User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: The Fool Who Cried Foul (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4: Rustic Scenery
The next morning, I got up bright and early to get my morning routine out of the way. I saw that Luan, Lucy, and Lola had the same idea. Not surprising, considering we all had performances this week. Even so, it was a bit disheartening to see everyone giving Luan dirty looks. We all had a quick breakfast and went our separate ways.

Clyde and I met up at Liam’s farm. We agreed that this would be a good first stop in our investigation. But when we got there, we were treated to a rather odd sight. Usually, the only people around here are Liam and his meemaw. This time around, there were people bustling all over the place. Not only that, but we saw a few trailer trucks set up in the pasture along with several cameras. Before either of us could ask any questions, Liam came out to greet us.

“Howdy, fellas,” he said. “Sorry ‘bout all this.”

“Liam, what’s going on?” asked Clyde. “Is someone filming a movie here?”

“Yeah, plum slipped my mind,” said Liam sheepishly. “Meemaw reminded me after I took Tabby home last night. By the way, I asked her ‘bout the fella askin’ ‘bout our chickens.”

“And?”

“Accordin’ to Meemaw, they were supposed to be for this here picture,” said Liam, gesturing to the camera crew.

Considering where those chickens ended up, something doesn’t feel right about this. Though I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

“Liam, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?” I asked.

“Not at all,” said Liam with a shrug. “Not sure how much help I can be, though.”

“Let’s start with this,” said Clyde, taking out a chicken feather. “Do you recognize this feather?”

Liam took the feather from Clyde and looked it over carefully. His eyes then widened.

“This here’s Petunia’s feather,” he said. “Where’d you find this?”

“At the crime scene,” Clyde replied gravely, turning to me. “This confirms it, Linc. Those chickens that attacked Luna came from this very farm.”

Maybe so, but it doesn’t really explain how they got from the farm to the Royal Woods Mall. Could it have something to do with the movie they’re filming here? Come to think of it, why is someone filming a movie on Liam’s farm? I think we need to figure that out before anything else.

“Liam, do you know anything about this movie?” I asked.

Liam brushed the back of his head sheepishly. “Not a whole lot, if I’m bein’ honest. But we can ask the crew here. Meemaw said to stay outta their way while they’re filmin’, but I’m sure they could take some time for us once they take a break.”

“Better than nothing,” I said with a shrug. “Let’s get moving.”

Liam led us over to the trailers. Right now, I have so many questions running around in my head that I don’t know where to start. Nngh, focus, Lincoln. You know there’s a connection to what happened to Luna last night. All you gotta do is find it.

“And… cut! Great work, you guys. Dolores, you came in a bit late, but I’m sure we can correct it in post. Take five, everyone.”

Wow, talk about perfect timing. As we approached the trailers, it looked like they were just wrapping up shooting a scene. The director was a young woman dressed entirely in black. She had a baseball cap on and a brown ponytail. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Liam approached the director and cleared his throat.

“Pardon me, Ms. Peterson, miss. I hate to be a bother, but a coupla my friends wanna discuss some stuff with ya.”

The director looked over at us, and she seemed to take a particular interest in me. Her eyes narrowed.

“Didn’t your family hire my stunt doubles once?” she asked, pointing at me.

…

Oooh~! That’s where I know her from! Yeah, that thing she just said? That actually happened. We tried to hire stunt doubles to take the brunt of Luan’s pranks during her usual April Fool’s Day craziness, but it kinda backfired. The less I say about it, the better.

“Yeah, that was us,” I said sheepishly. Honestly, I don’t know why I was so nervous. It’s not like it was any of her business.

The director scoffed. “Yeah, they told me about it after the whole thing. What I wanna know is how did a fourteen-year-old girl end up outbidding you?”

“I wish I had an answer,” I groaned, feeling just a bit uncomfortable. I then cleared my throat and changed the subject. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Lincoln.”

“Jack. Jack Peterson,” said the director. She then gave me a sly wink. “Actually, my real name’s Jacqueline, but no one really calls me that.”

Clyde’s eyes sparkled. “Wait, you’re Jack Peterson? As in the great action movie director Jack Peterson?!”

Peterson chuckled. “I take it you’re a fan of my work.”

“Are you kidding? I loved The Brotherhood of the Bracelet!” Clyde squealed.

Hey, I kinda remember that movie. Wow, who’d’ve thought this was the person behind it? But this is no time to get star-struck.

“Easy there, buddy,” I said sternly. “We have a job to do, remember?”

“A job?” asked Peterson.

I nodded. “Clyde and I are investigating an incident that happened at the Royal Woods Mall last night.”

Peterson raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t Royal Woods Mall all the way back in town? Why’d you come out here?”

“It’s a bit of a story,” I said. “I’ll try to summarize the best I can.”

And so, I did just that. After explaining everything, Peterson, stroked her chin in thought.

“That does sound unfortunate,” she said. “But I’m afraid I’m not entirely sure what it has to do with my film.”

“Well, that’s what we’re here to find out,” I said. “Jack, be sure to take good notes.”

“Will do, Ace,” said Clyde, taking out his notepad.

Peterson smirked. “Alright, I’ll play along. But try not to take up too much of my time, yeah? We’re gonna start filming again soon.”

“Of course, of course,” I said. Hmm, now where to start? Liam said that Peterson is the one who asked about his chickens, so I guess that’s as good a place as any.

“Tell me, Ms. Peterson. What kind of film are you making here, exactly?” I asked.

I could see a distinct twinkle in Peterson’s eyes as her face lit up. “I’m glad you asked. This film is my interpretation of Rip Hardcore’s latest survival guide, Surviving in Your Own Backyard.”

…

Now it was my turn to geek out. Rip Hardcore is involved in this movie?! And it’s being directed by the greatest action director in Royal Woods?! Oh man, this is so cool~! Is he actually here?! I actually have that book at home! Maybe I can rush back and get it for him to…

Before I got too carried away, I managed to slap myself. Focus, Lincoln. Mystery first; geeking out later.

“Th-that sounds awesome, Ms. Peterson,” I said sheepishly.

Peterson must’ve noticed my excitement, because she let out a small giggle. “Yeah, I’m used to that. I’m actually grateful Mr. Hardcore gave us the okay to do this.”

“So, is that why you’re filming on a farm?” asked Clyde.

“Amongst other reasons,” said Peterson. She sighed and folded her arms. “We were supposed to film this in New Zealand, but the cost ended up being outside of our budget. I told the producers that having Hitmaker Records do the soundtrack was overkill.”

Wait, Hitmaker Records? They’re part of this, too? That’ll be worth following up on later down the line. For now, though, I need to confirm something.

“Liam told me that you asked his meemaw about chickens for the movie,” I said.

“That’s correct,” said Peterson. “The whole point of Surviving In Your Own Backyard is that domestic animals can be just as dangerous as wild ones if you’re not careful, and we needed some good examples.”

“So, you had no plans of moving those chickens anywhere else.”

Peterson gave me a blank look. “No, of course not. This farm is the only place we’re filming.”

Hmm. I don’t think she’d lie about that, but it still contradicts the facts. Clyde was quick to pick up on that, too.

“Did you speak with Liam’s meemaw directly?” he asked.

“I spoke to her about the film, yeah,” said Peterson. “Once she gave us the okay to set up here, my staff have been meeting with her to discuss the finer details.”

“So, you didn’t ask her about the chickens yourself.”

“I don’t believe so. That only came up yesterday after we started filming.”

“Do you know who did?”

Peterson furrowed her brow and stroked her chin. “Not off the top of my head. You think it has something to do with what happened at the mall last night?”

“That’s what we’re thinking,” said Clyde, brandishing the chicken feather. “This was found at the scene of the crime, and Liam confirms that it belongs to one of his chickens.”

Peterson’s face suddenly darkened. “Do you mean to tell me that someone on my staff has been misusing resources? Not just resources for the film, but resources that don’t even belong to us?”

“We don’t know anything for certain, Ms. Peterson,” I said, standing my ground. “But it is a possibility.”

Peterson snorted and lowered her cap over her eyes. “This is unacceptable. I swear I don’t know anything about this, but I’ll look into it for you guys.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Peterson,” I said with a nod. “I think that’ll be all for now. We’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”

“Same,” said Peterson. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”  She then picked up her bullhorn and turned it on, creating a short shrill blast of sound. “Alright, everyone! Back to your places! Let’s move on to the next scene!”

We decided to leave her to it and went over to Liam’s house.

“Why’d you stop there, Lincoln?” asked Clyde. “I’m pretty sure there was some other stuff we could’ve asked her.”

“We don’t have a lot to go on to ask her anything else,” I said. “I know Pucker mentioned HItmaker Records, but we still don’t know if they’re involved in this case at all. And we can’t interrogate Ms. Peterson’s staff if we don’t know who asked Liam’s meemaw about the chickens.”

“I’ll ask my meemaw if she can come up with a name,” said Liam. “Man, this here case’s more twisted than a goat tangled up in barbed wire.”

That sounds way too specific to be just some metaphor that Liam came up with off the top of his head, but then again, all of Liam’s metaphors are like that.

“So, what now, Ace?” asked Clyde.

“Now, we go back to the scene of the crime,” I said. “We need a clear picture of what happened last night, and the best person to give us that is the security detail at the Royal Woods Mall.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Clyde. “Alright, let’s roll.”

With one last goodbye to Liam, we got our bikes and road off into the city. This really is like one of Ace Savvy’s mysteries. In the beginning, there are always a lot of questions with not enough answers. But on the plus side, we aren’t exactly spinning our wheels here. It might be a little at a time, but we’re making progress. I just hope it’s enough.

Okay, so according to my watch, it’s roughly eleven-thirty now. Lola’s pageant isn’t until four o’clock, so that should give us time to investigate at the mall and pick up some magic supplies while we’re there.

…

Hey, just because I’m on crime-solving duty doesn’t mean I should neglect my own performance. Like I said, when you live in a big family, you gotta learn how to multitask. I only hope we can solve this mystery before Lola takes the stage, but if I know anything from Ace Savvy’s adventures, it’s never that easy…

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