The Three Street Detectives

“I have proof there’s murderers in the forest,” Ashley announced suddenly.

Two sets of eyes slowly ratcheted toward her, as if the girls’ heads were poorly programmed animatronics. Ashley chuckled at the thought.

“Uh, that's not funny–” Laura started.

“Oh! That's not why I'm… Never mind.”

“Ugh. For the last time, Ashley, there’s no murderers in the forest!” exclaimed Holly, shaking a magazine in exasperation.

“Y-yeah,” added Laura.

One side of Ashley’s mouth curled up slightly. Holly recognized the subtle cue and rolled her eyes, sighed, and went back to flipping through her copy of "Highlights". Laura is too easy…she thought.

“I found a knife,” said Ashley, pausing for effect.

“What kind of knife?” asked Laura, leaning in. Holly marked the page she was reading and glanced up through her eyebrows, pretending not to listen.

“A big one,” Ashley answered, holding her fingers about shoulder-width apart for emphasis. “And…it was covered in blood!”

Laura fell backward.

“Ha! There’s no way,” Holly guffawed. Ashley was always making up stories. They had found stuff in the forest that didn’t belong there: clothes, shoes, and even a tarp. Someone was definitely living there. “Do you really think our parents would let us wander around if there was a murderer on the loose?” she challenged, putting down the magazine. “And how do you know it’s blood, anyway. Probly it’s just a rusty blade.”

Ashley harumphed, focusing her attention on Laura. “It’s also covered in…barnacles.”

Holly and Laura shared a confused look.

“What’s…barnacles?” Laura finally asked.

“Oh, Laura, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one! It’s stuff that grows out of blood, silly,” Ashley stated, matter-of-fact.

Both girls scooched in a little closer, intrigued by this new piece of information. Their houses, located on a quiet suburban street, backed onto a forested area where neighbourhood kids often played. They even had a fort out there. And they did find stuff on their walks. Stuff that people obviously left behind. And what if those people came back? Murderers in the forest would be a big deal.

“Where is it?” Holly asked, suddenly snapping back to reality.

“Where is what?” Ashley countered.

“The knife.”

“It’s in the forest. Duh.”

Holly’s face changed, scrunched up in disbelief.

“I’ll show you!” Ashley offered, defensively. “Unless you’re too chicken, that is.” Lips pursed and nostrils flaring, a smug look transformed her face as she crossed her arms.

“What if there really is a murderer?” whispered Laura.

“There’s no murderer,” offered Holly, confidently. It would be on the news, right?

“Like I said, if you’re too chicken, we can just stay put,” said Ashley.

“No,” Holly replied firmly. “Let’s go. I bet there’s nothing out there.”

“Great,” Ashley beamed. “Let’s go.”

“Now?” Laura asked.

Nobody moved for a minute.

Then Ashley suggested, “We’ll make an entry in our evidence log! That way, if something does happen, my mom and dad will know where we went.”

Laura’s eyes opened wider. "If something does happen"?

Ashley grabbed a notebook from the shelf labeled “The Three Street Detectives” and flipped through until she found an empty page. The last entry was printed neatly:

Date: August 13, 1992

Fownd a camp site in the treez.

Way of the path.

It stunk like pee and emtee beer botles.

She scribbled something about a bloody knife and closed the notebook with a SNAP!

Laura jumped and Holly just shook her head. Ashley’s eyes twinkled in anticipation.

It was a short walk to the forest. They walked to Holly’s yard, four houses down. There was a gate that opened directly onto a well used path to the forest behind. The trees were mostly deciduous varieties, like mountain ash and poplar, with a few evergreens interspersed. Holly sometimes felt like the tall branches arching over could pluck you up and whisk you away, like the scary trees in Snow White. But that’s just a movie.

“This way,” Ashley pointed, in her usual self-assured tone. “I saw it over here.”

“Why didn’t you grab it?” Holly asked.

Ashley stopped. “Are you kidding me? If it’s a murder weapon, I don’t want to touch it!”

More like it doesn't exist. “Are we sure we want to do this?” Laura squeaked.

“It’s fine, Laura. We’ll be real quiet. And we can always run home if we need,” Ashley said, grinning like The Joker. She led them far enough down the path that they couldn’t see Holly’s house any more. The path began to wind and then they hit a fork in the road.

“Which way?” challenged Holly.

“This way,” said Ashley. They went to the left and hit a dead end. “Ok, maybe it was this other way…” They turned around and followed the other path. After walking for what felt like forever, finally Ashley stopped.

“Where is it?” Holly challenged again. Told you so.

“It’s. Here...somewhere,” Ashley replied, scanning the fallen leaves and twigs. “Yeah, there!” she exclaimed, pointing at a hollow stump.

Tentatively, the girls inched toward the hollow. They leaned in for a better look, as if an invisible barrier prevented them from stepping any closer. Peering carefully…

Laura suddenly stumbled forward. Holly and Ashley both jumped. “Geez, you scared me!” Ashley admitted. The commotion blew away some of the leaves to reveal a completely empty space.

“See? There’s no knife,” Holly observed, waving a hand at the empty space. Thank goodness.

“There is too! I saw it yesterday!” Ashley countered. “Oh, right. It’s actually just a bit farther up,” she added and took off with purpose.

Sure there is… thought Holly. She’s going to walk us around in circles and then say “someone must have taken it” when we don’t find anything. Typical Ashley.

The girls trudged on, scanning the trees for motion. Magpies cawing in the treetops reminded Holly of the Goosebumps stories she was fond of reading. She started wondering what else might be hiding in the trees…

“You know, Ashley, I don’t think barnacles are what you think,” Holly suddenly stated, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t they those rock things that grow on the sides of boats?”

Ashley stopped, pivoted toward Holly, and opened her mouth to give Holly a piece of her mind.

Then she screamed.

Sticking out of a tree, just behind Holly, was a chef’s knife. The blade was covered in a sticky red brown residue. And it was covered in barnacles.