"Never wonder would the same pressure ever pull you under..."

With a sigh, Mirabel started down the stairs, finding her search unsuccessful.

"Mirabel!" Camilo's voice came from the direction of Peppa's room. Bucket full of water hanging in his hands, he ran best he could to catch up with her. She was halfway down the stairs when he came to meet her. His shoes squeaked against the woods as he neatly fell forward, which would've dumped water all over her. The Casita caught him before the disaster happened. "Mira! Hey!"

Mirabel rolled her eyes at her cousin. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she moved to the stone walls. Her hand ran along it as she traced the perimeter. She had been spending the past hour searching for some secret trap door or hole, whatever Doloris meant by "hiding things in the wall." Her patience was spreading thin and Camilo wasn't helping. As she stepped, she did her best to ignore him, gaze fixed on the wall.

Camilo peered over her shoulder, still keeping his back slouched. "What are you doing?" When she didn't answer, he nudged her with his elbow.

"Checking for any evidence since according to your parents, I get only two days to prove my innocence. I don't get to take a minute to mourn." She was still upset at him for his comment earlier, and combined with the mess of the day, she wasn't in a great mood. She glanced back at him, questioning the bucket. "What are you doing?"

"With, well, you know-" He scrunched his shoulders, frowning. "My mama's room was starting to flood, so papa and I are helping control the mess." Shifting the bucket to one arm, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Mira, I just wanted to sorry about this morning. I didn't think you actually killed Abuela. But I hope you find out who did." Camilo shot her an awkward smile.

She paused her steps, staring at him. "What is wrong with you?"

"What?"

"Our grandmother died and you just smile and make jokes! Someone in our family is a murderer! Don't you understand?" She threw her arms out, growing frustrated.

He flinched at her words, nearly spilling the weighty bucket. His smile wavered, finally falling into a frown. "I do." Tears tugged at his eyes. "I'm just not use to grief, so I'm not quite sure how to process it. I'm supposed to be the fun guy, but..." His voice broke off as he turned away. "I don't really know what to do right now."

Mirabel loosened her stance. Camilo avoided eye contact with her. The house echoed with silence. Rubbing her arm, she tried a comforting smile. "I don't really know what to do either." Taking the bucket from him, she drew his attention. "Maybe if we work together, we can figure this out."

"Really?" With a small smile, he perked up some. "Sure. What do you have so far?"

"...Nothing?" She quirked her lips, unsure. "Your sister told me to check the walls, but so far I haven't exactly figured out what that means."

"Oh yeah, she's weird." Shrugging, Camilo marched on. He glanced up, staring over the bottom of the balcony. "Have you checked the scene of the crime yet?"

Catching up with him, Mirabel smacked her palm to her forehead. "How did I not think of that?"

"And that's why you'd never make it as a detective." Camilo shot her a finger gun.

Soon, the pair found themselves at the same place they had stood that morning. All clean up was done. Abuela's body had been taken in preparation for the funeral and no bloody spots remained.

"Aw, come on." Camilo's arms sagged.

Mirabel paced the area, searching for any clues. "Blood stains... How did they get this cleaned up so fast?"

In response, Casita flipped its tiles, revealing the backside to have been the front side earlier. Red spots marked it, along with glass and dirt.

Tilting her head, Mirabel smiled at the house. "Oh. Thank you, Casita." Picking up her dress into her lap, she knelt down for a closer look. She set the bucket down. "Definitely a bit of broken pottery, like Doloris said. And... dirt. A flower pot."

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Camilo turned up to the balcony railing. "From up there."

After getting to her full height, she stepped back to follow his gaze. One of the flower pots was missing. As she turned back to the crime scene, she noticed that though bits of the pot remained, the majority and big chunks had disappeared. She didn't recall seeing them earlier either. "Huh."

"I can only think of two people who could move one of those pots."

"What? Who?" Mirabel found her heart quickened. Though she wanted to find the culprit as soon as possible, she wasn't ready. The sooner she caught them, the sooner she had to turn on her family.

"Luisa-" Camilo shifted into Mirabel's older sister, flexing a muscle. "-and Señorita Isabella." He shrunk into the darker girl, waving his hand dramatically.

"What? No, they wouldn't!"

He sprung back into his normal self, frowning. "Sorry Mira, but Luisa's got super strength and Isa could've used her plants to do it."

"As much as she drives me crazy, Isabella's too perfect to do something like this. And Luisa is Luisa! She's too sweet!"

Crossing his arms, Camilo raised an eyebrow at her. "Right now everyone is going to seem innocent. But unless you want the blame on you, you've got to start being suspicious of everyone."

Readjusting her glasses, Mirabel took a step back. Hands clutched to her bag, she looked him up and down. "How do I know you didn't do it then?"

"Fair." Camilo shot her a deadpan look. His eyes lit up with an idea. "Wait, what if it wasn't someone in the house?"

The house creak curiously while Mirabel gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You know Tio Bruno?" He wiggles his fingers dramatically, stepping forward. "Rumor has it, his ghost roams around the Casita to this very day."

Mirabel shoved her hand into his face. "Yeah, I'm ruling that idea out right now." She stepped past him. "If we must, let's just go ask my sisters if anything's up so we can move on to a more likely suspect."

He followed after her as she made her way back up the stairs. "And who would that be?"

Mirabel bit down on her lip, refusing to answer. She caught sight of Luisa stepping across the top balcony. She seemed searching for something.  "Hey, look, there's Luisa now!" Flashing her cousin a grin, Mirabel gestured to her sister. Camilo rolled his eyes at the avoidance of the question.

"Luisa! Hey!" Mirabel waved to the older girl, who jumped in surprise.

"Mirabel. Camilo. Hi." Luisa gave a curt wave at them. She held that same reassuring smile she had all her life. Just looking at it took a little bit of weight off Mirabel.

"So, I was wondering..." She knitted her hands together, unsure of how to word the question. "You know, the whole situation with Abuela, I was looking over the evidence, and Camilo and I were talking, and- And I totally think you're amazing and wonderful and I love you, so don't take this the wrong way-"

"Yo, did you kill Abuela?" Camilo cut in. Mirabel face palmed.

Luisa put her hands up defensively. "I know why it might look like that, but I didn't, I promise," she let out in one quick breath. "I didn't lift the pot."

Mirabel was taken back at the quick answer. "Wait, how did you know about the pot?" Her heart stopped. Was it really Luisa? Mirabel didn't know if she could believe that.

"No reason!" Stiffening, Luisa held her breath, eye twitching.

Mirabel paced around her sister, suspicious. "What are you hiding, Luisa?"

"Nothing!"

"Your eye is twitching. I think you do know something." Mirabel landed in front of Luisa, standing on her tip toes. She narrowed her eyes, watching Luisa for a sign. Luisa's eye twitched again. "What do you know?" Mirabel whispered menacingly.

"Fine!" Luisa let out her breath, stepping back. "I... have been investigating the murder myself."

Camilo frowned. "That's not quite as earth shattering as I thought."

"I just didn't want you to have to do it alone. I'm your older sister, and I'm supposed to protect you. There's no way you killed her. Let me take care of it. I'll figure out who really did it." Luisa rubbed the back of her neck, giving a half smile.

"Luisa..." Mirabel stared up at her sister. She really was the best sister in the world. Smiling warmly, Mirabel caught her in a hug. "Thank you, but the pressure shouldn't all be on you either." There was no way it could be Luisa. Which only left one other possible person.

Ruffling Mirabel's hair, Luisa shook her head. "No, you shouldn't have to go through this at all. You should be able to go mourn and comfort the rest of the family. I'll take care of it."

"You should take care of yourself too!" Mirabel stared up with pleading eyes. "I know you're trying to seem fine for the family but it's okay. It's okay to cry. We've all had a sad day."

Luisa's eyes watered, but she swiftly wiped them away. She pushed away from Mirabel, trying to hide her emotions. "No. I've almost got this mystery solved anyways."

Mirabel eyed her curiously. "Really? What have you found?"

"Well, I think there's secret passageways in the walls. I keep hearing something back there."

"The walls!" Mirabel pressed her ear again the nearest one. "Dolores wasn't crazy!" She slid along to a painting on the wall.

"Maybe it's Bruno's ghost." Camilo leaned against the balcony railing, picking at his teeth.

Mirabel ignored him, focused on the painting. She gave it a quick tug. It barely budged. "Luisa, some help?"

"On it!" Digging her fingernails under it, Luisa tugged. After a moment, it gave a pop. The picture flew open on a hinge, revealing a secret tunnel.

"Ha! Secret passage! Time to catch a murderer." Gripping her bag, Mirabel started her climb in.

"Wait, shouldn't you be a little bit cautious about jumping head first into the dark room with the murder ghost?" Camilo stepped forward, hesitant.

"Please, I'm not going headfirst-"

The painting door swung back, knocking her forward.

She fell into the darkness, headfirst.

Not gonna lie, this fic is starting to grow on me, but don't tell anyone.