Grandma James lies on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor. Her soft blue eyes fluttered as she saw a young man walking out the back door. A toolbox was in his left hand, and her beloved pearl necklace was in his right. She stood up, placing her hand on the tiles, but collapsed to the floor instantly. Her eyes shut, and her body turned pale as the door slammed, her body lying there no longer moving.   

Leo woke up on his small air mattress. The loud air conditioner was blaring to the left of his bed, and a small desk with stacks of books to his right. He walked to his window and overlooked acres of freshly planted fields. He ran down the rickety old stairs into the run-down kitchen with dirty dishes everywhere. The screen door flung open, his dad stomping in with his dirty boots and a red flannel. 

“Howdy, son,” He blared in a loud tone.

“Good morning, Father,” Leo replied. His dad had just finished feeding the cows and cleaning the barn. His dad was a tall, scrawny man with a thin mustache covering his upper lip and a receding hairline hiding under his blue hat. 

“I’m going to Tom's house today,” Leo said softly. 

“Alright, make sure to stop at your grandma's on the way back,” His dad mentioned. Tom was Leo's best friend since grade school. He lived right down the street from Leo, and they spent plenty of time with each other during the summer. Tom was playing basketball in the front yard when Leo arrived. 

“It’s about time you show up,” Tom jokingly announced. 

“Shut up,” Leo replied with a bright smile. Tom was a tiny kid with long blonde hair. Tom walked into the house with Leo tight behind. A bright candle shone in the middle of the kitchen, letting out a pleasant smell. Tom led Leo to the dark basement, where there was a PS2 hooked up to a sizeable boxy TV. The two boys played Call of Duty until late afternoon. 

“I ought’ to start heading out now,” Leo said, “I gotta stop at my grandma's on my way home.” 

“I'll join you,” Tom said. They hopped on their bikes and rode past Leo’s house. They rode a little longer until they reached Grandma James’s house. Leo knocked on the bright yellow door loud enough that his grandmother could hear him. No answer. 

“Grandma, are you in there?” Leo yelled. Still no answer. Leo reached under the welcome mat to grab the tiny hidden key. He unlocked the door to see his grandmother lying in the kitchen. Leo ran up to her limp body to feel her pulse. There was nothing. Tom stood by the open door with his mouth open, the cold wind pushing against his back. 

“No, no, no, no!” Leo cried. He scrambled for his flip phone in his back pocket, whipped it out, and dialed 9-1-1 quickly. A young lady answered, “Hello, this is 9-1-1; what’s your emergency?” she said. 

“My grandma has no pulse,” Leo shot back at her. 

“Ok, relax, I will be sending an ambulance,” the lady said calmly, “What's your address?” 

“It's 108 New Oak Drive,” Leo answered, fear still lingering in his voice. The ambulance and two cop cars came scorching into the driveway five minutes later. 

“Where is she?” the ambulance driver asked with urgency. Leo led the medic into the house, tears streaming down his face like a tiny river. The two medics put her on a stretcher and put an IV in her left arm. They ran her out to the ambulance, lights still blaring. The ambulance doors slammed shut, and it left in a hurry, flying down the small road. The two cops stayed behind to talk to the boys. 

“Tell me everything you saw,” said the older cop with a bushy beard and bald head. 

“I don’t know. Tom and I walked in, and she was lying on the floor,” Leo explained. 

“Well, from what I saw in there, it looks like a normal death to me,” the younger officer replied. 

“No way, she was a healthy woman; she wouldn’t have just died!” Leo yelled back at him.

“Well, I ain’t an expert. If you want one, you’ll have to find your own,” The officer said. The officers got in their police car without saying another word and slowly backed out of the driveway. As the officers left, a heavy rain began, leaving Leo and Cam drenched in silence. 

The following day, Leo arose from his bed before sunrise and ran down the stairs. He went to the garage to grab his bike, covered in a thick layer of mud. The street was dark. The only source of light came from the street lights lined up the road. He quickly made his way to Grandma James’s house. It looked dead. No lights. No movement, nothing. Leo walked in the unlocked front door and sat on the stiff couch. Last night, he texted Tom and Cam to meet him at his grandma’s house at sunrise. Cam was another one of Leo and Tom’s friends. He lived on the south side of town. Cam’s dad owns the family restaurant in town. Cam and Tom strolled into the driveway together a little before sunrise. They walked in the front door, where Leo anxiously awaited them. 

“Guys, I don't think my grandma would have just died like that. There's something we’re missing,” Leo blurted with a puzzled face.

“What, you think she was killed?” Cam questioned. Cam was a small kid with a large stomach and brown hair falling past his ears.

“It’s possible,” Leo started, “I was here all last night, and it felt a little off. Her back 

door was wide open. She never uses her back door.” 

“Still not believing it,” Cam replied. 

“Believe what you want, Cam. If you don’t want to help, leave!” Leo yelled. 

“I’ll stay, but we better get to work,” Cam said. The entire first week was not a success, for the only leads they had were a plastic cup and a wrench found in the basement near the stairs. Leo was starting to lose hope and wondering if his hypothesis was correct. 

Leo woke up the next morning and rode down to his grandma's right at the crack of dawn. The hot rays of the sun were beaming on his pale skin. Tom and Cam were away on vacation this week, so Leo was alone. The morning was slow. Leo had found nothing of importance. Until he found a tiny card hiding in the cabinet under the sink. Leo flipped it over and read, “Eagle Plumbing, the plumbing you can trust,” with a picture of a young man with long blonde hair on the card.

“That's it. That's why there was no forced entry. It was a plumber. That would explain the wrench in the basement!” Leo gasped. He waited the rest of the week for Tom and Cam to return so he could tell them the news. 

Tom and Cam returned a couple of days later, and Leo ordered them all to meet at the fort they had built behind Leo’s house. Leo was there waiting when Tom and Cam arrived. 

“Guys, I got it!” Leo said excitedly. 

“You know who did it?” Cam asked. 

“Not exactly,” Leo started, “All I know is that he’s a plumber.”

“And how do you know that? ” Tom questioned. 

“I put it all together, and it makes sense. Do you remember the wrench in the basement?” Leo asked. 

“Yeah,” Tom and Cam answered. 

“The plumber must have dropped it when he went downstairs. The plumber must have poisoned the cup on the counter, and that's how she died,” Leo explained. 

“How do you know it was a plumber?” Cam asked. 

“I found a business card under the sink for Eagle Plumbing, which is in town,” explained Leo. 

“So now we just need to figure out what plumber did it,” added Tom. 

“We can do some research on my computer at my house. They’ve got to have a website,” Cam explained. 

The boys rode across town to Cam's house. He lived in a massive two-story house atop a huge hill with beautiful stone steps leading to the sidewalk. They reached the front door and walked into an elegant staircase with a massive chandelier hanging from the tall ceiling. They entered Mr. Johnson’s office, which had a computer on a wooden desk. Cam logged in to the computer and went to the Eagle Plumbing website. On the website, they had four plumbers: Eli Newton, Wendall Stevens, Earl Clark, and Carl Rogers. 

“That's him,” Leo said with a grin, “Carl Rogers looks exactly like the picture on the card. The Brownsville fair is tomorrow; we’ll find him there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tom excitedly stated. 

Carl Rogers sat in his dark, cold basement with his head against the small wooden table. His toolbox lay in front of him. He opened the toolbox to reveal a bottle of rat poison and a long pearl necklace. He slid the rat poison into his back pocket and walked up the stairs to his kitchen. His family sat there eating dinner, chicken, and mashed potatoes. He had two children, both boys, one nine and the other seven. He told them goodnight and went to his bedroom, where he went to bed. 

Leo opened his eyes, and he could hear the sizzle of bacon and the fresh smell of French toast. He walked down the stairs, where he saw his dad standing at the stove top, flipping a piece of cinnamon swirl French toast. 

“Good morning, Dad,” Leo said energetically. 

“Good morning, son,” His Dad replied. 

Leo sat at the kitchen table where a stack of French toast waited. He covered the french toast with his homemade maple syrup that he had made from the maple trees in his backyard. Leo finished the stack quickly and sneaked out the back door so his father wouldn’t question him. He had still not told his father about the investigation he and his friends were conducting. Leo ran into the heavy forest, taking precise turns. He had known these woods since he was a child. He turned into a small opening where their fort was. Leo was all alone, him and nature. He stared at the giant oak tree at the center of their fort and enjoyed the silence. 

Tom arrived at the fort around noon with Cam shortly behind him. The Brownsville fair started at three, and the boys hoped to catch Carl Rogers. The boys went to the fairgrounds around 4 o’clock. It was a long and gruesome bike ride as the fair was on top of the highest hill in Brownsville. In the winter, the hill is a sledding and snowboarding hill, but now, without snow, it is just a tall and mucky hill with dead grass stretching from top to bottom. They made it to the top with red, puffy cheeks. The boys all bent over, gasping for air. They made it to the gate, where a small boy a little younger than them stood handing out tickets. The boys all paid their three dollars and walked in, where bright flashing lights filled their eyes. Leo stood there with his mouth wide open, glaring at the many food trucks lined up and down the gravel road. They approached a truck with hotdogs and burgers displayed on the side. Leo ordered a burger and fries, and the other two boys got a funnel cake. After the gut-wrenching meal, Cam and Tom had to use the bathroom. 

“ Hurry up, don't want to miss anything,” Leo mentioned. 

“Alright,” Tom and Cam said together. 

Tom and Cam entered the musty bathroom with minimal light leaking through the windows. The singular light was flickering with dirty paper towels scattered across the floor. The only stall was occupied, so Tom and Cam had to wait patiently. Five minutes passed when a young man with long blonde hair walked out of the stall. Tom looked up and locked eyes with the young man. 

“It’s him,” Tom cried, “It’s Carl Rogers!” 

Cam reached out his arms to grab him, but his hands slipped off of his slick shirt. Carl shoved Cam out of the way and ran to the door.

Carl shot out of the bathroom door and took a hard left down the gravel road. He took a right by the Ferris wheel and ran past two children, nearly hitting one. He stopped near the edge of the steep hill. He saw the pointy rocks waiting for him below. He turned around to see the three boys waiting for him. He looked at the boys with evil glaring in his eyes. 

“You don’t have to do this, Mr. Rogers,” Leo calmly stated, “You have a family. Please think about your children.” 

“I would rather be dead than in jail,” Mr. Rogers snapped at Leo. He then took a giant step back. His body uncontrollably flew through the air. Leo ran to the side of the cliff to see Carl Roger's body lying on the ground. Two paramedics rushed to Mr. Rogers's side and waved their arms. Leo's eyes filled with tears as he observed from above.

Leo knelt next to a large gray stone with a shiny outline. The stone read ‘Abby James 1945-2005’. Leo placed a handful of bright red and pink flowers at the base of the stone. He touched the stone with his sweaty palm. 

“I’ll miss you, grandma.  Love you,” he whispered.