The Mundial Murders

Chapter 4

     Ernest wanted to get a few questions answered from Angelina's mom before she left the home. Where they left off was a good stopping point and so, Ernest stood up from the bean bag, purse with her items inside. "Angelina, thank you so much for allowing me to do this interview. May I come back tomorrow to continue?"

     "Of course. Are you sure you don't want to stay? It's pretty early."

     "I have other tasks need to be done. Since the interview being so quick, I was rushed out of my house." Angelina nodded, understanding that she did tell her mom to get Ernest to come fairly quick. Ernest walked out of the door and met up with Rebecca who was cleaning the kitchen, food hot on the stove and ready to be served. Rebecca noticed that Ernest was coming downstairs again. "I have some errands to run, so, I wanted to know if tomorrow at ten in the morning is good for you. I can come back and finish the interview." 

      "Yeah, don't worry about it. Ten sounds perfect." Rebecca looked around and grabbed a disposable plate, "Do you want lunch to go?"

      Ernest nodded, a kind gesture that she would accept. The food did look amazing, and she didn't want to say no to a plate of that. Rebecca served her some ribs, yam casserole, and asparagus. She handed it to Ernest and with a smile told her to take care and Ernest returned the wishes. She opened the door and began walking to her car. As she did, she noticed a black sedan parked on the other side of the street. The driver, a man with blonde hair, was looking at the house and quickly averted his eyes when he saw Ernest come out. She slowed her pace and looked at the man and the car he was in. For some reason, she could not shake the feeling that she recognized him. Ernest tried to get a better look at him, but he began to talk to someone on the phone and looked at the house he was parked next to. Not wanting to forget this encounter, but also not wanting to worry about it, she got into her car and drove. Slowly. Noticing that the car took off in the other direction and swerved right. It was a weird encounter, but she would not make a big deal out of it. 

      The Mundial Manor burned down two days ago and because the case was closed, it was opened to the public. People can walk close to it and if they wanted to break the law, break into private property. It would most likely be demolished soon after Mr. Mundial got his affairs in order and put his attention to cleaning up the place. Ernest wondered if he would rebuild and open up a new institution. If he was planning to do so, she would put an end to it. Something told her that for the police to be bribed into closing the case, they would have had to get lots of money. And someone like Mundial would be able to pay them off. She needed to start investigating, because maybe Angelina knew a lot, maybe she knew nothing. Maybe, Angelina's story gave her an idea of how the institution worked but nothing more.

     Ernest stopped the car and parked it near where the manor once stood. The police tape was cleaned off and there was no one in sight. Perfect for her to walk around the area and not be arrested or detained. She stepped onto the land and immediately got a chill running down her spine. Maybe she was just imaging the eeriness it had because she believed this was a crime scene. Or maybe she wasn't imagining it at all, because this was a graveyard. All the children were here, all the employees were here. Ernest began to look around and went up to the only piece of wall that was left standing, a wall on the left. With what little Angelina described, she could only guess this was a wall of the cafeteria, maybe the kitchen. 

     Ashes were still on the ground, the wind picking it up and moving it away, but only so much. It was the only thing, other than the wall, that showed that this once was a building. She walked towards the ashes, getting them stuck onto her black leather boots. Ernest expected to not find anything that could show right then and there that this was an arson case. Everything was cleaned up by the investigators. She explored the sight, trudging through ashes and debris, finding nothing but that. The trees surrounded the burned building, with only a large empty area where the place used to stand. The sun was starting to set, and the air became colder. Ernest shook as her body tried to keep the heat inside her, trying to warm her back up. She sighed; this was a total failure. Even if she knew she would find nothing, a part of her hoped that she would. An item from one of the kids, a piece of furniture from the interior decorations, or that evidence that secured the arson theory.