The night was cold. The wind barely shaking a leaf but could run chills down a person’s spine. Shaylynn parks her Porsche before stepping out and feeling a breeze in Kathy’s driveway. 3 other cars were parked as well, notifying Shaylynn that everyone was already here and ready for the meeting.

It was 10 P.M. on a Friday, which was odd for a sudden meeting called by Evan. Shaylynn entered Kathy’s mansion, passing through all the rooms and halls to a door, locked with a keypad. “9223” Shaylynn pressed the code in and walked through, locking the door behind her. Everyone surrounded a corkboard filled with pictures of the crime scene, maps, newspaper ripouts, post-its with little notes and pieces of thread that connected all the evidence together.

She grabbed a glass of champagne on the small desk, sipping it while seeing if there was any new evidence placed on the table. She pulled out a cigarette as well, lighting it while analyzing the room. “So, what’s the news? I had to quickly put my kids to bed for this, so it better be good.” Shaylynn said in a stern tone, while reading the corkboard for any new rearrangements.

“I rereviewed mom and dad’s whereabouts the night before and saw on the security tapes we collected that they met with a family friend, Marc and Jun. The police never suspected them, and I think I know why. They were never questioned in the first place because Marc has ties and connections in the police force. And we all know that Marc and Jun once had a huge argument with Mom and Dad over buying land, which in this family isn’t a small issue. It doesn’t help that our parents won the land, making them have a reason for murder. We finally found a new lead after 5 years of going in circles,” Evan was sweating, holding a red marker he used to scribble all over a whiteboard next to the corkboard, filled with more evidence of connections.

“You know, sometimes you sound absolutely insane, Van. You’ll do anything to find a lead. It’s like you’ll even use the dust Mom and Dad inhaled as evidence to how they were killed with a GUN in their bedroom.” Jason was tipsy, having more than 3 glasses of champagne already from the stress after a long day. He grew a habit of drinking whenever he got stressed since the day he could legally drink, growing concerns to the people around him.

“Hey, maybe you’ve drunk a lot more than you could handle, Jas. Maybe stop drinking for once and go take a nap in the living room to sober up for God’s sake.” Evan always had to deal with Jason and his drinking whenever things got tough, but he himself was way too tired that day to deal with it.

“Oh fuck off, Van. I’ll tell you when I have had enough. You can’t tell me to do shit.” Jason started to get aggressive, not unusual for when he drinks.

“Well, maybe I can tell you to do shit because you know Goddamn well that blood is thicker than champagne. You can’t just treat me with disrespect when all you do is show up, agree with me then stay the night because you’re too drunk to leave.” The argument got more heated which led to Kathy and Nadine separating the brothers, not wanting an incident when everyone was already tired enough.

Evan and Jason still weren’t done and started yelling at each other from across the room, making Shaylynn who was sitting down slap the table and yell for both of them to stop. “You both are making a scene, and you both are clearly old enough to know it’s too late in the night for that.” Shaylynn was tired and furious, being the only person who could command a room since she was the head of the house since their parents passed.

“Can’t you see how tiring this is? I can’t do this anymore. All of you need to know, even if it means for me to break my promise to Mom and Dad.” Shaylynn’s face turned from fury to tears. She never realized one day she had to tell them, but she had no choice.