CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE CRIMINAL FILE (Draft 1)

"So, that's what you've been up to," James said grimly. 

After James and Tim walked into their room with stern expressions of their faces, Silver and Cherry gave in and told them everything - about how they suspected that the Garnet fire was no accident; how Silver and Tim's parents could have been murdered; how it could have been Ashlynn Speed. 

Tim stayed quiet throughout his sister's explanation. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Tim..." Silver looked down at her feet, "I just didn't want my little brother getting involved in all this." 
Tim finally turned to his sister with a smile, "Let's not talk about that right now. How can we help?" 

Silver and Cherry shared a worried glance before looking up at their brothers with a confused expression on their faces. 

James grinned mischievously, "Don't tell me you two really think that we're just gonna stand by and let our sisters do all the heavy lifting? We're definitely getting involved!" 
Tim looked thrilled, "We know it's not what you wanted, but that's how it's going to be!" 

Cherry groaned and turned to Silver, "The one thing we were avoiding!" 

"So," Tim began, ignoring Cherry's comment, "What happened to that flash drive you found?" 
Silver sighed, realising there was no way she could get out of that situation, "We left it for now. It's in my drawer. We wanted to hack into Ashlynn's criminal file first." 
"I see," James remarked. 

Silver got up and walked towards her bedside table, from which she opened the top drawer and pulled out the flash drive and the note. She handed the note to James and gave Tim the flash drive. She and Cherry sat on her bed as they watched their brothers read the note and observe the flash drive as if they'd find evidence on its exterior. 

"Find out why she was there that night," James read slowly, "What do they mean by she?" 

"We're assuming they're referring to Ashlynn," Silver answered. 

Tim held the flash drive up to show his sister, "Did you guys check out what's in it?" 

"No..." Cherry reluctantly answered. 

"Then I think we should do that right now!" James suggested, "Considering you guys already read her criminal file." 

"Actually," Silver confessed, "We didn't get a chance to read it yet. We only got to retrieve it before I noticed the security system was shut down and that intruder almost hacked my laptop." 

"Speaking of the hacker," Tim frowned, "Who on earth is the human glitch?" 

"Let's not think about that right now," James proposed, "Let's just read through this Ashlynn's file and go through the flash drive." 

Cherry nodded, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but James has a very good point." 
James gave her a smug smile, "I'm always right my dear sister. Always." 

Cherry rolled her eyes at him as Tim and Silver raised their eyebrows before bursting into laughter. James and Cherry shared a confused look and tilted their heads simultaneously, wondering as to what was so funny. 

"Oh God!" Silver finally said, walking over to her desk and turning her laptop back on, "You two are hilarious." 

Tim, Cherry and James surrounded Silver's chair, as her laptop turned on and a robotic voice spoke, "Hello Silver, ready to check the file now?" 

Tim and James jumped as Cherry chuckled, "Don't worry guys, it's just Sarah." 

"Sarah?" James asked. 

"Who's Sarah?" Tim inquired. 

"I'll explain later," Silver said as she wore a serious expression on her face and spoke to her computer, "Sarah, could you open Ashlynn's file please?" 

"On it, Silver," came the voice again. 

The laptop opened the file, and they saw a picture of Ashlynn Speed. Silver caught her breath. It looked exactly like the self-satisfied woman who had been speaking to her parents in the picture. Was that the night the note was talking about? 

She scrolled through the writing, taking a mental note of important details, until she reached the end and read, "Ashlynn Speed was last seen on 15/08/2009. After intruding a charity gala hosted by her sister, Alexandra Speed, and Cassandra Banker, she stole a black convertible belonging to Gabriel Green, fleeing the scene. She drove the convertible into The Rainforest, arriving at a cliff. Alexandra Speed followed her sister in her own red SUV and reached the cliff as well. It is noted that Ashlynn had stolen a priceless necklace belonging to her sister that consisted of one of the rarest diamonds in the world; the red diamond. After the police arrived at the scene, it is claimed that Ashlynn threw the necklace back at Alexandra and stated these words: "Mark my words sister, I will be back for what is mine. And you will know when I am." before proceeding to jump off the said cliff. Before anyone could go to check what had happened, the convertible lit up in flames, preventing anyone from heading in that direction until the fire department had arrived 34 minutes later. It is safe to say that, despite not having found a body, Ashlynn Speed died from that fall." 

"Well, that was a mouthful," James commented. 

Tim frowned, "The report claims that she died, but–" 

"But what?" Cherry questioned. 

"She told her sister that she would be back," Tim explained, "After reading through the report, it's clear that Ashlynn is pretty stubborn and she might keep her promise." 

"So what? She escaped death just so that she can get back at her sister?" James interposed. 

"No," Tim said slowly, "No one can escape death, not even Ashlynn. But we're talking about a woman who has managed to scheme her way into doing whatever she liked, even if it meant almost getting caught, kidnapping innocent people, or even murder. She's disappeared once before, and it's likely that she's done it again." 

"Plus," Silver added, "They didn't find a body. And she was speaking to our parents at that same charity gala." 

"She was?" James asked. 

Cherry nodded, "We saw a picture of George and Vanessa Garnet speaking to someone who looked exactly like Alexandra. We weren't sure if it was Alexandra or someone else, but after seeing Ashlynn's picture–" 

"We were sure," Silver confirmed, "Our parents looked really worried when they were talking to her. Maybe she was threatening them." 

"Or," Tim proposed, "They knew each other. And they knew something about her. Something which threatened her very existence." 

"Maybe they found out she was alive," James put forward. 

"Perhaps they did," Tim frowned, "And that could be her motive for killing them in that fire." 

"But why a fire?" Cherry asked, "Why not crash another party like she did the night before she disappeared?" 

"Because," Silver realised, "The second she disappeared a mysterious fire started on that car. The second she's back, she started a mysterious fire on our home. It could be a sign. A sign that Alexandra would recognise. After all, Ashlynn clearly stated that her sister would know when she's back." 

"Well then," Tim frowned thoughtfully, "I guess we need to ask Ms. Speed a few questions." 

Everyone nodded in agreement; however, James stared blankly at Tim. 
"But what about the flash drive?" James pointed out. 

They all went silent as their eyes darted towards the flash drive, which had been placed next to Silver's laptop.