From the Case Files of Ellery Conroran
I am being forced to move in with my Nana in Echo Ridge, Vermont thanks to my mom driving her car into a jewelry store while she was high on opioids and having to go to rehab. The town and my new school are tiny, but luckily there is a lot for a true crime aficionado like me to investigate in town. My aunt Sarah (Mom’s twin) disappeared when she and my mom we young and 5 years ago, my Nana’s neighbor teenage daughter Lacey was murdered. On top of that, Nana, her neighbor Melanie (Lacey’s mom), and my twin brother Ezra came across a dead body on the way home from the airport. Talk about a bad omen.
Here’s what I know about each case:
Lacey Kilduff, a beautiful blonde homecoming queen was found strangled in a Halloween theme park called Murderland 5 years ago. The case was never solved, though her boyfriend Declan Kelly was suspected and has since fled town. Me and Ezra want to get jobs at Murderland, now called Fright Farm, to see if we can learn more about Lacey’s murder.
My mother’s twin sister, Sarah, disappeared without a trace when she and Sadie were in high school, right after Sadie was crowned homecoming queen. No one ever talks about what happened and no one ever mentions her.
A police officer named Ryan Rodriguez came to interview our family about the body this morning. He must be new because he seemed really nervous. Nana told us later that both his parents died recently, so maybe he is just sad. I was a crap witness, but Nana remembered a lot. I guess the guy was a science teacher at the high school. Nana thinks he was out collecting hail and got hit by a car.
So, there’s some pretty creep vandalism going around. Someone wrote “MURDERLAND THE SEQUEL COMING SOON” on the outside of the cultural center during a fundraiser before school started and now we found three dolls hanging from the top of a mausoleum with nooses around their necks, drenched in red paint, with the message “I’M BACK. PICK YOUR QUEEN, ECHO RIDGE. HAPPY HOMECOMING”. The weird thing is, Malcolm Kelly, a guy in my grade who just happens to be Declan Kelly’s brother, was the one who found both. Somehow, I believe he didn’t do it, though. It just seems too cliche for him to be a vandal.
Ezra and I have started at Fright Farms. Pretty boring stuff so far, but I hope I will learn something about what’s going on at school.
Also, I asked Nana about Sarah and she told me a couple of things! She said Sarah was smart, reading constantly, and asking questions. People thought she was quiet, but she had a sort of dry humor. She was good at math and science, she liked astronomy, and she wanted to work at NASA when she grew up. She and Sadie were thick as thieves and loved to mimic each other and fool people. Which makes it even more weird that Sadie never talks about her.
I got on homecoming court. I don’t know how that happened since no one here knows me well enough to nominate me and it is really freaking me out, especially with all the graffiti and stuff. The next day, my god damn locked got vandalized with a twisted doll and the message “REMEMBER MURDERLAND, PRINCESS? I DO. '' Katrin and Brooke (the other nominees) have the same on their lockers. I think this is happening because I am connected to Sarah. The school newspaper has started calling this guy the “Homecoming Stalker”.
Everyone is on edge this week, but so far the homecoming dance is still on and we went to a pep rally at Fright Farm tonight. Nana arranged for Officer Rodriguez to give us a ride. Sadie called on the way there. We asked her about her own homecoming, but she said she didn’t really remember it and tried to change the subject. I was able to find out she went to the dance with Vance Puckett and asked about Sarah, but got no answer. She hung up right after that. I don’t think she ever got closure about Sarah’s disappearance. Unfortunately, the Homecoming Stalker struck again with more threats during the rally. I’m beginning to get used to it, really. I had a “moment” with Malcom Kelly afterwards, but it was interrupted by us hearing Brooke drunk in the next room and needing to check on her. She was acting super weird and kept talking about having to show them and what happened. Then she asked me if I had ever made a bad mistake and said she wished everything was different. Malcom took us home and was going to drop off Brooke next.
Officer Rodriguez came by this morning to tell us that Brooke didn’t come home last night. He wanted to make sure I was safe. Nana freaked out more than I’ve ever seen. She started going off on him about how they police was doing nothing to protect us even though threats had been made. Things are not looking good for Malcolm right now… Officer Rodriguez immediately started questioning us. This time I was good witness, remember the paperclips, the “that’s what she said” joke that Brooke made, and her weird comments. I told him about the ride home and make sure he understood it was just by chance that we came across Brooke. I did skip the part where Malcolm asked if he could call me. I have become suspicious of Malcolm, but Ezra thinks it is a distraction and Melcolm had nothing to do with it. He doesn’t read as much true crime as I do.
Malcolm came over to talk to Ezra and me. He says he dropped Brooke off at her house and saw her go inside. He says there are rumors going around that he and Brooke were hooking up, but that they aren’t true. I told him we believed him.
The homecoming dance is still on, but has been scaled down and there won’t be a court. I am relieved. Malcolm is getting harassed at school, so that sucks. Ezra and I are just getting stared at. Everyone was suspicious of Malcolm already just because he is Declan’s brother.
Who is committing these crimes? If I’ve learned anything from true crime, when a girl goes missing it is almost always the boyfriend or husband. Declan could be guilty. I am suspicious of Vance Puckett because he was Sadie’s boyfriend and is always hanging around. I’m also not sure if the police are incompetent or covering up for someone. Rumor has it Ryan Rodriguez had a huge crush on Lacey, but she never paid attention to him. That could be motice. I’m not so sure about Officer McNulty, either.
I also found out today that Declan is dating Daisy Kwan, who was Lacey’s best friend. This makes both of them look suspicious if there was a love triangle 5 years ago.
Search parties all day, candle light vigils all night. The same few theories keep circulating: Brooke just ran away, she’s the victim of the Murderland killer, one of the Kelly boys did something to her.
Mom called because she heard about Brooke and the threats. I got upset that she never talked about Sarah and she told me she felt guilty because she was losing her virginity after the homecoming dance when Sarah disappeared. She feels responsible for Sarah’s disappearance because she was supposed to be with her. She said there was more she wanted to tell me, but had to go.
Tried to get some info out of Vance when he came into the park. I didn’t get much, but he did say Brooke asked him how to pick a lock.
Daisy admitted that she liked Declan all through high school. She said right before she died, Lacey showed up with a bracelet that looked like 2 antler twisted together. She tried to find out more about it, but was unsuccessful. She turned the bracelet in to Officer Rodriguez. Interesting.
Did some lock picking myself and found a car repair bill in a fake sounding name for Malcolm’s stepsister’s car. The car was brought in August 31st, the day after Mr. Bowman was killed.
Hanging out with Malcolm instead of going to the homecoming dance. My current theory is that Malcom’s stepsister Katrin is responsible for Brooke’s disappearance. She hit Mr. Bowman with her car, made Brooke help cover it up, started the vandalism as a distraction, and Brooke ran away because she was scared. Declan and I headed to homecoming to see if we can catch her in the act, but nothing happened.
There was a body found in the woods. It is Brooke.
Malcolm thinks it was Declan. I am starting to agree with him.
It’s all wrapped up and I wasn’t even close. Though I still almost died in the process. It wasn’t Katrin, it was her dad Peter. Peter caught us talking about how we suspected him. He was having an affair with BrookeHe took our phones lead us downstairs. We figured out he framed Declan for Lacey’s murder (THAT WAS HIM, TOO!) and was going to frame him for Brooke, too. He’d been having affairs with Brooke and Lacey and said they had overstepped in some way. When I asked about Sarah, Peter whispered “I thought she was your mother” in my ear. Petrifying. I will never tell anyone he said that. I was terrified and thought Malcolm and I had not way out! He left us in a room locked from the outside with a portable electric generator running. We both passed out, but Officer Rodriguez saved us! He had tracked the bracelet back to Peter. I had texted him before Peter took our phones. I didn’t answer when he called, so he came looking for me! The threats were fabricated by Viv so she could have a good story to write about and submit to colleges. They were not related after all. What a scary first 6 weeks in Echo Ridge! I’m glad the murders have been solved and Peter is in jail where he belongs.
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