Book 5: Chapter 24
Book 5: Chapter 24
After leaving Lulu’s cave, Ramon went to Leo’s cavern. He knocked on the entrance before waddling inside. “Uncle Leo, I’m here to ask you a few questions.”
Leo frowned and stroked his chin with his claw. In front of him, there was a chessboard. On the other side of the chessboard, Luke was sitting in a manner mirroring his brother. “Give us a moment,” Leo said. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
Ramon nodded and moved to the side. He sat down in front of the wall and waited. Then, he waited some more. And then some more. Finally, Leo picked up a chess piece and moved it one space forward. Ramon cleared his throat. “I have some questions to ask the two of you.”
“Didn’t we say give us a moment?” Luke asked. His brow furrowed, and his claws created ringing sounds as he scratched the scales underneath his chin. “What did Grandma tell you about being patient?”
Ramon frowned. “Holy dragons are supposed to be patient,” he said, reciting what Kondra had told him. “Oftentimes, we’re only looked for by people when they’re in pain. When they’re in pain, they’re confusing and can’t articulate themselves well, so we have to be patient and understanding to ease their frustration.”
“Great,” Luke said. “You remembered it. Good job. Now be patient, will you?”
“How long do I—”
“Shush! Zip it!” Leo said, gesturing at Ramon with one claw. “Wait until our game is over.”
Ramon’s frown deepened. He glanced at his slate and read through the notes he took earlier. There wasn’t enough information to pinpoint the culprit yet. After he finished reorganizing his thoughts, Ramon raised his head. The two brothers were still sitting in the same positions, and as far as Ramon could tell, the positions of the chess pieces hadn’t changed at all. He picked himself up and left the cave, heading back to Lulu’s room.
“Oh? Back already?” Lulu asked and raised an eyebrow. “How was it? Did you figure out who poisoned Alfonse?”
Ramon shook his head. “I was going to ask Uncle Leo and Uncle Luke some questions, but they were playing their game,” he said. “How long does it take for their game to finish?”
Lulu scratched her head. “It usually takes them an hour or two to make a move,” she said. “I don’t really keep track, but it’s not uncommon to see them playing the same game for over three months at a time when you include the time they spend sleeping and eating moonlight.”
Ramon’s jaw dropped open. “Three months? Do they do anything else?”
Lulu shrugged. “Not really. They’re homebodies.” Lulu paused and furrowed her brow. “Well, Luke found himself a girlfriend recently, so maybe he’ll play games less now; I don’t really know what’s going on between him and her.”
Ramon frowned and pulled out his slate. Uncle Leo and Uncle Luke don’t seem to be the culprit. They’re too engrossed in their game to poison a bear. If I can’t identify the culprit, I’ll go back and ask them some questions later. “Thanks, Aunt Lulu.”
“Who are you interrogating next?” Lulu asked. “Did you ask your grandma yet?”
“I did,” Ramon said and nodded.
Lulu raised her eyebrows. “And she didn’t purify you. Wow.” She waved her paw. “Well, you seem like you know what you’re doing. Carry on.”
Ramon nodded and left the cave. There weren’t many suspects left in the cave. Only his mom and dad were left. He found them where he had left them: in the living room, lazing around.
Grimmy raised his head. “Did you find out who poisoned Alfonse?”
Ramon shook his head, causing Grimmy to let out a sigh. Ramon pursed his lips. “I have to ask you two a few questions. What do you two know about poisons?”
Grimmy blinked. “Are you suspecting us?” He chuckled and patted his own chest. “Alright, you got me. That’s my boy.”
Leila and Ramon stared at Grimmy with puzzled expressions. “It was you?” Ramon asked. “You poisoned Alfonse?”
“Yep,” Grimmy said. “Now that you found out, let’s get out of here. Ice crystals are already forming between my claws.”
Leila rolled her eyes. “You were with me the whole time,” she said. “How could you have poisoned Alfonse? Stop trying to find an excuse to leave.”
“It wasn’t Papa?” Ramon asked and tilted his head. He stared at Leila. “Was it you?”
Leila snorted. “It wasn’t me,” she said. “You were with us the whole time.”
Ramon nodded. Even though he knew where his mom was, it was still worth asking. “You can do anything, so even if I watched you, you still could’ve poisoned Alfonse.”
Leila shook her head. “Did you question your Aunt Lulu yet? Wasn’t she suspicious?”
“No,” Ramon said and shook his head. “She helped me out a lot.”
“It’s her,” Leila said. “Whenever something out of the ordinary occurs in the cave, Lulu’s always the source behind it.”
“Really?” Ramon asked. He frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Let me prove it to you,” Leila said and got up. “Stay here.”
Ramon sat down and waited as his mom went into Aunt Lulu’s cave. There was a yelp. Then, there was another yelp. Ramon swore he heard muffled shouts for help, but when he glanced at his dad, the black dragon hadn’t seemed to have heard anything. A few minutes later, Leila walked out of the cave with Lulu following behind her. Lulu’s head was hanging low, and her feet shuffled against the ground as she walked.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Leila asked, placing her paw on Lulu’s shoulder.
Lulu sniffled. “It wasn’t me. I’m innocent! I always get blamed for everything, and most of the times, it’s my fault, but not this time!”
Ramon stared at Leila, and Leila cleared her throat. “Let’s go back inside your room, Lulu,” she said and grabbed the desperate dragon. “That’s not what you told me earlier.”
“No! Help! Mom! Dad!”
Ramon glanced around. If it weren’t for the bits of ice crystals falling from the ceiling due to Lulu’s shouting, he would’ve sworn he was the only one who had heard something. None of the other dragons even reacted to Aunt Lulu’s cries for help! Ramon gulped and tugged at his dad’s leg. “I found the culprit. It was Lulu. Can we go now?”