Ambush

"Wait," Joshua said. Looking at the computer. "The dot's moving again!!!"
They watched the dot move, slowly at first, then faster and faster then at last it disappeared.
"Oh man!!!" They all said. Jasper deduced. "Must have been destroyed."

They rented a car to go to the address they had seen. Probably something's there. They parked in front of the house. Jasper, Joshua and Yanna stayed in the car. Jem went up to the porch.

DING-DONG

The door opened. "Hello?"
Jem replied, "Hello ma'am. Just asking, did you see a black minivan park here a while ago?"
The kind old lady replied, "I'm sorry. I haven't."
"Thank you very much!"
"You're welcome! And, here's a treat for you." She handed her a bag of cookies. She then closed the door.

Jem went in the car and told the others. Jasper started driving to his house.
Yanna wondered. Why do I have this stain on my shirt? Maybe it's be...
Joshua looked at her. "Hey, what's bothering you?"
"It's just this stain on my shirt."
Jasper, Jem and Joshua looked back.
Jem asked, "What is it?"
Joshua got a small part of it with his hand. "It's liquid. I think it's wine."
Jasper asked, "When do you think did you get that stain?"
Yanna replied, "I don't know. Probably in their van."

Jasper parked the car on the street.
"But what is wine doing in a van like that?"
Jem said, "Beats me. We don't even know where they are?"
Joshua said solemnly. "This is a crime with no clues."
Yanna said again, "Wait. In the car I got something. It was so dark I tried to get everything I hold. It's here." She took out, from her pocket, a long piece of rope. "It was so long that I had to cut only a part of it."
Joshua took it. He looked at it, then smelled it. Then smiled. "My friends, I have figured out how, why and when the house burnt up. This piece of rope was soaked with kerosene!"

TO BE CONTINUED...