The Case of the Circus Murder

XI

"Right." said Daisy grandly when I had finished the list. "Next we work on..."

"...the clues!" she and George exclaimed at the same time. Then, they looked at each other and grinned.

Lavinia (who, I could tell by now, had a bit more than a pash on George) was smiling in a most un-Lavinia-like manner at them both, but Alexander was gazing at George with something that resembled jealousy. I wondered if he was jealous of George at that moment. If he wanted to be the one close to Daisy... if he wanted to be the one always finishing her sentences... if he didn't want to always be stuck with... well, me.

After all, out of the Junior Pinkertons, Daisy likes George the most, Lavinia likes George the most, and I like Alexander the most. Since George probably likes Daisy and Lavinia a little bit more than me (Daisy is hitting me and telling me that is not true) I am stuck with Alexander, who in turn, wants to be closer to Daisy.

I was broken out of my sad thoughts by Daisy talking to me. "Did you find any clues in Collette's tent, Hazel?"

"What?" I said stupidly. "Oh. No. Only the body and the knife."

"No clues!" shouted Daisy furiously. "You had a whole tent to search and all you saw was the body and the knife!"

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed.

"So nothing? Nothing that looks like Collette was in a rush? Nothing!" Daisy continued to rage.

"Oh!" I gasped, relieved. "I didn't realise - I didn't realise they were clues! Oh, yes, on one of the tables - not the murder table - there was cold tea, open books, and crumpled paper."

"So a possibility..." began George.

"...is that Collette had tea..." Lavinia added.

"...whilst looking at books and paper..."

"...realised that the ringmaster was coming..."

"...stabbed him, and quickly put his body on the seat..."

"...then quickly went through the books and paper, looking for anything that needed to be out away..."

"...then fled, leaving the tea that she hadn't finished cold!"

George and Lavinia smiled at each other at this part. I saw Daisy smirk and roll her eyes playfully. I blushed and couldn't help but feel a little jealous - after all, it wasn't fair that Lavinia should like George, and then he suddenly likes her too, whereas when I like Alexander, he's still obsessed - as Daisy would put it - with Daisy.

"Any other clues, Hazel?" asked Alexander, leaning over Daisy to look at me.

"W-Well, not any tha-that I saw." I stammered. Daisy nudged me. 

"Have we missed anything? Amelia, Lavinia, did you find anything interesting in the tents you checked?" asked Daisy.

"You checked all of the tents even though the body was in a different one?" asked Alexander admiringly, and once again I felt that familiar ping of jealously. "That's a very clever idea, Daisy."

"Actually, Hazel hadn't discovered the body. We searched the tents because the ringmaster had disappeared." said Daisy ungraciously, flipping her golden plait.

"I didn't find anything." Lavinia answered, taking her eyes off of George.

"Me neither." added Amelia.

"This is annoying!" exclaimed Daisy. "We hardly have any clues!" 

"We have a few." I pointed out. 

"Yes, but a few is not enough!" Daisy snapped.

"I-" I began.

"You're not being thorough enough!" shouted Daisy, and I wasn't sure how she had managed to turn me stating my opinion into an argument. "You're not being Watson, Hazel!"

"I was only saying that we still had a few facts." I said boldly. "It may be detective-like to be hungry for more and more clues, but it is also detective-like to take every single fact for granted."

"I-" Daisy gasped, staring open-mouthed at me. "George, help me out here!"

"I'm not getting involved." said George firmly, and at that moment, I admired him.

"Alexander?" asked Daisy desperately, smiling sweetly.

"Well..." Alexander looked from Daisy's sweet face to my angry one. "Hazel, Daisy does have - have a point. We have a few clues, but not enough. I mean - you're still absolutely spiffing, but Daisy-"

I had heard enough. I got up, opened the door, and barged out, slamming the room door shut behind me and hoping that Uncle Felix hadn't heard the bang. 

I stood facing away from the door, tears stinging my eyes, when Amelia came out and grabbed my arm.

"Come on, you chump." she said good-naturedly, and began to drag me towards the door. Then, she dropped my arm. "Hazel, Daisy is very clever."

I looked at the floor miserably. "Yes. I know."

"But you have the potential. You could be - you might already be - even cleverer than her. We should take every fact for granted, work with what we've got. Daisy is wrong. Don't let her outshine you, okay?"

I looked up, stunned by her motivation and support. And calling the Honourable Daisy Wells wrong! I still haven't told her what Amelia said to me, and I'm hoping to never have to. "Okay."

Amelia shoved me into mine and Lavinia's room where Daisy, Lavinia, George, and Alexander were still sitting silently on the floor. I noticed with a shock that Daisy's eyes were slightly watery. As soon as she saw me, she held her arm up to look at her wristwatch.

"Is that the time?" she exclaimed, and I wondered if she was avoiding me. "Goodness, this meeting is declared over. Today, six O'clock, Alexander and George's room. George, is that okay?"

I noticed how she didn't ask for Alexander's thoughts.

"Yes, that works fine." said George.

"Brilliant." beamed Daisy. "We'll discuss the facts and plan of action, and Hazel can read what she's written in this meeting."

Amelia, Alexander, and George left, leaving Daisy, Lavinia, and I on our own.

"Go." I said miserably. "Go, if you think I'm a terrible Watson."

Daisy gasped and her eyes widened. "No, Hazel! That's not what I meant! I bet everyone there was supporting your idea! Well, except for Alexander, but that was expected. After all, he looks at me in exactly the same way you look at him. Oh! Goodness, sorry Hazel! I shouldn't have said that at all."

She hugged me, and I couldn't help but hug her back. At that moment, Daisy was being utterly Daisy-ish. Say something nice, say something rude, dramatically apologise. We were still hugging when Daisy whispered, "You are the best Watson."

She pulled away, and I did the same.

"You are the best Watson." she repeated, louder. "Far better than George's Wat- remember that Hazel, you will always be Watson, because you will never die. I will never die either, but if I do, it shall be a heroic death. Repeat after me - I shall never die."

"I shall never die." I stifled laughter as I spoke.

"Remember the meeting?" asked Daisy.

"Today at six O'clock in - in Alexander and George's room." I blushed.

Daisy stared at me triumphantly. "Ha! I knew you would like it! I did it just for you, Hazel. Ooh, think about it! You'll get to see all of Alexander's personal belongings and-"

"Be quiet, Daisy!" I shouted playfully. "Don't go on about it."

"Sorry." Daisy said quietly. "Detective Society handshake?"

We did the secret Detective Society handshake.

"Detective Society forever?" asked Daisy.

I beamed. "Detective Society forever."