Yay I surpassed 100 followers!! Thank you so much to everyone!!! That is incredible. I did a 100 follower story thing that was super fun and I loved to get to know all of you as well as you guys asking some great questions. And thank you for being so supportive and kind about my face reveal. I do get self-conscious sometimes and you were all so sweet! :)

Interestingly, the last chapter got 15 votes whereas the chapter before got 28 votes. Chapter 19 had about a 53.2% decrease in votes from chapter 18, whereas the story overall averages about 27 votes (excluding a few outliers) per chapter. It's something to think about, whether it's my story, writing, chance, decrease in viewership, plotline, availability, update time etc... all very statistically interesting. Just for my information (and because I really enjoy stats and physcologically) if you didn't vote last chapter for a reason and you normally do on this story, would you let me know? I won't be mad at all, I'm just wondering for the logic side of it. God school has ruined my brain.

I hope you enjoy chapter 20! Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and like this video and turn on those notifications for each time I update! Hahaha someone said I sounded like a Youtuber in some of my other intro so I've fully adopted it :). Enjoy and stay safe

Curiously, Erica, Mike, Zoe and I all followed Hailey out of the main farmhouse. I could tell that Zoe and Erica were very wary of Hailey, while Mike and I were just plain curious. True, we had just met Hailey and now we were following her to an undisclosed location, but she didn't seem dangerous. However, nor did Audrey and we know how that turned out....

Anyway, she led us to one of the many barns on the property. This one seemed to be in the worst condition of all of them. The walls were peeling paint and looked termite infested. And half of the roof was missing entirely, save for the broken scaffolding. It didn't look too safe to enter. Also, this barn was the farthest away from the main house and was concealed in some shadows from the nearby forest. I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't help to think that this looks like a scene out of an erry horror or murder movie. Nonetheless, I felt safer with Mike, Zoe and especially Erica with me.

Hailey yanked the creaky barn door open. It was dusty and gross inside. The only light that came in was from the missing roof. Wordlessly, she led us over to the corner of the barn. Thankfully, it was more lit over there.

She shoved a hay bale aside. There was a cardboard box that looked freshly put there. Hailey grabbed it and brought it to the center of the barn.

"What is that?" Mike asked curiously.

Hailey reached her hands in and brought out a bunch of stuff. It was random too. It was a wine glass, a salad fork, a regular fork, a spoon, a knife, a napkin, plate and other table items. There was also a wallet, coins and some other junk draw stuff. This just increased my curiosity. Again, my mind went to a dark place. This looks like stuff a serial killer would keep of their victims' stuff. I could tell I was not the only one thinking this. After all these years, I could understand my companions' body language. Erica I knew for sure. Her whole posture shifted into defensive. She was more than suspicious at this point.

Hailey continued to ruffle through the stuff. She touched every item and ran her hands over them for some reason. She then laid them on all on the dusty floorboards. As she laid the glass down, the sunlight streaming in hit her hair, making the blonde streaks glisen. I felt my body heat up. But this was no time for this.

"What is all of this stuff?" Mike asked again.

Hailey sat down on a nearby hay stack. We sat down too. The hay dug into my legs painfully.

"This is my dad's stuff from the night he died," Hailey started. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Erica's eyes widen in surprise. Why was it all here? In the back of this gross barn? And if it was so painfully hidden, why did Hailey show us?

"The night my dad died was one of the worst in my life, my entire family's life. We were there for his last dinner, but we didn't know it. There was so much left unsaid that we wish we could. My oldest sister took it so hard. After mom died, she and dad were like the parents of the family. My oldest sister Diana said the only way for her, and all of us, to move on healthily was to erase all things that reminded us of that night. So this was all the stuff from that night. Dad's plate, his silverware, his wallet, salt and pepper shakers, all that stuff. She wanted me to get rid of it. Get rid of the awful night to only fill our heads with good ones. It made sense, I guess. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't erase that night. As awful as the night was, it was also a critical part of Dad's life. So without telling my family, I hid it here. But maybe you guys will find it helpful."

Erica looked at her for a second, but then examined the items. None of them looked out of the ordinary, except for maybe being a little dirty. We all circled the items. I had no idea what I was looking for. I just followed what Erica was doing to pretend I knew what I was doing. Erica crouched down and examined the silverware and glass more clearly. We all watched her.

"This is actually helpful," Erica said, as she stood up, "Thank you." Hailey nodded.

"Is it okay with you if we send it in for testing?" Erica asked.

Hailey nodded once again, "Of course." Erica miraculously produced a plastic evidence bag out of nowhere. I had a suspicion though that she's been picking up random stuff throughout the farm house for evidence. It was very clear she didn't trust the Dazy's more than she did Joshua.

Erica put all of the items into individual bags. We all helped. Suddenly, a huge bell rang out. It scared the living daylights out of me.

Hailey stopped what she was doing when she heard the bell. She then groaned. "Ugh, it's milking time. I have to go. Feel free to look around and take what you need. Just please don't tell anyone else in my family about this. See you later." With that, she left the barn.

As she was out of earshot, Erica got right down to business, "This is suspicious, don't you think?"

Zoe nodded and Mike just looked confused.

"Think about it. The night Mark dies, Diana wants the evidence gone. Hailey luckily saved it, so that's good. There is a small chance that Diana wanted closure, but that seems quite odd to get rid of all this stuff." Erica said.

"But what about Hailey?" Zoe asked.

"What about Hailey?" I immediately replied and it came out much harsher than I intended.

Zoe gave me a look. "Well she's willing to just let four strangers look at all this evidence from a potential murder. We haven't shown her any ID at all."

"Maybe she's just trusting," Mike suggested, "And if she was up to something, why would she show us all this stuff. We didn't even ask for it. She willingly gave it up. That doesn't seem suspicious to me."

I nodded in agreement. Erica didn't react.

"I think Diana looks suspicious to be honest," I said, "Like you said, it seems suspicious that she would want all this stuff gone."

"But why Diana?" Zoe asked, "Hailey said her Uncle Ed, Mark's brother inherits the farm and most of his money goes to the farm. What's in it for Diana?"

"What about Susan, Mark's running mate for the house member spot?" Mike interjected, "Hailey mentioned her."

Erica rubbed her temples, "There's a lot of suspects right now. And no one brought up Joshua yet. That's why we need to test these things. I'm almost 99% sure that he was poisoned. Because you can't fake a heart attack any other way."

I love how she knows that I thought.

"So we need to find whos DNA, other than ours, Hailey's and Mark's are on this glass.'" Erica continued.

"But how?" Zoe asked, "We aren't a part of the CIA anymore. We don't have access to that kind of technology."

"But we know someone who does," Erica said ominously.

It came to me, "Audrey."

Zoe and Mike looked surprised.

"Oh my god," Mike said, "I haven't thought of Audrey for years!"

"She's in the CIA now? I thought she moved back to her uncle's place." Zoe said.

"She joined the CIA after living at her uncle's for a few years. She's now really big at the CIA. Audrey gives a lot of important information regarding her experience with evil organizations. Plus they're now sending her all around the world for these dangerous missions and assassinations." Erica smiled, looking a little bit proud.

Zoe looked a big shocked and horrified, "Audrey does assassinations?! She does not look like someone who does that kind of stuff. Her skinny physique and blonde hair does not look like assassin material. Oh my god."

"And that's exactly why she does them," Erica grinned, "The point is that Audrey has access to a bunch of CIA technology, no questions asked. We can get her to help us run some tests." She pulled out her phone from her pocket. The newest phone that hasn't even come out yet. Of course. The iPhone IX, with six cameras.

"Call Audrey," she handed me her phone, "Speed dial four. Make sure her line is secure before you start talking about it. It's technically illegal for her to use CIA technology for personal intentions."

I grabbed the phone and went to the corner of the barn for a bit of privacy. I pressed down on four and put the phone on my ear.

She picked up on the third ring, "Erica?" Audrey asked.

"No, Ben," I replied.

"Ben? Why do you have Erica's phone?" She sounded a bit suspicious.

"She gave it to me, I promise. I did find her with your instruction. Thanks for that."

"Of course," she said, "Why are you calling me though?"

"Are you busy?" I asked.

"No, not really. I'm just wrapping some things up. Why?"

"Is your line secure?"

"Always," she said this like it was a no-brainer, "Erica's is too. I helped her install some chip that makes it secure wherever she is. What's going on? Is everything okay?"

So I quickly got her up to date with what we know now. I talked about how we were at Mark's farm right now. I told her the situation.

After I explained it to her, I asked her what I needed to, "Audrey, we need tests on these materials. A water glass, some silverware and a plate. Erica said to ask you."

"Hmm.." she said, thinking, "What would you be looking for?"

"Poison, or anything else like that. Something that could cause death if consumed."

"So you're asking me if I could help you with a poison test?" Audrey said slowly. It didn't seem like she was completely on board.

"Yes, with the technology at your um... office." I said vaguely. I know she knew what I meant.

"You know that's illegal, right?" she asked playfully, but with a mischievous spark.

"Well..." I said ominously with a smile.

She laughed, "Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Erica will know where to send the stuff. And just for my information while we're testing, who's prints or DNA should be on the stuff? Like who did you see or know touched it?"

"Well..." I thought, "Erica touched it. Zoe, Mike and I did too."

"Zoe and Mike are there?" Audrey interrupted, "God, I haven't talked to them in years! How are they doing?"

"Well, aside from Zoe's abusive husband leaving and threatening her and their children and Mike being a total crackhead, pretty good."

Audrey paused for a second, "Hold on, what now?"

"Anyway! The victums' daughter Hailey Dazy also touched it. There might be some others that I'm not sure of. But we're mainly wondering if Joshua's DNA is on it."

"Joshua?" She exhaled, "Alright, I'll take a look and get back to you. I'm guessing I can have the tests done by tomorrow."

"Thank you Audrey," I said in great relief.

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else. And don't let anyone else know about this. I could lose my job. And say hi to Zoe, Mike and Erica for me." With that, she hung up.

When I got back to the group, Hailey was back. She also smelled of cow manure, which wasn't too pleasant to be around. The three o'clock milking was over. And being a New Yorker, she didn't seem too happy about it either.

"Ben, you're back. Hailey was just filling us in on what happened after Mark's death." Zoe gestured me over.

"As a family, we decided to have Dad cremated. Then we were going to spread his ashes in his favorite childhood stream. I don't think it has happened yet. Surprisingly, there's quite a demand at the Boulder Nevada Crematory Facility so he's not due to be cremated until next month."

"Wait, you didn't want to do an autopsy?" Erica asked, like this was a shocking thing. We all kinda looked at her weirdly.

"No... I kinda wanted to because I suspected foul play but the rest of my family didn't want that. We didn't want a stranger cutting Dad open anyways. Everyone was like, 'He's dead anyway. Doing an autopsy wouldn't change that' and so we decided against it."

"It would be easier to know what happened to him if they did an autopsy," Erica informed her, "You could know if it really was a heart condition and if so, what is it. As a family, you should know what conditions are in your family to plan just in case. And if it is foul play, you can get justice."

Hailey shrugged, "It's too late."

"Where is the body?" Erica asked, like it was a normal thing to ask.

Our heads swung towards her in disgust and curiosity.

"Um... in the Boulder morgue... don't tell me-" Hailey was cut off by Erica.

"Yes. We should go there to investigate." Erica said, "Seeing the body could help me identify on the outside if there was anything suspicious."

"No!" Mike said firmly, "Uh-no. Dead bodies freak me out. No way." Zoe looked like she wanted to agree, but also seemed like she didn't want to seem weak.

Which was exactly how Erica treated Mike, "You're such a baby. They're dead already. A living person could do more harm to you than a dead one."

"If I'm invited... could I go?" Hailey asked sheepishly.

"Why?" Erica snapped, sounding dubious.

"Well," Hailey took a deep breath, "My father had this ring. It was an old thing, brass simple brand with a simple design on it. It's been in my family for years. Generations. In our haste, we forgot to get it off of him. And I was supposed to inherit it. If we do go see the body, why not grab it?"

Erica didn't seem too happy about this, but shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, I can't stop you. It's a public place," she said curtly.

"Thank you!" Hailey smiled, despite the very cold look Erica was giving her, "Here, I'll show you where you can stay the night!"

We once again followed her back to the farmhouse, an exciting day with dead people planned for tomorrow.

Okay, so I was reading back my writing yesterday because I forgot some details and realized how freakin' LONG some of these chapters are. I'm going to try to limit it under 4,ooo words. I know some people like to read long chapters, but over 4k seemed excessive. I cut this down to only about 2700 words. I hope you enjoyed!! :) Be sure to like and subscribe for more awesome content! XD