Previous chapters of the River Road story:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Last time, Mr. DeLorca realized that The Red Rose Rascal was Trey Dusay—a young botanist who had worked for the Delorca’s at Pancake Town. Mr. DeLorca called Mrs. DeLorca to tell her what he had discovered. Trey ranted at Mr. DeLorca—blaming the DeLorca family for everything bad that had happened in his life. It seems Mr. DeLorca accidentally ruined some roses that Trey had been growing for Pancake Town. Trey had hoped to bring those roses back to Vista Falls to impress Jenny Littlepoole. Trey and Jenny had gone to school together in Vista Falls and Trey had developed a crush on Jenny. Trey explained that he had hoped to stop Jenny from marrying Sam Colbert. That’s why he switched out the flowers in the reception hall at the museum. Mr. DeLorca said that he had never meant to harm Trey’s roses and he hoped he could help Trey. Trey, however, became even angrier. Meanwhile, back at the museum, Mrs. DeLorca went to tell Officer Haggerty what she had learned from her husband. Mrs. DeLorca found Officer Haggerty having an awkward moment with Declan Bauer and Edie Merrill. When Mrs. DeLorca told the policeman about Trey Dusay, Edie Merrill became very upset and started screaming. Declan Bauer told her to be quiet, but it was too late. Edie revealed their involvement with the Red Rose Rascal. Officer Haggerty wanted to know just how involved they were, but Mrs. DeLorca wanted to find her husband and Trey Dusay. What happened next? Here’s what you decided.

Chapter 38: Six Degrees of Consternation
by Joseph Crisalli

Mrs. DeLorca immediately noticed that angry look on the officer’s face.

“What’s happening here?” Mrs. DeLorca asked.

“Mr. Bauer and Miss Merrill seem to be hiding something.” Officer Haggerty replied.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Mrs. DeLorca said quickly, “but, Joel just called. He’s with the Red Rose Rascal. It seems that the rascal is Trey Dusay—a man we knew in Pancake Town!”

“He confessed?” Edie screamed. “How could he? We had this all…”

“Stop it!” Declan shouted at her. “Stop talking. Don’t say another word!”

“You?” Mrs. DeLorca turned to face Declan Bauer. “You’re part of this? Both of you?”

“Tell her, Declan!” Edie shouted. “It’s over.”

Declan frowned and scowled at Edie.

“Mrs. DeLorca,” Declan Bauer said stiffly, “I think you’ve met my cousin, Edie Merrill.”

“Yes.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded. “We met at my gallery earlier today. She came to have a meeting with Mia Duomo.”

“And, I hated every minute of it.” Edie smirked. “Listening to that woman go on and on about beauty, and dealing with that pelican and that dog—my stars! Then, I had to pretend that I was afraid when an ‘intruder’ came into the gallery. I knew the intruder was there! I told the intruder to be there. It was Dudley.”

“Dudley?” Officer Haggerty asked. “The man who drives the truck for Bette and Trippy Trellis?”

“Of course!” Edie grunted.

“My cousin talks too much.” Declan growled.

“Maybe you should start talking, too.” Officer Haggerty said firmly. “What’s your involvement with The Red Rose Rascal? Is he another one of your cousins?”

“Yes. Our family is quite large…and creative.” Declan frowned again.

“Are you the female rascal, Edie?” Mrs. DeLorca asked.

“No.” Edie sighed. “I’m just helping out Declan. I had no choice. It was the only way he’d give me the money I needed for my restaurant.”

“And what’s in this for you?” Mrs. DeLorca asked Mr. Bauer.

“Justice.” Mr. Bauer said plainly.

“What do you mean?” Officer Haggerty asked.

“Quite simply, I mean that the job of museum curator should have been mine! It shouldn’t have gone to some outsider from Londonderry. It should have been mine!” Declan hissed.

“You have a job. And, you’re a member of the museum’s Board of Directors. Why would you need to be curator?” Mrs. DeLorca asked.

“Because I deserve it!” Declan Bauer stamped his foot on the ground. “I watched that Bonnie Whiteside ruin the museum’s reputation. My museum! I have donated more money than anyone to this museum. I wanted complete control of it! So when Miss Whiteside was fired, I thought that naturally, I would be chosen as curator. But, no. They voted for you! So, I called my cousin Edie. I knew she needed the money for her restaurant, so I told her that if she wanted it, she’d have to do what I said.”

“Which was?” Officer Haggerty asked.

Edie answered. “Which was to distract Mrs. DeLorca by constantly being at her gallery. I made up a story about needing Mia Duomo’s help with my restaurant so that I’d always be under foot. Then I’d do everything I could to keep Mrs. DeLorca from the museum so she’d have to be fired. We had everything worked out. But, then, Declan here decided to change the plan at the last minute.”

“It was a stroke of genius.” Declan said smugly. “My second cousin Trey, it seems, also knew the DeLorcas. I had forgotten that he had worked at Pancake Town. You see, I don’t keep track of that part of the family. But, when Edie told me that our dear Trey was going to be in town trying to get revenge on the DeLorcas, I offered to help him out. I funded his little charade—bought the roses, the makeup, the sound system, everything that was needed to create the fantastical Red Rose Rascal. Everything was in place. Trey had even managed to get Trippy and Bette Trellis involved.”

“The florists.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded. “I knew that they had something to do with it.”

“There’s your ‘lady rascal.’” Declan smirked. “Bette Trellis. She and her ne’er-do-well brother were working with Trey from the beginning. You see, he very cleverly lent them some of his own money. When they couldn’t pay him back, he insisted that they help. It could have all gone so well. Trey would have stopped the wedding and I would have gotten rid of you. Any curator who could have allowed such horrific things to happen at the museum would have been dismissed immediately. Then, I could have been curator and all would be right with the world.”

“I see.” Mrs. DeLorca sighed.

“What did you mean that Trey would have stopped the wedding?” Officer Haggerty asked.

“Trey thinks he’s in love with your Officer Littlepoole. That’s what’s really behind all of this. Revenge, yes. But, most of all, Trey wanted to keep Jenny Littlepoole from marrying Sam Colbert. That’s why he got Bette and Trippy Trellis to ‘hide’ your police chief for awhile. With a little help from a couple of other friends of mine...”

“You had it all worked out, didn’t you?” Officer Haggerty grumbled.

“They thought they did!” Edie snapped. “Sure, they had me running all over town as a decoy to try to keep all of your friends distracted. I never walked so much in my life—leaving flowers at the museum, at Miss Landers’ house, at Miss Trotter’s house, at your gallery, at the Wildlife Sanctuary, some art teacher’s house, at the park, at the creek—everywhere. Ugh! But, then it got out of hand.” Edie held up her hand. “I mean literally out of hand. Look at this cut! You know how I got this? I got it breaking into Eben DeLorca’s jewelry store. That was Trey’s idea.”

“You?” Mrs. DeLorca asked. “You broke into my son’s store?”

“Here.” Edie Merrill handed her purse over to Mrs. DeLorca. “It’s a little wet. Sorry. I fell in the creek when I was running away from the scene of the crime.”

Mrs. DeLorca opened the purse. Inside, she saw a fortune in diamonds and gems taken from Eben’s shop.

“It’s all there.” Edie Merrill nodded. “Everything I took. Trey and one of his flunkies have some more and we left a bit on the ground for Mia Duomo and Mrs. Conn to find, but you can get it all back.”

Edie Merrill took a deep breath, “It feels good to confess it all. I’m glad you know! I’m sorry I got mixed up in any of this. I was greedy!”

“Well, then, we’ve confessed. If there’s nothing else…” Declan Bauer began.

“There’s one more thing.” Officer Haggerty said.

“What’s that?” Declan Bauer asked.

“You’re both under arrest.” Officer Haggerty smiled. He looked at Mrs. DeLorca, “Now, you get the kids and the animals and go find Mr. DeLorca. Do you know where he is?”

“Yes.” Mrs. DeLorca said. She told him.

“Hurry there. I’m calling Officer Cornell for back-up. She’ll meet you there.” Officer Haggerty said.

Mrs. DeLorca raced back into the museum and got the kids, Shakuntala and Sheridan. She told then they had to hurry. As they ran to Mr. DeLorca, Mrs. DeLorca explained all she had found out.

“I knew that Edie Merrill was bad news.” Sarah sighed. “And that Mr. Bauer!” She shivered.

“I just feel so bad.” Nancy said. “So many people got hurt in so many different ways.”

“All for greed.” Kathy noted.

“And jealousy,” Isaac said.

“I even feel sorry for Trippy and Bette Trellis.” Nancy said softly. “I don’t think they really wanted to be involved with this.”

“It explains why they were both so upset when they thought we were snooping.” Kathy added.

Suddenly, Shakuntala squawked loudly and Sheridan began to bark.

“There’s Mr. DeLorca!” Isaac cried out.

“Is that Trey Dusay with him?” Nancy asked.

“Yes.” Mrs. DeLorca said. “I recognize him now that his make-up is wiped off.”

“Oh, look!” Mr. DeLorca said happily. “My friends and family are here!” He held out his arm so Shakuntala could land it on—which she did.

“I say, but you see, I told you they’d show up before you got away.” Mr. DeLorca smiled broadly. “They’re as reliable as a well-seasoned cookie sheet.”

“Do you ever make sense?” Trey grumbled.

“Trey!” Mrs. DeLorca called out as she walked toward them. “Your cousins, Edie and Declan, have confessed.”

“Oh, jolly good.” Mr. DeLorca said. “Trey has more or less confessed, too. It’s all wrapping up as neatly as a flatbread sandwich tightly tolled around a lovely stuffed tomato and such.”

“We can confess all we want,” Trey laughed, “but unless there’s a cop around, it won’t hurt us.”

“Well, actually, your cousins confessed to Officer Haggerty.” Mrs. DeLorca smiled.

“Oh.” Trey frowned. He then began to mock Mrs. DeLorca “Well, there’s no cop here to hear me say that I Trey Dusay, along with my cousins Declan and Edie and with the help of Trippy and Bette Trellis, the movie theater manager, and Dudley the flower-truck driver disrupted the entire town of Vista Falls by vandalizing property, breaking and entering, terrorizing individuals and kidnapping the Chief of Police.”

“Actually,” A woman’s voice said, “there was a cop present to hear your confession.”

“Look! It’s Mrs. Conn!” Kathy shouted.

“And Mia Duomo!” Nancy said.

“And Miss Trotter and Fritz!” Sarah added.

“And Officer Shelly Cornell.” Isaac said.

“We got here as soon as we could.” Mia said. “We had some beautiful luck at the shipping center. Almost as beautiful as my eyes! You see, we found dozens of invoices for flower shipments all signed by Trey Dusay!”

“The evidence keeps piling up.” Mrs. DeLorca smiled.

“Like layers of a cake—a delightful cake filled with lime curd.” Mr. DeLorca nodded.

“Trey Dusay,” Shelly Cornell began, “You’re under arrest.”

“Doesn’t that just figure?” Trey grumbled. “I lose again!”

“No.” Mr. DeLorca said. “This is your chance to finally win. I say, but you’ve lived in anger long enough. Isn’t it time to let go of it and such? Isn’t’ it time for you to move on with your life in a healthy, positive, productive way?”

Trey didn’t answer. He just frowned. He walked silently to Officer Cornell’s squad car and got into the back seat without another word.

“I say, but he could have jolly well added something to the conversation.” Mr. DeLorca shrugged.

“He’s already said enough.” Mrs. DeLorca said.

“He certainly went to a lot of trouble.” Mia Duomo sighed, fluffing up her blond curls with her finger tips.

“Yes.” Mrs. DeLorca nodded. “And, he had a lot of help. Officer Haggerty arrested his cousins Edie Merrill and Declan Bauer. I’ll explain all about that later.”

“Oh dear, I suppose I’ll have to find another client, then.” Mia laughed.

Everyone else laughed, too.

“Now what?” Nancy asked.

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind helping me, we need to put the reception hall back together. There’s a wedding tomorrow!” Mrs. Conn said. “Chief Colbert and Jenny Littlepoole are safe and reunited! They still plan on having the wedding as scheduled!”

“We’ll help!” Sarah spoke for the group.

“Absolutely.” Mia Duomo grinned. “I love a good wedding, but I always have to be careful not to be more beautiful than the bride.”

“Modest Mia,” Miss Trotter smiled softly.

“Joel and I will be along in awhile.” Mrs. DeLorca said. “I’d like to go see Eben at the hospital.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Conn said. “We’ll take Shakuntala and Sheridan with us.”

“See you soon,” Mia smiled as they walked toward the museum.

“Well, my dear,” Mrs. DeLorca said, “Another adventure.”

“Indeed.” Mr. DeLorca nodded. “I say, but this one was a little more complicated than previous ones.”

“Yes,” Mrs. DeLorca agreed. “Do you think we’ll have another?”

“I suspect so.” Mr. DeLorca winked. “Any time a large group of people gathers together in Vista Falls, something strange is bound to happen...and so on.”

“I have a feeling you’re right.” Mrs. DeLorca laughed.

And, indeed, Mr. DeLorca was right.

The following day, the DeLorcas (including Eben who had been released from the hospital on crutches), Mrs. Conn, Mia Duomo, The Trotter family (including Fritz and Nora), the four kids, the pelican and the terrier, all met one another at St. John’s Church for the wedding of Sam Colbert and Jenny Littlepoole.

The bride looked beautiful in her white gown, and Chief Colbert looked very handsome in his best uniform. When they exchanged their vows, many people in attendance wept with joy. Yes, it was a beautiful ceremony. So, beautiful, in fact, that it wasn’t until everyone arrived at the museum for the reception that Mrs. DeLorca noticed the familiar face in the crowd.

Standing in front of a spray of the white roses Mrs. Conn had managed to find to replace all of the red ones, was a woman the DeLorcas hadn’t seen in a very long time.

Eben and Mr. DeLorca spotted her, too.

“Mother,” Eben said quickly. “Isn’t that…?”

“Yes.” Mrs. DeLorca took a deep breath. “It’s Evelyn Pipkin.”

“I say, but what could this mean?” Mr. DeLorca asked.

“It means that we’re in for a lot of trouble.” Mrs. DeLorca answered seriously. “A lot of trouble…”

Thanks for reading this year’s The River Road Adventures! Come back on August 12, 2009 for another season with the DeLorcas, Mrs. Conn and all their friends!

What do you think will happen with Evelyn Pipkin? Email your thoughts. Have a great summer!