The Ghost and the McGee Twins

Innocent Until Proven Ghostly

It was Mom and Dad's anniversary. One of the few days a year when Dad goes all out for Mom. Out of everything he does for Mom, I think his favorite thing to do is baking his "famous" passion fruit crumb cake. Everything was perfect for their anniversary, until it wasn't. Dad let out a scream of bloody murder as I was playing video games. I immediately headed downstairs to check on Dad. He was fine. However, his cake was missing. I gasped with my entire family. "Why?!" Dad cried as we sighed with relief. "Geez, Pete." Mom sighed. "We thought you were, you know..." "...dead." I interrupted. "We thought you were dead, Dad." "It's worse! Someone ate my passion fruit crumb cake!" Dad explained, hugging Mom for support. "What's kind of inhuman monster would do such a thing?" At the same time, we heard Scratch crunching loudly on cookies from the cookie jar. "Who do you think?" I asked, pointing at Scratch. "You!" Dad gasped. "Whoa! Whoa, me?" Scratch asked. "I mean, come on, does this sound like the kind of thing that I would do?" "Yes! All you do is eat!" I recalled. "Okay, fine, but this wasn't me! I, I was outside when it happened!" Scratch stuttered. "Oh, like you can't poof whenever you want, wherever you want!" Dad shouted. "Your story is as flimsy as your ectoplasm." "Sharon? Amber? Darryl? Help me out here!" Scratch begged. "You should just come clean now." Mom said. "Stick to your story and don't let 'em break you." Darryl added. "Cut the act." I rolled my eyes. "I didn't do it!" Scratch repeated. "Molly, you believe me, right?" "Well, I mean, you do steal a lot of food." Molly replied. "But, you are my best friend." "Yeah! Yeah, and, and best friends stand by each other." Scratch said. "You taught me that!" "Scratch, look in my eyes. Do you Molly McGee Guarantee you didn't do it?" Molly asked. "I 100% Molly McGee Guarantee it." Scratch replied, doing the designated handshake for this oath.

"I believe you, which is why I've assembled you all here today for the trial of the century!" Molly exclaimed, gathering all of us in the living room, putting on a blindfold. "Uh, Molly, what's going on here?" Dad asked. "Justice is what... Whoa! Oof!" Molly shouted, falling off the table. "Justice is what's going on! I'm going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Scratch is innocent! And what's more, I'm going to expose the real crumb cake crook! The true passion fruit pilferer, the, uh, uh..." "Sweet treat swindler?" Mom interrupted. "Funny you should say that because Scratch wasn't the only one with a motive. Was he, Mother?" Molly asked, pulling out her victim board.

Mom was the first witness in Molly's court-like setup. "This is ridiculous. The cake was for me." Mom said. "I was organizing the basement." "Convenient." Molly commented. "But do you or do you not secretly hate Dad's passion fruit crumb cake?" "Objection! Sharon loves my crumb cake!" Dad retorted. "It was love at first bite!" "Ah, yes. Your first date with Dad." Molly said, pointing to an old picture from that day. "Look at that smile. The glassy eyes, the subtle grimace. That smile is fake!" "What? No it's not!" Mom gasped, making that exact same face from the picture. "It's clear as day, Mom!" Molly exclaimed. "You love Dad, but you hate his cake! Forced to eat it year after year after..." "Okay, fine! I do hate that cake!" Mom confessed. "The taste! The texture! And worst of all, the way it pretends to be chocolate, but it's just a lie!" "She does have a point." I said. "It's like if you were to call a muffin a healthy cupcake." "Sorry, Pete. I don't love your cake, but I do love you." Mom apologized. "It's fine." Dad cried. "I'm not questioning if our whole marriage is based on a lie or anything." "So, it was you, Mother." Molly said. "You pretended to organize the basement when really, you snuck up to the kitchen and disposed of the cake to save your tastebuds!" "Okay, you caught me! I did think about throwing it away!" Mom confessed. "I put the cake back. It was right there for all to see. Or it would've been if it weren't for those dirty handprints all over the dome." "Wait a minute!" Molly gasped, bringing the glass dome from the kitchen. "We have new evidence in the case!" "Bleurgh! There's only one criminal in this family with hands that dirty." Scratch said. "You're right, Scratch." Molly agreed. "I call to the stand... Darryl!" "I want my lawyer." Darryl commanded. "You don't have a lawyer. This is all fake." I explained.