“So, you know who it is, but will only
reveal it tomorrow night,” Jane said as she sipped a coffee in the kitchen.
“That’s right,” Daria said.
“Did you do this all the time?” Jane
asked.
“Most of the time,” Daria answered.
“The majority of the time,” Quinn
clarified.
“Right,” Jane considered. “So, we are
going to plan what we’re doing?”
Daria nodded. “Of course.”
Stacy took out an information sheet on the
Coffee House. “It starts about 6:30.”
Daria grabbed the sheet. There wasn’t much
more information. “We’ll be there early.”
“Sure,” Stacy responded.
“So, you’re gathering more information
tomorrow?” Dewey asked.
Daria nodded.
“What time to start?” Stacy asked.
“About 8.”
Friday, October 17th,
1997
Daria and Quinn arrived at Stacy’s place
early. Daria wanted to piece together the final pieces of the puzzle well
before evening. Stacy was waiting. “Are you ready for today?” Daria asked.
“As I’ll ever be!” Stacy replied.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Quinn
said.
“We’ll get to school and do a recap well
before Homeroom,” Daria said. “We wouldn’t want Jane to get detention again.”
“Definitely not!” Stacy murmured.
“We’re meeting her on the way.”
Jane turned a corner and saw Daria, Quinn
and Stacy crossing the street. “Good Morning,” she called out.
“You’re ready?” Daria asked.
“For tonight? Yes. For Ms. Morris? Not
really.”
“As long as you’re there early,” Quinn
said in a reassuring tone.
“She will single me out for sure,” Jane
complained.
“I hope I wouldn’t get her for homeroom in
future!” Stacy fretted.
“It’s unlikely,” Daria said. “There are a
number of teachers at Lawndale High.”
“That’s not reassuring,” Stacy said.
As they arrived at the school, they met
Charles and Alecia. “Hi, Daria,” Charles said. “Dewey told you who it was?”
“Yes,” Daria answered. “But I’m keeping
that information to myself until tonight.”
“So, it is someone at school,” Charles
stated.
Daria nodded.
“Got it,” Charles said.
“I can wait.”
Daria recapped what they had discussed the
afternoon before.
“So, you’ll reveal it tonight?” Charles
asked.
“Yes,” Daria answered.
The pieces were set. Daria spent the time
between classes ruminating on the information she had gathered. But she still
needed to talk to some more people.
Quinn arrived at the Coffee House. There
were already a few people there. She knew Daria would arrive later, closer to
the actual start time.
“Quinn!” It was Stacy.
“Stacy!”
“Do you know what Daria has planned?”
Stacy asked. “She didn’t say anything about it this morning.”
“Nothing more than this morning, Sorry,”
Quinn answered. “But there may be shocking revelations.”
Stacy nodded. But then she tensed as she
saw Sandi Griffin walking up behind Quinn.
“Sandi is there isn’t she?” Quinn asked.
Stacy nodded.
Quinn turned. “Hi, Sandi!”
“What is it about the Mystery Club?” Sandi
asked.
“Don’t you think Lawndale is full of
mysteries?” Quinn asked.
“Certainly, but no more than anywhere
else,” Sandi responded. “But that doesn’t explain why Stacy is into them.”
“Maybe you didn’t know that about her,”
Quinn responded.
“Possibly,” Sandi said neutrally.
Quinn knew that Sandi was up to something.
‘But what?’ she thought. That is, beyond, being a control freak over the
Fashion Club. But what else was new? “Besides, she has a right.”
“I guess,” Sandi considered.
Quinn watched as Sandi went back to her
seat. She sighed.
Daria was ready. She had put all the clues
together. The only issue was how were the people going to react? That was one
aspect of the scenario she had no control over. ‘But this place is crowded.
They probably can’t do much.’
“Good Evening,” Mr. O’Neill said. “Welcome
to the Coffee House of Lore.”
‘It’s ‘Yore’ I’m sure,’ Daria thought.
“It is where we can get together to share
our stories, in whatever form they may be, over coffee,” O’Neill continued.
“But there is something else some of our students want to share.”
Daria got up upon the cue. “Good evening
fellow students. I’m sure you’re aware of the fact that I have formed a Mystery
Club to investigate Lawndale.” She paused and waited for the murmur to finish.
“What most of you don’t know, is that I have been investigating the break in
and I have found who is responsible…”
There was then a murmur, as the students
started talking about who Daria was talking about.
O’Neill interrupted it. “Um, Daria will
reveal it in good time. But I hope she has all her ducks in a row.”
“Of course I do, Mr. O’Neill,” Daria
retorted. “I have learned from experience.”
“Oh, right,” O’Neill responded.
“I’ll
continue now, if there are no other interruptions,” Daria said.
“Go ahead,” O’Neill said. “But try not to
be confrontational.”
“Oh, I won’t.”
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