“Lola!”

“What Michael?”

“Are we meeting with the squad on Saturday?”

“Of course! Make sure you can get off work.”

“Already requested it off!”

“Wonderful! Oh, and guess who’s back in town?”

“Who Lola?”

“Scott!”

“No, really. Who?”

“Actually! Scott’s in town! Not lying!”

“Really? Oh boy! Do the rest of them know?”

“Just Mandy.”

“She always did have a crush on him. Of course she’d be the first to know.”

“She’s engaged Michael.”

“You know I’m kidding. Well, only partially. How do you even know?”

“Saw him. In a taxi.”

“Whose?”

“Jana Dean.”

“Cool babe. Ready for our date night?”

“Always.”

~~~~~

Lola and Michael had met in History 3 in junior year of high school. Michael didn’t understand the causes to the War of 1812. Lola had an old relative that was a general. So, she knew a lot. First study buddies… then the friend groups combine… all get crushes (only Michael and Lola lasted)… yada yada… boring backstory stuff. All you, dear reader, need to know is that there were 12 in the big group; Lola, Michael, Mandy, Jim, Court, Kim, Jill, Tom, Brittney, Joseph, Scott, and Nicole. Nicole died 3 weeks after graduation (car accident on the way to Florida), and Scott went across the country to go to college. The rest of them all stayed close to home.

So, the news that Scott was back in town was a surprise. Nicole had been his crush, and her death had shook him up more so than the others. He had vowed to not come back home unless it was for a family emergency. But that was many years ago, he was no longer an angry 18 year-old boy, he was a well adjusted man in 40s with a stable job (he was a surgeon). So he had figured that it was time to go back and see how all of his old friends were doing.

Lola had seen him when she was at the grocery store. Because the town was so small, everyone knew everyone and there was only 2 “taxis” in the entire town. And they were actually just people that took people around in their cars. Jana Dean, an old retired woman with 3 cats and all the time in the world. And Timmy Dean, the young grandson of Jana Dean that had just gotten his license.

Regardless, she had seen Jana Dean pull into the parking lot with a man in the backseat. By the time she had driven past Lola, who was pulling out of the parking lot, Lola realized that the man in the back had been Scott. She immediately called Mandy, the friend she was closest to, and told her.

That night, while she was getting ready for her weekly date night with her husband, she told him too. He and Scott had been the closest of any of the boys. Of course, Michael was ecstatic. His best friend that he hadn’t seen in over 20 years is back? Duh, who wouldn’t be excited? So, he immediately began making plans in his mind for them to hang out. Who wouldn’t want to?

~~~~~

After a week of chasing down Michael, the squad had set up a day to all hang out. And today was that day.

“Lola! Is dinner almost done? They’ll be here any minute!”

“Calm down Michael. It is almost done, but they wouldn’t care. Tonight is about Scott, not my mediocre cooking.”

“Says the chef who works at a 4-Star restaurant.”

“But this is home, not work. And besides, Scott never much liked my cooking.”

“But neither did I. Now look! I’m married to the best chef in town!”

“And I’m married to the top doc in the county.”

“You know that’s Court.”

“Hon, I meant you. You’re great dear. But that reminds me, no talking about work tonight. Tonight is about getting to know Scott again. He is a different person now than he was 20 years ago, alright?”

“I know. I’m just so excited!”

“You’re acting like a child Michael.”

“And you don’t care.”

“Michael…”

“What?”

“Mandy’s on her way!”

~~~~~

Many hours later, after a lot of good food cooked by Lola and lots of catching up with Scott, everyone had left except for Mandy, Scott, and of course Lola and Michael (because this was their house after all).

“It’s been amazing to catch up. Thank you so much for having me over! Getting back with the gang was great! I’ve been missing this. I didn’t know y’all were still hanging out!”

“Every Saturday boy! Oh no!”

“What wrong Mandy?”

“Mark got sick! I have no ride!”

“Oh, I can drop you off.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, Mandy. Don’t worry, I found my own car.”

“Thanks so much Scott. But you don’t need to do that. Plus, even though we used to be really close, we aren’t the same people we were.”

“How about I drop you both off?”

“Alright, thanks Michael.” With that, the three left the home of the Arnolds.

~~~~~

HAND WITH MISSING FINGER FOUND FOR THE FINAL PIECE OF THE DISTURBING DEATH OF AMANDA GREENE.

~~~~~

Lola cried the most. Well, second only to Mark. No one knew who could have had the heart to kill Mandy. She was the sweetest person, always doing charity.

Everyone blamed Scott. Even more so after her engagement ring was found in his car.

The body had been dismembered and buried. Each part with a matching part of a dead dog. And all scattered around town. Each piece was cut with surgical precision, even more evidence in favor of Scott being the murderer.

But he fled. Like, the entire country. And no one was in the mood to chase him. So, for the friends, it seemed justice would never be served.

Until that fateful night.

They had been watching a movie, a cheesy romance one. And all of a sudden, the look in his eyes changed. He started mumbling under his breath “she knows. She knows. She must die too.”

No one knows who shriek was heard; Lola’s or  Michael’s.

Solution: Michael has been suffering from psychological breaks. The shriek at the end is either Lola’s in the process of being murdered, or Michael’s when he discovers what he’s done.