It's a Secret, Boy

Chapter 10

I felt tears well up in my eyes. As much as I felt like she had abandoned us, she felt like our guardian anyway.

Isabel put her hand on my head and I stuck my head in her warm embrace. I started to cry, and I could hear someone's footsteps falter towards me.

"Ivy?"

I looked up. Paris's confused face made me lose all of my tears. I hastily wiped my face and took Paris into my arms.

"Paris, Paris, um," I cleared my throat and covered Paris's view of the house. "Go to Mrs. Ferris's house for a little bit. I'll take care of some stuff at home."

"Huh?" Paris's voice sounded meek and confused. "Uh, okay."

"Izzy, take Paris there for me?" I pleaded her.

"Yeah," Isabel took Paris by his hand and I watched them leave. Isabel shot me a look of 'stay strong' and left. I looked around me again and called the police. A few moments later, a police car pulled up. A surly woman in a snappy suit and an elderly man in a comfortable blazer stepped out of the car. They stepped into the house and I took a deep breath.

"Are you the one who called the police detective unit?" The snappy woman said.

"Yes. I'm Ivory Griffin," I nodded.

"I'm Wendy Orlands," The snappy woman clicked her tongue. "Call me Ms. Orlands."

"Hello," The elderly man smiled at me. "I'm Jordan Flips. Just call me Jordan."

"Hello," I said hastily. I showed them the damage. "Can you find who did this?"

"When did you find out about this?" Mrs. Orlands asked, taking out a pen and a notepad.

"I came home about half an hour ago," I answered.

"When were you last home?" Jordan asked.

"This morning, before I left for school," I replied. I took another deep breath.

"Can we search your home?"Mrs. Orlands asked curtly. I nodded. I watched Mrs. Orlands pick things up and examine them carefully, as Jordan peered at objects strangely. After an hour and a half of watching, Jordan let out a "aha!"

"What is it?" I asked politely.

"This," Jordan held up a pearl earring. "Do you own this?"

I instinctively touched my earlobe. I had pierced my ear with my mother before, but it had filled up. "No. My ear's filled, and I don't own any pearls."

"See?" Jordan smiled genially.

"Good eye," Mrs. Orlands complimented. She slid the earring into a plastic bag and placed it carefully into her purse. "Anything else?"

"What's that?" Jordan suddenly pointed out a cat figurine on the floor. It was a black cat with white ears and silver eyes.

I picked it up. It seemed to gleam in the light. "I'm not sure. This isn't mine either. I don't think it was my mother's or Paris's, they both disliked cats."

"Another evidence," Jordan said happily.

"You touched it," Ms. Orlands sighed. "It'll be harder to distinguish the fingerprints now."

"Oh," I handed it to her. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's okay, Wendy," Jordan smiled. I was beginning to like him. He was the epitome of a perfect grandfather. "No need to be so snappy."

"We'll be back," Ms. Orlands told me. "We'll run DNA and fingerprints."

"Thank you," I nodded at them and I watched them leave, Jordan giving me a smile.