The Investigation - Jeronica

A mysterious invite

Light seeps in through the curtains of Veronicas dads study and shines directly in my eyes. I roll over attempting to- Wait did I say Veronicas dads study.

I bolt upright and desperately scramble around looking for my phone.
"Calm down" I hear Veronica say, "it's only 3:00 PM, my dad won't be home for another 3 hours. I turn around to face her, slightly disoriented. Her hair is tied up neatly, a few strands of hair framing her face. She's wearing silk pyjamas and a silk gown, holding a cup of coffee in her hand as she sorts through some of the files. I don't think she's capable of looking messy.
"Did I fall asleep?" I ask
"We both did; me in a nice warm bed, and you in a pile of old papers"
I look back at the sprawled files I spent the night sleeping on. No wonder my back hurts.
"There's a coffee machine in the kitchen. Use it and come back so we can keep searching. This is not going to be a waste of time" she says.
I do what she says and quickly return.
"What happened last night?" I ask.
"We were just talking and you fell asleep. You snore like an old man."
She laughs as I look away in embarrassment.
"C'mon start sorting through it."
She hands me a large stack of papers, this is gonna take hours.

We sit in silence for the next two hours until the large pile of unread papers is down to just two small files.
"It's hopeless" I say, "there's nothing here"
"Just keep looking" she says, "we'll find something"
Veronica frantically runs around the room sorting through papers and making a mess.
"Stop" I say
She starts moving faster and without second thought. I scan the clock, her father will be back in twenty minutes.
"Veronica stop" I say louder.
She's infuriating, she just won't listen, starting to muddle up papers and ruin our neat piles. I stand up and grab her by the hands. She squirms, desperately trying to break me from my clutch. Her breaths heavy and I try my best to center her, looking directly in her eyes.
"Stop, there's nothing here"
Her breathing slows down and she begins to calm. Without meeting my eyes she lets herself fall a little into my arms. I don't know what to do but I don't let go.
"We need to start cleaning up, your father can't know we were here" I say
She pulls herself away from me with a sudden burst of energy.
"Dammit," she yells. She picks up an unread file on her fathers desk and throws it against his bookcase. A small piece of shiny green paper falls out and slowly reaches the floor. Veronica, too angry to notice, spins around and starts to pick up her mess.
"Veronica-"
"Not now" she says
"Veronica-"
"Just start cleaning Jughead"
"Veronica listen" I yell. She turns to face me, an annoyed look on her face.
"What?" she asks begrudgingly
"Look"
I reach my hand out and pick up the piece of green paper. It's covered in extravagant gold writing and drawings. In the middle of the paper, in shiny gold letters, it reads "You are Invited to an exclusive night at the Silk Greyhound Casino. Black tie event. Date: 10 pm, the 10th of the 10th (next Saturday), Code word: the nights just beginning."
"What is it?" Veronica asks
"It's exactly what we've been looking for" I say