Book 2-Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

                                                                                        Chapter 11

                                                                        Gathering of the suspects

     Detective Burns said goodbye to the teens at the cabin, and then told them, "I'll go over my notes and tomorrow I'll have a chat with the police chief.  Hopefully the lab report will be ready tomorrow also.  I'll try and light a fire under those "Lab Rats" to get the job done  A.S.A.P"  he said, chuckling at his word usage.  "Nice to see you again Peg, Andrew," he told Anna's parents.  "I'm sure Alex and the gang will fill you in on what happened today."  Peg and Andrew gave him a wave and the group told him goodbye.

    But before he left Anna said, "Thank you for all you're doing for us,"  she then shook his hand.  "No problem," the detective said in a good imitation of Lester, in the old mechanic's wheezy voice.  Then he left while everyone laughed as Fletch's stomach growled, singling it was time for lunch; at least as far as he was concerned.  Peg grinned at him from the refrigerator, where she was taking out a tray of fried chicken to warm up in the microwave.

     "So what happened today?"  Anna's father asked from his easy chair, while putting down his newspaper.  "It went well," Anna told him, as her mother listened in.  "Andrew, lunch is ready.  Let's discuss the day's events while we eat, shall we?"  "Sounds good to me," Fletch said, his stomach rumbling again.

     Anna's mother set the table more quickly that she normally would have, anxious to hear the news.  When everyone was seated Anna started.  She told her parents about Bert's interview and that he'd seen Mr. Clinton stealing the now missing files and about his overhearing Dave and Aaron's conversation, in the garage the day after Sandra's death.  And that Bert was more than willing to testify in court about what he'd heard.

     Just to put some fun into a conversation that wasn't too pleasant to hear, Anna also mentioned that Bert was a big fan of the North Side Detectives; that he had filled a scrapbook with the group's adventures,  and how Detective Burns had some trouble getting him off of his  favorite subject, to ask the questions he needed to ask.  Her parents both gave her a smile when she was done, and they laughed heartily when Lee piped up with, "To hear Bert talk, we were hauling in the likes of "Leather Face" everyday."

     "You learned a lot today," Peg said, with her ham sandwich half way to her mouth.  "Yeah.  You all may just get to the bottom of this thing,"  Andrew told the teens in a hopeful voice.  Alex noticed that Anna's father didn't mention his daughter's name, when referring to solving the mystery of how Sandra died.  He felt so sorry for what they were going through, having to relive all of the pain.  "We're getting there sir,"  Alex told him, trying to sound confident.

     "It would help a lot wouldn't it, if that piece of tail light and that bottle were from that night?"  Peg asked.  "Yeah.  It would," Fletch said, and then his face brightened.  "I have an idea,"  he added, with the enlightened look he always got in his eyes when he had, had an epithany.  So he directed his next statement to Alex and the other detectives.  "I think it would be a great idea if we could get all the suspects and witnesses together in the same room, you know, like "Sherlock Holmes" did just before he named the bad guy."

     Alex, Anna and the others grinned at each other in agreement with what Fletch had said.  "Fletch.  As always you are brilliant!"  Alex praised him.  "Thanks Alex.  It's nice to be appreciated," he said, taking a large spoonful of baked beans to his mouth.  "I'm gonna call Detective Burns and see what he thinks of the idea," Alex said, taking a drink of his soda, and then getting on his cell phone.