It was already eight-thirty in the evening. Even in his dulled state, he remembered he needed the truth. The people in the basement, except for Mina and Maggie, were all present at the party last year and close to Vanessa. He would extract the truth out of them.

Stealing the mild tranquilizer was no easy task but he managed to do so with the same hairpin he used to escape into the forest some time back. Fenton or Frank ought to warn Emily about his lock-picking skills but they neglected that one talent of his.

Planning for this scene to be a reality was a real chore though. His brains were not cooperating and he felt like his senses were numbed. It was difficult to think though he did feel that his guilt was easier to bear simply because it no longer seemed as intense. Talking about it helped a lot too- words took away a huge chunk of the power sordid memories held over him but now that the guilt was almost gone, he felt a strange emptiness taking hold of him. Without the guilt, it seemed as if he was trying to push Vanessa out of his mind.

Frank will call it self-destructive but I miss her so much.

I understand… Joey.

I know you do. Shh… they’re coming round.

Chet had done him a huge favor by putting him in charge of the invitations. He simply never sent them and told Chet that everybody’s reply was positive. One thing he could count on was Chet’s laziness to follow up. He did not intend for Mina to be part of this but Chet had personally invited her and Maggie knew about the party all along so Joe had to inform her to steer away any form of suspicions. Anyway, Mina had unwittingly helped him. He would have kicked a huge fuss and forced everyone to drink the punch to elicit some praises from them had Mina not done what she did and everybody followed suit. Who cared if the punch tasted terrible? When there was nothing else to drink, people would drink anything.

Anything.

Joe shook his head to clear his mind. Chet was the first to stir and after that, it was a chain reaction. Joe munched on some chips while waiting for them all to come to.

"Joe… what the…" Chet’s lids fluttered and when he was conscious enough, as expected, he struggled against his bonds.

"Joe! Cut us loose now!"

"No… can’t. You did a very bad thing, Chet. You held the party so close to the day she left." Joe wagged a finger at his friend. Chet’s eyes rounded and he fought against his restraints all the more.

Everyone had come to by then and all of them were struggling like trapped rats in a room with the water level rising to drown them. Joe leaned back against the buffet table and watched their futile actions. He would let the knowledge that they could not escape from their bonds sink in first and then dangle the promise of being released in front of their faces.

A carrot on a stick.

As long as the murderer owned up, Joe would let them all go. Then he would do the right thing. He would bring the murderer to the police after punching the daylights out of him.

"Joe, are you going to kill us? Don’t kill us…" Maggie whispered and his heart broke. Kill them? Why would he kill them? Two had died at his hands. It was a terrible feeling- that of being a murderer.

Maybe he should consider becoming a vegetarian so he would not even indirectly murder animals. It should not be that difficult but he remembered he loved to eat venison meat cooked in red wine sauce a lot.

And burgers.

His stomach growled. He munched on more chips.

"Maybe I’ll kill you, maybe I won’t…" He had to keep up the act or they would not feel threatened. Fear made the guilty talk and he wanted people to talk. Talk about Vanessa.

"What do you want, Joe? What do you hope to accomplish by tying us up? The guests will come…"

"Stupid, Phil. The guests won’t come! You’re the only guests here! Do you think I’ll let all of you laugh, not remembering her? One of you killed her! How can you laugh?" Joe sank down to his knees and buried his face in his hands. The medication in the morning had worn off and he was feeling those horrible things again. Variations of his own voice rose and fell like a haunting chorus in his mind. One of them killed Vanessa. One of them was the murderer.

"We didn’t! Joe, we’re all your friends! Please… listen!" Chet tried to reason with him but Chet was not making sense. Joe stalked over and slapped him hard.

"Your birthday comes second to her death. I don’t care if it’s your twenty first or two hundred and one hatchy day…" Joe raised his voice in a mocking falsetto. "We are all supposed to be grieving. Now, all of you, shut up. Time to answer my questions."

"If we answer your questions, can we go?" Tony asked hopefully. Joe picked up a slicing knife meant for the roast beef and played with it.

"Yes. But you must be truthful. Let me take you back to the party last year. I was out with Vanessa about ten-thirty. It will take us twenty minutes to walk to the tree house. Vanessa died at about eleven-forty five. All of you came around one-fifteen and…" Joe swallowed hard as memories of that terrible night assaulted his mind’s eyes. Knowing this was not the time to wallow in his sorrows or be drunk with remorse, Joe willed control over himself.

"It was Frank together with Biff who came first. And that leads me to ask the first question. Biff- you said to Frank something was wrong and that was why Frank rushed to find me. How did you know something was wrong?" Joe asked, using a very childlike and innocent tone to throw Biff off-guard. Biff had kept silent until then and it was only with the question that Biff could finally look at Joe.

"Buddy, we’re cool, right? Stop this madness. Let us help you."

"I don’t need your help, damn you! I need the truth! I need to know! WHY WOULD YOU THINK SOMETHING WAS FREAKING WRONG???"

"It was almost one then. I saw you out with Vanessa. I knew she must have told you about our trysts and I was afraid for the both of you. So I told Frank everything. I’m sorry… that’s the truth."

"YOU LIE! Where were you from eleven to eleven-forty five?"

"Why eleven?"

"I LEFT HER AROUND ELEVEN! NOW ANSWER ME! YOU HAVE THE PIN!" Joe practically screamed. Were his friends stupid? Maybe the tranquilizer worked too well- their brains must feel like cotton wool, just like how his felt like for the past few days. He needed those answers fast because Frank was definitely coming soon but those pieces of wood staring at him with slack jaws were not exactly being very forthcoming.

"I was in Chet’s room… I think. I don’t remember. I just remember seeing her leaving with you and then going to Chet’s room to cool down. She picked you, not me. And I had to deal with my anger at her choice and my own humiliation at betraying a friendship…" Biff spoke quietly, his head hung in shame. Tony jumped in Biff’s defense then before Joe could explode again.

"Biff’s telling the truth. I went into Chet’s room to find him and I remembered asking him where the syrup was. You and Biff were always in charge of the punch but the party was for you and Frank, as well as to celebrate Chet’s birthday belatedly. The punch ran out and so I had to ask him where’s the syrup so I could make some more."

"And how do you know it’s between eleven to eleven-forty five when you asked him for the syrup?" Phil countered. Joe found an unexpected ally. He was mildly surprised and thus sat back to watch the going- on.

"Phil? We are supposed to be on the same side…" Chet reminded his lanky friend but Phil shook his head.

"When it comes to the truth, there’s no side. Maybe Joe did it and feigned madness to lift our suspicions away from him. I don’t know. Vanessa’s death had plagued us for far too long. We need to draw it to a close."

"Or maybe you killed her out of jealousy! You like her too, don’t you, traitor Cohen?" Chet snapped back and Mina screamed.

"QUIET! All of you are crazy! Joe, this is not the way to search for the truth… please… calm down…"

"I am calmed down. It’s very interesting. Now, I’m a suspect as well. I might as well tie myself up." Joe motioned to Phil. "Carry on… I’m interested to know how well you like Vanessa. I never knew my girlfriend was so popular with my friends." Joe spat.

"My feelings are for me to know." Phil clammed up and heaved heavily. Joe narrowed his eyes when suddenly, somebody burst out in tears.

"Maggie, what’s wrong?" Joe immediately went over to his sister and caressed her little face. She bawled then and his heart broke. He must have frightened her for Maggie was not very brave. She cringed whenever Joe and Frank regaled her with their cases and they censored away the scary parts already. But Maggie knew about the party and it would be dangerous not to let her come along. She was clever and might suspect something. Frank would definitely hear of her suspicions because Maggie was one who blabbed every single one of her thoughts to anyone who happened to be near her at any given moment thus Joe could not afford to not let her into this private party.

"You’re scaring me. I don’t like it. I don’t want you to be crazy… you’re crazy after Vanessa died and I lost my brother for so long! We don’t do piano and violin duets anymore. Though you sucked more than me, it was fun. And I miss you so much. Joe, the bonds hurt."

Crazy? I’m not crazy. I’m scared too, Maggie. I’m scared of seeing her, scared of the voices, scared of the images that just come to me. I hate to lose control but I do. Now, I feel sane. After a minute, I’ll not… not be ok… I don’t know! I just want to know who killed Vanessa.

You’re scared of me?

YES! I am! I don’t know why you’re asking to do this! I don’t want to hurt them… they’re my friends!

Joe encircled Maggie and placed the knife he was holding onto her bonds, intending to saw her free.

Stop it! All our efforts will be wasted! Joe! A while more! Just a while more! Are you a damn coward? Maybe you don’t want to know the truth.

Maybe you really killed her.

The knife stopped sawing.

Yes. You were angry. Maybe you went back to the tree house and shoved her down.

"No. I love her." Joe mumbled but guilt came back and its icy fingers clenched his heart one more time.

"Joe, who are talking to? Of course you love Vanessa. We all do. Free me, Joe. We will work things out…"

Selective memory, Joe. You were always good at that. One knock too many to the head.

"NO! I DIDN’T KILL HER! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Joe dropped the knife and backed away from Maggie, pulling at his hair to shut out the voices. The guilt was overwhelming. He was angry at her. He left her.

He walked away. He should never have walked away. He left and she died. She died when he should have been there to protect her.

"I killed her…the gun… I killed her…the gun, in my hands… I took it… she died… she was dead and I can’t get her to talk to me. Her blood… no… Ness… don’t go…" Joe stared at his hands and the scars became fresh trails of blood. Her blood. The basement faded. The night was cold. Grass and soil under him and she was gone.

"Joe… did you kill her?" Phil asked in disbelief. "I was only suspecting but I never believed… Joe…"

"I don’t know… I had her blood on my hands… Phil, she won’t talk to me…" Joe pleaded with his friend. "Get her to talk, quick. Call the ambulance… she’s not breathing…"

"Joe?"

"Ness…" He held her. There she was, Vanessa in his arms. Her eyes fluttered opened. He succeeded! She woke.

"Joe, get a grip on yourself. Biff’s crying too. Biff’s terribly guilty. He left for Arizona. Joe, he left immediately for Arizona. It was so hard for the D.A.’s to get him back to stand trial."

"Yes… get a grip."

"You prepared brilliant questions to ask them. Now, ask Biff that one question. Why did he leave? What’s the guilt he’s feeling?"

Vanessa’s words gave him strength. He did prepare questions. He could not lose control. Not then. The tragic night dissolved back into the basement and he ignored the frightened looks of concern.

"I’m ok. Don’t worry. Won’t kill you guys yet. Biff, why did you leave for Arizona? Why didn’t you stay? I asked myself- you were my best friend. But you just left. You could have redeemed yourself by sticking by me but you left." Joe asked blandly.

"Joe, I was feeling so guilty. I thought you killed her and the murder weapon, the gun… I knew she had the gun. I thought the both of you had a fight and you got hold of the gun. I kept thinking about the damn gun which I could have taken away from her but I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t but… Joe… my guilt is because this mess started with me and I cannot face it. I can’t." Biff rambled through his tears and he squeezed his eyes shut. New information took time to be processed. Biff knew about the gun, the gun Joe had missed.

Before he could ask, Chet already did. "How did you know about the gun? None of us saw her with the gun…"

"It was so small and hidden. Her sweater was so thick…. Vanessa and I went to the party together. I met her at her house, intending to drive her there. We needed to talk, or rather; she wanted to tell me about her decision. She came out of her house, distraught and I knew she had bad news for me. It was so cold and she had forgotten to bring her jacket. She was crying and I don’t know why. I told her I’ll wait for her to go back into the house but she shook her head and went to her family’s car instead and grabbed the sweater. I thought I saw the shadow of a gun in her sweater’s inner pockets but I said nothing. I don’t think she even knew the gun was there."

"You and Vanessa came together?" Phil sounded baffled. "I saw her car… but I can’t remember what time… I thought I saw her car parked some distance away and thought it was because there were so many cars blocking the entrance to Chet’s house…"

"I brought her there… I know…" Biff protested. "Joe! I wasn’t lying!"

I don’t want to hurt Mom, but at the same time, I really want to build a life with Joe.

Vanessa…

"Why don’t you want to come with me to Boston?"

"I do! I just… I don’t know… my mom wants me to stay here…"

Andrea… Andrea told me something… something at Ness’s grave… something important.

"Forgive me for giving you a hard time. Seeing you just brings back a lot of sad memories. The times I fought with her over her choice in college. I wonder, if I had given her too much stress myself too. The night she died, I didn’t exactly have the most wonderful conversation with her before she left for the party."

Andrea…

"I’m ok… just, just some recurrence of habits. But my counselor is very pleased with my progress and I’m picking up the pieces very well…"

Recurrence of habits.

Obsessive Compulsive Behavior. Andrea washed her hands so much that the skin of her hands were so dry. She needed gloves. She wore gloves when I saw her.

My tires, slashed…

She slashed them.

"Andrea…" Joe began. "Andrea…"

"Joe, are you all right?" Mina called out to him but he placed a finger on his lip to shush her.

"Vanessa and Andrea share clothes. They were the same size. Andrea must have been wearing the sweater before Vanessa took it. The gun belonged to Andrea. We neglected its ownership because we thought Ness committed suicide. Andrea would know where she left her own gun…"

"Joe, it can’t be Andrea. There must be someone else! How would she know where Vanessa was? Someone would have seen her at the party." Mina begged with Joe to think of another suspect but Joe could not. Joe was stunned by his own discovery as well.

Stunned. He needed to know why Andrea would want to kill Ness. Or maybe she did not. Ness was alive. Ness taught him what to do when it really mattered.

Where’s Ness?

Why isn’t anyone talking to me?

WHY MUST IT BE ANDREA?

"No… I need to know why. I need to know how." Joe vowed resolutely.

Andrea.

"Joe… what are you doing?" Mina was the only who spoke. The rest seemed to be in shocked silence as well.

"Going to find Andrea…"

"NO! JOE! Don’t do silly things! It’s not Andrea… please… release me. I’ll go with you wherever you want to go, all right?" Mina pleaded, tears brimming in those large, gray eyes that resurrected countless memories for Joe. It seemed almost as if Vanessa was trying to reach Joe through her cousin’s eyes.

"I’m sorry, Mina. I won’t hurt her. I just want to know why." Joe could not bear to see Mina cry and just as a tear was about to fall down her cheek, he averted his eyes away from her and hurried over to Chet.

"Joe, whatever you want to do, let’s wait for Frank to arrive and we’ll talk about it. We will go with you…" Chet spoke to him soothingly. Joe hated people speaking to him like he was an angry child.

Shut up, Chet.

He reached into Chet’s jeans’ pocket and fished for the Chet’s car keys. With it, he ran up the stairs and out of the basement, slamming the door behind him.