Jake had the most motive.

Right then, Celine strode by walking an abnormally large dog. Stellaluna called her over.

“Hey,” Celine said. “I was about to leave.”

“Without even a hello?” Stellaluna smiled as she said it.

“I hadn’t seen you anywhere. I’ve been outside the whole time. I’m only here to give Tibby some fresh air, since Sebastian hasn’t been able to walk him.”

“Has his knee gotten any better?”

“A bit. He was able to make it downstairs this morning.”

Tibby sat on his haunches, and whined. Celine scratched his ears. Stellaluna noticed she wore a pair of black gloves that reached her elbows. They went well with her purple dress.

“Those gloves are nice,” Stellaluna said.

“Aren’t they? I just bought them yesterday. I know I should save them for a special occasion, but…”

“You couldn’t wait to wear them.” Stellaluna knew that feeling. Or, did, back when she was happy about such simple pleasures. Now she felt no strong feelings towards the clothes she bought.

“I really should get going.”

They exchanged goodbyes. Stellaluna couldn’t help but notice how quickly Celine walked away. Why would she walk away so fast? She also didn’t talk for very long. Stellaluna hadn’t even had a chance to introduce Yannick. Celine hadn’t even asked who he was and why they were sitting together.

Did Celine break the guitar? No. Dogs weren’t allowed inside the mansion. She would’ve stayed outside, like she had claimed. It was more likely she had business to attend to at home.

Zailey approached them, her hair a mess and a bit of sweat on her forehead. “Stellaluna, I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“What’s the matter?” Stellaluna studied her. Perhaps she had a confession to make? Something about her harried appearance screamed “guilty.”

“I have good news that I simply must tell you in person.” Zailey leaned in. “Nole is going on a business trip to England, and he says I can go!”

“England!” Stellaluna clasped her hands together. “How exciting!”

“I know. I can’t wait.”

“When are you leaving?”

“In a couple months.” Zailey beamed. “I’ll be sure to bring you something back.”

Stellaluna longed to travel outside of Jefferson. She’d never even been out of the state. Barry, of course, had left Jefferson plenty of times, but always insisted she stay home. That she'd just get in the way of business. “You’re so lucky. I’ve never been… anywhere.”

“Neither have I, really. Unless you count Idaho.” Zailey scrunched her nose. “I hope England is better.”

“I’m sure it is.”

Yannick observed the conversation with his head tilted to the side. Stellaluna explained. “Zailey’s going to England.”

“Oh.” Yannick smiled at her. “Congratulations. You should also to Germany go. When you are there.”

Zailey stared at Yannick as though she just now noticed him, and raised an eyebrow at Stellaluna.

“You should go to Germany while you’re there,” Stellaluna translated.

“I assumed that’s what he meant. But why…” Zailey’s eyes darted towards Yannick, then back to Stellaluna’s.

Right. Stellaluna had never told Zailey about her budding friendship with one of the servants. “This is my friend, Yannick. Yannick, this is Zailey.”

Zailey gave him a polite “hello." Before she could ask further questions, Stellaluna changed the subject. “So, what part of England? London, I assume?”

“If not, I’m dragging Nole there...” Zailey’s delightful expression turned to fear as her eyes landed somewhere behind Stellaluna.

“Stellaluna!”

Stellaluna turned around to see Barry storming up to them. “Is something wrong?”

“Someone broke one of my guitars in the music room.” Barry seethed. “I bet it was one of the servants. Maybe that one I caught playing one of my guitars, awhile back.”

Stellaluna looked over at Yannick to find him gone. Smart man.

Zailey focused her gaze on the table, silent. Stellaluna frowned. Was that… guilt on her face? Had she broken it?

“I am going to find out who broke it. And if it was a servant, which it must have been, he or she will be fired on the spot!”

Stellaluna briefly wondered if she should lie and say she broke it, to spare a servant their job.

“I must be off.” Zailey let out giggle while avoiding Barry’s eye. “Gotta prepare for my trip. We’ll talk more later.”

Barry and Stellaluna watched Zailey leave.

“She didn’t break it, did she?” Barry asked with narrowed eyes.

“If she did, she didn’t say.”

“No. It can’t have been a women. Women aren’t strong enough to break guitars.”

“A woman could have stepped on it. That might be enough force to break it in half.”

“Hmm. Funny… I never said it was broken in half. Yet you knew anyway.”

“Um...”

“In fact. You didn’t seem all that surprised to hear about it.” Barry squinted at her. “Did you break it?”

If she said yes, it would end his witch hunt before it started. “Yes. It was me.”

“You’re a terrible liar, darling. Now, who are you covering for?”

“Nobody! I don’t know who did it. The room was empty when I found it.”

“It had to have been a servant.”

“A guest could have sneaked in there.”

Barry nodded. “I should check the security cameras.”

Stellaluna had forgotten about those. Then again, he only had them up in the public areas. He’d only be able to see if a guest walked into an area labeled off-limits.

“I’m off to the security room. We’ll know if a guest went off-limits in no time.”

~~~~~

Maple was not enjoying the bug movie one bit. The insects were disgusting to look at. She squeezed her eyes shut whenever there was a close up on one. And there were a lot of close-ups. She’d share her disgust with Kyra, but Kyra and Ethan weren’t even watching the film. They were too busy kissing. Neil put his hand on her thigh, but Maple brushed it away as she stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Neil shrugged and resumed watching the movie. Maple walked over to Jake. She sat down next to him. “I hate this movie.”

“Me too. It’s so corny, even for me.”

“More like disgusting. I hate bugs.”

“Yeah. They bug me too.” Jake grinned at her. “Wanna get out of here?”

“I’d love to.”

The two slipped out of the theater.

“I wish I could find a way to get rid of Neil,” Maple lamented, as they walked through the lobby, and out into the hall. “I’ve been hoping he’d lose interest, but he’s more interested than ever.”

“I don’t blame him.”

They stopped outside the door. “What do you mean by that?” Maple asked.

“I mean, you’re an amazing girl.”

Maple’s breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’re smart, funny. Beautiful. I would’ve gone after you myself if you weren’t a minor.” Jake scratched the back of his head. “Sometimes I forget you’re not…”

Maple’s heart rose at his words. Did he really mean all that? “I’ll be 18 soon enough.”

“And your brothers would never approve of me. Besides, I’m already in a relationship.”

The reminder was a punch to her gut. She’d been secretly hoping they’d break up any day now. She didn’t even know what he saw in Axel. Not that she knew anything about him. But still. “How’s that been going?”

“Good.”

Right then, Barry and Stellaluna strode by. Barry stopped at the sight of Jake. “You…”

“What?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Watching a movie,” Jake said. “Or am I banned from here?”

“Did you break my guitar?”

“Huh?”

Barry leaned in. “My guitar. You’re the one who broke it, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t know you had a guitar.” Jake folded his arms, leaning back against the wall. “Why would I break it?”

“Because you’re out to get me.”

Had Maple missed something? She listened in on their interaction, hoping to pick up more context.

“What? I call you out for being a dick one time, and now you think I came all the way here just to break your things?”

Jake called Barry out on something? Maple swooned. “That’s so brave."

Barry, Jake, and Stellaluna all stared at her. Maple grew warm. “Sorry.”

“Or was it you who broke it?” Barry moved in on Maple. “You heard I fought with your little crush, and-”

“This is the first I’m hearing about that!”

“Maple, there you are!” Neil strode over, Ethan and Kyra a few feet behind him. “We’ve been waiting for you. The movie’s over.” His eyes landed on Jake. “What are you doing with him?”

“Breaking my guitar, it seems.” Barry huffed. “They both must have done it.”

“We didn’t do it!” Maple cried.

“Hush!” Barry turned to Neil. “I’ve seen you… Aren’t you a cop?”

Neil's chest puffed out proudly at the question. “I am. Officer McNeil.”

“Maybe you can help solve this mystery. Or at least arrest the culprit when we find out who did it.”

“At your service.” Neil whipped out a tablet from somewhere. “When did it happen?”

“It must have been sometime between 10 am and 1:38 pm,” Barry said.

“1,” Stellaluna said.

Neil looked at her. “You did it at 1?”

“No. I found it at 1. It had to have happened before then.”

“Hmm…” Neil tapped at the screen, and returned to Barry. “Do you know anyone who has anything against you?”

Barry pointed at Jake. “Him! He and I had an argument a few weeks ago.”

“I didn’t do it!”

“Or his little girlfriend here.” Barry gestured towards Maple. “She could have done it out of spite.”

Neil shook his head. “She was with me this entire time. Although…”

“What?” Barry asked eagerly.

“She did disappear a couple times during the movie. The first time was to use the restroom. But she sure took a long time in there.”

Maple recalled their lunch, when Neil had disappeared. “You sure took a long time in the bathroom yourself, during lunch. Maybe you did it then.”

“And what motive would I have for breaking instruments?”

“To make it look like Jake did it, because you’re mad that we’re into each other.”

“I’m not into her,” Jake said quickly.

Maple’s heart sunk at that. Had he been lying to her earlier? Or was he embarrassed about his feelings?

“Right. Because you’re dating that Mexican boy.” Neil tapped at the screen again.

“Dating a…” A smile spread across Barry’s face. “So you two are together!”

“We’re not,” Jake said flatly.

“Has he been blacklisted?” Barry asked Neil.

“We need more proof than rumors and assumptions.” Neil sounded disappointed. “But he’s on a watch list.”

“A watch list?” Jake lowered his head, studying Neil. “What does that mean?”

“It means we’re paying real close attention to you.” Neil glanced up at Barry from his tablet. “I got Stellaluna, Jake, and Maple. Any other suspects?”

“Stella wouldn’t have done it,” Barry said. “I asked her and she said yes.”

Neil quirked an eyebrow.

“I could tell she was lying. We’ve been married for ten years.”

“Twenty,” Stellaluna corrected.

“Any reason why you’d lie?” Neil asked her.

“Because I knew he’d turn this into a ridiculous witch hunt.”

Stellaluna was right about that. Maple couldn’t believe how far this had gone over a broken guitar. Didn’t Barry have dozens of them?

“Personally, I think she’s covering for someone.” Barry shook his head. “No. If not Jake, I’d bet on a servant. A couple months ago, I caught a servant playing one of my guitars.”

“Name?” Neil asked.

“I don’t know any of their names. This one was a young man with brown hair and spoke terrible english. But all the servants are on my list. They’re the only ones allowed in off-limit areas.”

“Aren’t those just signs in front of certain hallways that anyone can walk past?” Neil asked.

“We have a security guard wandering around.”

“No we don’t,” Stellaluna said. “You fired him last month for taking a twenty minute break and never bothered replacing him.”

“You fired someone for taking a break?” Disgust filled Jake’s voice.

“Twenty minutes is a long break,” Barry said.

“Sounds like he’d have a motive.” Neil wrote something down. “I got Jake, Maple, all the servants, an ex-security guard, and someone Stellaluna would cover for. Who would she cover for?”

Barry thought for a moment. “Possibly her friend. I saw them talking right after I found my guitar. Bailey is her name.”

“Zailey,” Stellaluna corrected.

“We do have security cameras,” Barry said. “None in front of the music room, but we do in front of all the off-limits areas. We can see if anyone was wandering into places they shouldn’t wander. I was going to check them myself.”

“I can do that for you,” Neil said. “It’ll be no trouble at all.”