Toad was pretty cool. She seemed like the quintessential Girl Scout adult who loved camp. This camp was a gorgeous setting. I pictured hundreds of little girls huddled around campfires, roasting marshmallows, and telling ghost stories. I'd want to be Camp Director forever too.
We didn't really allow ghost stories when we went camping. Well, Kelly didn't allow them. The last thing we'd need were girls who couldn't sleep because there might be spirits around. Then again, my girls would probably lay traps to catch them, and then Lauren would name them, and Betty would make them appear and disappear over and over.
My troop wasn't afraid of much—including things they should be afraid of. Besides, they were having fun on a summer day, messing around with their imaginations. It was just harmless fun.
Betty, Ava, and Lauren rounded the bend. Unlike the giggling Inez and Kaitlyn, the three of them were engaged in a serious conversation that I couldn't hear. I texted Kelly that they'd returned, and she let me know that Inez and Kaitlyn had just gone by her again.
"What's up?" I asked as I motioned for them to join me.
"Nothing." Betty squinted against the sun. "Why?"
I looked at my hands to make sure they weren't coated with slime. "You all seem so serious."
Lauren said, "We've been working on the case."
I sighed. "Well, guys, it's possible there is no case."
Three heads turned to look up at me. "Of course there's a case," Betty said.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. Seems like she was bitten by one of her pets. And with a flair for the dramatic that I'm learning about, Aunt June may have just wanted to stir things up."
"She was murdered," Lauren said. "We can figure it out."
Part of me wanted to believe them. Part of me wanted to sell the house to Nigel's client and get the hell out of here. I've had to deal with murder before with the troop. But I've never had to deal with murder and deadly critters.
"I'm going to give us one more day," I said.
Talking to Rex made me realize I was missing him. Kelly hadn't said anything, but I'm sure she missed her husband and daughter. There wasn't any point sticking around chasing…well…ghosts.
"We need to head back to her house and find clues!" Betty said.
I agreed. "We will. But the rest of the day will be spent here. Do you want to go around again?"
The girls climbed into their inner tubes and took off, casting angry glances my way. I had to wonder, was I finally being an adult by pausing an investigation?
Kind of made me feel more like a jerk, really.
The girls did eight round trips in all before Kelly called it, and we made our way back to the lodge. The girls raced off to get out of their wet suits, and within an hour, the suits were hanging up outside while Kelly got out the hot dogs for dinner.
Kaitlyn was selected to help me with the fire, and we went outside to get it started.
"What do you think, Mrs. Wrath?" Kaitlyn asked. "Do you think Aunt June was murdered?"
I watched as the girl pulled her hair back into a ponytail and started setting up a perfect A-frame fire.
"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. The one thing we do know is that she died from a spider bite. Sheriff Carnack even has the body of the culprit."
I looked at the girl as she fed the now blazing fire and recalled that this was one of the four Kaitlyns who all just blended into one most of the time. Here was an opportunity to get to know the kid.
"You Kaitlyns do know how much alike you are, right?" It seemed an odd thing to say, but it just popped out.
The girl laughed as she got up and sat on a stump next to me. "No, we're not. We're totally different. Our names are even spelled differently. Caitlyn is really into ballet and is afraid of pumpkins. Katelynn wants to be a cake baker and was born with an extra toe on her left foot but doesn't have it anymore. Kaytlyn likes to dress up as Wonder Woman and sings really good, and I'm going to be an astronaut."
I was speechless. This was the most I'd gotten out of any of the four Kaitlyns in the last year.
"Why do you want to be an astronaut?"
She shrugged. "I just like the stars. They're really pretty out here, aren't they? That's because there aren't a lot of lights like we have back in the city."
"I hardly think Who's There qualifies as a city, but you are right." I picked up a stick and moved the burning logs around.
The little girl took a deep breath and spoke in a rush of words, "My favorite color is red. My favorite music is K-pop, and I like tomatoes."
I laughed. "Why did you tell me that?"
"You were about to ask." She shook her head slightly. "We know you have a hard time telling us apart. And sometimes we mess with you on purpose. I just wanted you to know we are different."
In spite of the fact that it was a bit of a slam, I felt a warm rush inside. "So a ballerina, a baker, a superhero, and an astronaut, eh?"
Kaitlyn's eyebrows went up. "Who wants to be a superhero?"
"You just said that Kaytlyn likes to dress up as Wonder Woman."
She laughed. "She doesn't want to be a superhero. She just likes Wonder Woman. She wants to be a Girl Scout leader. Like you."
"That's nice!" I said as my heart turned into a mushy mess.
"Yeah." The girl knelt back down next to the fire. "She says it's a great job for crazy people. Like you."
I wasn't sure how to respond, so I gave her two thumbs up, which seemed appropriate.
"Alright!" Kelly emerged from the lodge with a plate full of hot dogs.
Betty and Lauren carried
