Chapter 9

June 10, 2018

Ronnie decided to, in her days laying in bed recovering, to gather more information about the unsolved Benjamin Marcos case. The only problem was most of the newspapers were either in the pile that fell with her or still in the attic, and she knew if she asked Jayson or her grandma to grab those papers, it would bring some suspicion to what she was doing. Ronnie spent her time idly reading mystery novels that were on her bookcase and coming up with a better gameplan to retrieve the papers.

One evening while Ronnie was munching down on some chips, the doorbell rang. The sound echoed throughout the entire house before weighing down on Ronnie's shoulders. She placed the bowl of chips nearby on a deskside table and reached for the crunches that were leaning against the wall nearby, anchoring them under her armpits. Hobbling, she made to the bedroom window and saw that Natalie was standing at the door, carrying a large cardboard box in her hands.

"Why does she have that?" Ronnie asked aloud. As she continued to stare, her grandma opened the front door and greeted Natalie. Their conversation was faint from downstairs and she could hear her grandma give an extended version of why Ronnie wasn't out and about in town. She sighed, annoyed with the tale. Her grandma, known as the town gossip, spread the accident like thin jam on toast. Strangers and family friends would come by the house to drop off assorted treats and get well soon baskets with atrocious stuffed animals and perfumey soaps.

Ronnie hobbled back to her bed, resting the crutches on the same wall. She could hear Natalie's soft footsteps coming up the carpeted staircases. Ronnie slid under the covers of the bed, wincing slightly at the light bruising that was still forming on the back of her legs. As she was settling in, the bedroom door opened and Natalie stepped through. "Hey, Ronnie."

Ronnie croaked, "Hey, Natalie. What's in that box?"

Natalie closed the bedroom door and set the box on the bed. "It's full of some things that may or may not interest you. My mom found them when cleaning in the attic." She untucked the box lids and slid it towards Ronnie.

Moving up on her pillows, Ronnie peeked inside of the box and silently gasped. Newspapers, a few books, and an old photograph were all placed neatly. She grabbed at the different items and then placed them to the side of her. Natalie watched from afar at the childlike glee her best friend had when unpacking the box.

"How did you get all of these?" Ronnie asked, stopping for a moment to glance up.

Natalie shrugged. "My mom believes we had a family friend that was linked to the Marcos case and they gathered it as if they were to solve it."

Ronnie blinked for a moment. "Marcos? Isn't your last name Marcos?"

Natalie opened and closed her mouth for a moment before forming her lips into a line. "Does that mean-"

Ronnie's eyes widen as she looked back down at the box. I'm in possession of the person who was killed. I'm one step closer to figuring out who killed Benjamin Marcos from a possible family member, Ronnie thought to herself.

"I don't like this expression you have on your face, Ronnie," Natalie quipped, crossing her arms. "But I do know that since I'm most likely connected to this guy, I'm going to have to help you solve it."

Ronnie rolled her eyes and smiled. "What if you weren't related to this guy? Would you still help me?"

"Not as much."

They shared a brief laugh before digging more into this box. Ronnie went on about her evidence that she acquired, ranting about how careless her grandma was about putting it away.

"Why do you think your grandma has all of this stuff?" Natalie asked, now laying sideways on the foot of the bed.

Ronnie was sitting up now, carefully taking the last of the items out of the box and placing them on the bed. "I'm forming this theory that she knew Benjamin Marcos as a friend and wanted to keep the newspapers and what-have-yous as some sort of memory, I guess."

Natalie hummed, picking up a photograph. It was of Benjamin with a guy who looked to be wearing a black suit and sporting a shady haircut. "Do you ever think about what it was like to live back then?"

Ronnie shrugged, looking up. "Sometimes. I wouldn't travel to that time period, but from what I've read and seen, it's a pretty nice era."

"Yeah," Natalie said, placing the image back in the box. "Aside from the murder rates in bigger cities, I think it'd be a nice era to live in." She then looked at Ronnie's clock that was next to her bed. She then gasped and rolled out of bed, moving onto Ronnie's legs. This earned a sudden yelp as Ronnie reached down and held her leg. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes as she glared up at her friend.

"Sorry, Ronnie. I have to go. My mom told me to home at 6 and it is almost 6:30," Natalie said as she neared the bedroom door. "We can do more of this tomorrow if you want?"

Ronnie nodded with a pained smile on her face. Natalie returned the smile and left the room, closing the door behind her. Ronnie yawned, reaching for all the emptied things that came out of the box. She grabbed a clipping that was cut out from the rest of the newspaper and began reading the words:

"In the late hours of the night, the murder of Benjamin Marcos was left up in the air. Cops and gentleman alike were discovering, with best intentions, of why this man died. Clues were gone like vapor into the air and created tension through the investigation. A week later or so, Fredrick Damon, a close friend of Benjamin Marcos, is discovered dead inside of his smoked car. Some speculate this was a sign of protest. Others formulate this was a suicide, to cope with his friend's death. And a few are considering a chance of-"

The rest of the article was faded out by years of wear. She set it back inside of the box, along with the rest of the items. The evening sun slid down behind the trees, casting a golden hue across her bed and room. She laid in bed for a moment, after placing the box by her bed, and stared at the ceiling. There was a lot that she knew and Ronnie began to think more into what to expect if she really dug deeper into the case. The thoughts continued to waver into nothingness as Ronnie fell asleep.