Candle In The Wind

Chapter Twenty Three

Whodunit?

“What’s your alibi?”

I squinted at Callum who shifted in his seat.

“Me?”

He pointed at himself as he looked around.

I nodded.

“Uh—I came here for a cup of coffee—”

“Did anyone see you when you came in?” I asked.

“Yes, Ava greeted me, she made my coffee.”

I turned to look at Ava and she nodded, confirming everything he said.

“Did you see Jacks anywhere?”

He tilted his head to the side. “At the time, no—”

“Who else was in the store?”

“Besides you, I was the last one to come in.”

Val chuckled. “You cheeky bastard,”

he shook his head, “you can just tell he’s the one behind this.”

I rubbed my swollen belly as I turned to look at Ava. “What about you, Ava, where were you?”

I asked as everyone turned to look at her.

She leaned back in her seat and stared into her lap. “I was making brownies in the kitchen.”

My brows knit together, “but you greeted Cal and made him a cup of coffee?”

Val leaned in, completely invested. Or maybe he was just glad to finally have a reason to just stare at Ava. I lost count of the number of times I’ve caught him gawking at her. It was terrifyingly creepy because he doesn’t say a single word to her. It was like he was scared of her and in love with her at the same time.

Ava’s lips pulled together, “I was making the brownies in the kitchen then I heard Cal’s voice outside, nobody was upfront, and Jacks had disappeared. At the time I assumed he was waiting in the art room. So I didn’t pay that any mind and just served Cal his cup of coffee and went back to my brownies.”

I nodded.

“What about you boys?”

I asked Ben-Ben and Bailey.

Bailey gave me a look that translated clearly that he wouldn’t have bothered to give a fuck. So without hearing his explanation he was ruled out as a suspect.

“We were breaking down the boxes,”

Ben-Ben said as he smiled.

“Thank you, honey,”

I mumbled.

“What about you Juliette?”

Cal looked at me, and almost instantly everyone turned to look at me.

I cleared my throat. “I was at Blueberry Lane, I brought Marshall a mug.”

“Oh my god, then who did it?”

Jacks cried out frustratingly, “it can’t come off.” He whined as he aggressively wiped his rosy cheeks.

I pursed my lips into a thin line as my eyes sliced to Jacks across the room—he had glasses, a beard, and drool drawn on his face with a permanent marker.

I could almost see Val in the corner of my eyes suppressing his laughter, and everyone else was looking away because Jacks looked absolutely ridiculous and he was about to burst into tears.

Not a single customer had walked in since I started my investigation into who did this to Jacks while he was sleeping in my office.

His parents dropped him off three hours before all of this for a class, and once we wrapped up, he was very tired. We tried calling his parents, but they were both at work, so I had him hang out in my office with his iPad. Unfortunately, he fell asleep and someone pulled a prank.

“Other kids are gonna laugh at me,”

Jacks said as he frowned, and it was comical because there was a drool drawn at the side of his face. It killed me not to laugh.

“Don’t fret,”

Val placed a hand over his shoulder, “this is going to be a part of your lore now.”

“My lore?”

Jacks repeated.

“Yeah,”

Val nodded, “your story.”

“Where were you, Val?”

I interrupted his little conversation.

He awkwardly pulled his hand off Jacks’ shoulder and his eyes landed on Ava but only for a split second, then he looked away again. He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, like Cal mentioned. I was here for coffee too.”

“But Cal was the last one in. Did you two come in together?”

“No,” Cal said.

“Yes,” Val said.

My eyes slice from Cal to Val, “which is it?”

“Does it matter? I didn’t draw on Jacks’ face, I think we all know I would’ve drawn something completely different,”

Val laughed.

I grimaced at the thought because I knew exactly what he was talking about. Val would probably be the kind of person to draw an ejaculating penis onto a ten year old’s face.

“You’d draw that on his face?”

Ava grimaced..

“What is wrong with you?”

Bailey said with disgust.

Cal shook his head and held the bridge of his nose, “what kind of monster would draw an ejaculating penis onto a ten year old’s face?”

he mumbled under his breath.

Ava nudged his shoulder. “Shut up.”

“What would you draw?”

Jacks asked.

“Yeah, what is it?”

Ben-Ben pushed.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,”

I stood up, “let’s try to wipe it off.” I gestured to Jacks as I extended a hand to him, he stood up and grabbed my hand.

I went into the bathroom with him and used a makeup wipe to try and get it off his face. When I was wiping gently it wasn’t coming off, but I applied some pressure and it slowly started to come off.

I sighed in relief because I was really worried it wasn’t going to come off. Val ruined the investigation by traumatizing us all. I wished all the luck to Ava, and clearly I knew I’d have to press him about her later because his alibi was spotty and unlike everyone else I noticed the way he looked at Ava—even if it was for a split second.

“Boy or girl?”

Jacks whispered as he looked at me through his long eyelashes. His green eyes were vibrant.

“Boy,”

I replied as I wiped his cheeks. I was halfway there already with the drool and the mustache.

“What’s his name?”

I smiled softly, “can I tell you a secret?”

He smiled as he nodded—Jacks had short teeth, like they were just coming out after losing his old ones.

“I can’t name the baby.”

His brows pulled together. “Why not?”

“I’m bad at names.”

“What would you name him?”

I chuckled. “Hercules.”

Jacks laughed, “that’s not bad.”

“Chowder.”

He scrunched his nose as he closed his eyes and shook his head, “that’s terrible.”

“Tell me about it.”

I threw away the blackened, used makeup wipe and pulled a new one to wipe off his fake glasses.

“Jacks is a good name,”

Jacks said.

I smiled. “I’m sure it is,”

I placed my hand over his head and ruffled his red hair, “but no one rocks that name better than you.”

He smiled. “What about Oliver?”

“That one’s good too.”