What's The News? • Lemoxie

Chapter Six

I ran into Kellar's room and shook him awake. "Kellar! Get up! I think someone's been shot! Come on!" I was shouting. That sure got his attention. We shot down the stairs and across the street there was a body with something sticking out of it.

"I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this." Kellar whispered fearfully.
"Calm your nerves..." I told him as we neared the body. Then I saw who it was. "Oh my God it's Ornette's brother! It's Ethan, Kellar! Wait... Is that... Is that a fucking harpoon?"
" Oh my God what are we going to tell Ornette!? Who would've done this? Where did they get a harpoon gun?! "

I took a photo and called Lemony to come over. He might know how about murder scenes, right? He was here pretty quickly; he's on a motorcycle and there's no cars out so it'd be expected for him to show up soon. "What's the news, Moxie?"
"See for yourself, Snicket! Ethan's been shot with a harpoon!"
" Do we know who or where the person who shot him is? "
"Nope. We can rule out five people, though: you, me, Kellar, Ornette and Kyra."
"I've seen family turn on family. It's three."
" Ornette and Kyra love their brother like crazy! They wouldn't murder him because he's a fire starter! "

Lemony turned away to inspect the body, possibly to stop the conversation. "First off, we need to tell his family about what happened."
"On it. Do you need me to call the Coroner?"
"If they're competent, yes that'd be great."

They were good at their job and trustworthy, so I gave them a call, changed from my pajamas to my clothes, and drove my jeep over to the Lost household. Lemony and Kellar could talk to the forensic scientists (although I wouldn't have been surprised if Lemony Snicket had a PHD in that).

I was banging on Ornette's front door for a solid three minutes when she finally opened it. "What the heck, Mox!? It's 1 in the morning! What are you doing here?"
I took a deep breath. "Can I come inside?"

" Yes, of course. Come in. Sit down. I'll fire up the kettle. "

Soon enough, we both had teacups of steaming tea. "Sorry there's no sugar. Ethan always insisted that tea should be as-"
"Ethan is dead." I blurted out.
"What?"
" I know it must be hard to process and horrible to think about but it happened. Ornette, about twenty minutes ago, Ethan was shot across the street from my house with a harpoon gun. Now it might seen suspicious that yesterday we were interrogating him and then today he ends up dead in front of my place, but I can assure you one thing: It wasn't Lemony, Kellar or me. I'm sure the rest of our group has enough moral stamina to not kill anyone either. I'm sorry I have to be the bearer of bad news. "

She silently listened the whole time. "Are you sure you didn't see who killed my brother? I think I might know."
Interested, I asked her what her theory was.
"It was Stewart Mitchum. He and Ethan are- were friends, but I could always kind of tell Stew didn't actually like him that much. Do you think that might be possible, Moxie?"
I considered it. Stew did kill Dashiell Qwerty, so he certainly has the severe lack of moral stamina.

"Ornette, if that is what happened, then that means your brother died at the hand of an unhinged villain. I'm not telling you not to grieve his death: I'm telling you to grieve later. We're going to need your help to make sure Ethan Lost didn't die in vain. We have a chance to save Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Again! And this time, there are hundreds of more lives at risk. The ad hoc branch of VFD needs all the help it can get. Tell me, Ornette, will you volunteer?"

She gulped in some air before answering with a simple "Yes."
" Good. Now come back to my place with me so we can all leave to search Wade Academy later today. "
"We all?"
" Yep. Kellar, Ellington, Lemony, and you and me. "
"What are we searching for?"
" Poisonous mushrooms Stew has hid around town. He's trying to wipe Stain'd-by-the-Sea off the map, I guess. "
"We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Not if we have enough help. I believe we can do it." I told her calmly as we climbed into my jeep. She told me that Kyra a was fine staying home since her uncles were still there. The forensics were inspecting the crime scene and I wrapped Ornette into a hug since she was about to cry. Kellar and I ushered her inside where Ellington and Cleo were waiting.
"Lemony had Kellar call us to come support her." The chemist told me. I nodded and went to fix everyone something to drink. "There's always cranberry juice", I thought, "cranberry juice is pretty comforting, I'd say."

After the Coroner left, Kellar and I set up sleeping arrangements.
"Ellington can sleep in my room with me," Kellar suggested.
"That's fine and dandy as long as you don't keep us all up. Cleo and Ornette, there's a guest room with two twin sized beds. You up for it?"
" Yeah, I guess. " Ornette said, still distracted by the events that had transpired.
"Sure!" Cleo agreed with a small smile.

"And where am I sleeping, Moxie?" Lemony asked with a smirk. We all knew the implications of that question.
"Ah no. You're sleeping on the couch, mister." I answered, mocking his smirk. That earned some giggles from the girls. We all split to where we were assigned to sleep except me. I stayed in the living room with my prime associate so we could talk over the case. I pulled out my typewriter and types up all the notes on tonight.

"Ornette says she thinks Stew shot Ethan. Do you think that could be it?"
" Possibly. Do you know anyone else who might have a motive? "
"Zilch. What did the Coroner say?"

Lemony told me about how they were absolutely stupefied by this crime. There was no evidence of who the murderer was. He said that they'd send the new police officers to the neighborhood tomorrow or the next day to see what the resident's alibis were. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Damnit. Damnit. Damnit! I swear we're never going to find this stupid sample or however many there are!"
"Don't give up hope, Love. We're going to save Stain'd-by-the-Sea and everyone's going to be fine."
" Promise? "
"Cross my heart." He grinned, kissing me. "Now go get to bed. We have a long day ahead of us."

No matter how much I'd rather work on this case with Lemony, I admitted to myself I needed sleep. I closed up my typewriter and went up to my room, mentally preparing myself for getting probably only five hours of sleep.

Something in me told me that Ethan was in this neighborhood for a reason.