Just a few days later, my dad was arrested. It broke my heart. But you know that by now. I guess you're up to date then. I have now decided that I am the only person who can clear my dad’s name and find the real culprit. I don't have to do it alone though. A few hours after the arrest, I was offered some help...

I lay on my bed, face buried in my pillow, feeling empty. I couldn't believe it. I was determined to solve it myself, but I had no clue how. And even if I tried, what if I got it wrong. What if it wasn’t my dad, but wasn't the person I accused either. I felt completely alone. I heard a knock on the door. It felt so far away, everything did, but I knew it was just a couple of metres away. I didn’t move or say anything. Thinking that maybe whoever it was(almost definitely my mum trying to console me) would just go away. But they didn’t. They just came in calmly. I groaned softly into my pillow before turning around. “Mum, I don't want to-” I trailed off slowly, in shock. I suddenly felt very self conscious. I tucked my now damp, scraggly hair behind my ears and tried to dry my eyes. I had stopped crying now, but my eyes were still puffy and red raw. My nose was also an angry shade of crimson and salty tear trails were left on my face. The legacies of the many I had cried. “Conrad?” He smiled weakly. Why was he here? He hadn't spoken to me all holiday, yet now he wanted to talk? I looked expectantly at him. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Here's the thing. I understand. You miss grandad. We all do. And now your dad’s been arrested,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. Had I been that obvious about wanting to solve the case? Was this his lame attempt at trying to talk me out of it? Because if it was, it wasn't going to happen. I was going to do this, and no one, especially him, was going to talk me out of it. “I don't agree with it either. He can't have done it.”he said.

I looked back at him, confused. So he wasn't trying to stop me. He understood. He really did. “Well, I suppose what I’m trying to say is, I’m a cop out in the U.S. Have been for a year now. You wanna solve the case? I’ll do it with you.” he paused, anticipating my answer.

“Really?” I said, “You want to help?”

“Uh, yeah. I think we should give it a go.”

I hesitated again, unsure of why or how he wanted to help solve the case, yet nevertheless way too excited by the offer to say no. I needed this. I needed someone to help me. I had devoured so many murder mystery books, but already knew that they were nothing like the real thing. Nothing. But here, my cousin, a cop who knew so much about what we really needed to do in order to solve the case, was offering to help. He hadn't spoken to me for years, and I had never really known why, but now, he was happy to help.

“Okay, sure.” I replied, apprehensive but growing slowly more and more elated. I stood up and his smile softened.

“Right then, Sargeant Acton, meeting to discuss alibis and motives here at o nine hundred hours?” he said, mock serious. I sniggered slightly. I finally had someone to help me. And with that had come hope that I would solve this murder, no matter what. I nodded in identically mock seriousness and he left the room. Once he had left, I sat on the windowsill and looked out of the circular little window, beaming out at the landscape before me. I would not leave this beautiful island without knowing exactly who killed my Grandad and why.

A little while later, I told Ellie and she agreed to help too, along with Renuka. Soon, our crime solving group had formed and we were ready for our first ever meeting.

We all sat excitedly by the windowsill in our attic room. We had figured it was perfect for these meetings because it was so far away from everyone else in the villa so no one would hear us, as we had also agreed that no one could know what we were doing yet. I had logged on to my laptop, which rested on my lap, as we were going to type up all of our findings on it. Conrad suggested mine because I had Sketchup downloaded, so we could create the villa on it in order to check timings and everything with the scale because apparently this was vital to professional police work. I was so excited to get started. I had thrown any relatives who believed I wanted to solve it off the scent completely by telling them that I still believed my dad was innocent, but really, how could I clear his name all by myself? Well, that was the thing they didn't know. I wasn’t alone. They simply agreed and wished for his release.

Everything had been set up and now it was time to solve the crime. “So,” Conrad began, “First we need to write a suspect list. The police say there were no signs of forced entry, and that the very few pieces of evidence, tiny blood molecule trails, show that whoever did it came through the front door and left the same way. Therefore, they must’ve had a key. The only people with keys are all of the adults here. So: Your mom, your dad,” he gestured to me, “my mom, me, Ellie's dad, Renuka’s mom, Renuka, Luke, Grannie Ally and Betty. And of course the owner of the house, but I’ve checked with the police and they've tracked her. She's in Egypt and has been since a couple days before we arrived.”

“So that means it absolutely has to have been someone in this house.” Renuka said. We all nodded. It created an uneasy feeling, knowing this, but we had all almost got used to that feeling now. “And any of us kids could've stolen a key if we wanted to. Technically.” Ellie piped up.

“Yes, but I think you’d know if you two or Niall had done it.” Renuka said sternly. She looked so unhappy and just generally uncomfortable with the situation. I had never seen her like this. She was always so bright and happy. Well, before you know what. An odd silence descended until Conrad changed the subject. “Okay, so, Sienna, you write down the suspects and we’ll have a think about the alibis. Motives will come later, when we have a bit more evidence to go on.”

I quickly tapped down all of our suspects. There were a lot. Once I had finished, I grouped them into the groups they had gone out with that day. Then it hit me. Something was going to make this whole thing a lot harder. Each person was with someone who would give them an alibi. And lie for them. My mum for my dad, obviously. My dad for her. Both of them for Lori because she’s his sister and for Farran because he's my best friend’s dad. Then Lori for them because my dad’s her sister and Farran because of me being their daughter. Farran would also probably lie for Lori because of her relation to me and then vice versa. Belinda would for Conrad and he would for her. I would for both Renuka and Ellie and they would for me and each other. Then of course my brother would give Luke an alibi because he idolises him so much. And Ally and Betty have always been the best of friends since Ally and Grandad met in their twenties. I tried my best to explain my realisation to the group. “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Ellie said, brows furrowed. The others nodded.

“That's going to make this whole thing so much harder.” Renuka moaned quietly as she stared into her lap. She fiddled with one of the rings on her hand, gently sliding it along her finger. It had now became a thing that she did very often when she felt unsure or sad about Grandad’s death. She looked up at me, eyes wide, and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something before closing it once again and looking back down at her lap. I knew what she had just tried to say. She was going to ask if we really wanted to do this. And I knew that the answer to that question could never be no. And I think that, although maybe she didn't feel that, she knew deep down that I did. It really was sad to see my cousin like this. She never didn't believe in something. Before Grandad died, she was all about enjoying life to the fullest, jumping into opportunities and adventures head first without caring to look back or hesitate. That was the Renuka I thought I knew. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t right though. This was going to be incredibly difficult.

“So, next up, did anyone see anyone see people while they were out? You guys were at the beach, right?” We nodded,“ So you were bound to have seen someone on the high street just above it.” I remembered seeing almost everyone else that day,“Yeah, I did. While we were on the Silly Sofa-” Conrad sniggered slightly, “Sorry, what did you say, the Silly Sofa?”

“Yeah, it's like this inflatable Sofa thingy that you get strapped onto and pulled around on by a guy on a speedboat.”Ellie assisted. He looked slightly quizzical but nodded anyway.

“So, at half ten-ish I saw Grannie Ally and Betty in the cafe, Luke and Niall going into the arcade, er… you and your mum on the tour bus actually,” I gestured to Conrad and he nodded, “And, um, my dad. I think he was heading back to the house.” I bit my lip. I couldn't tell the detective that yet I had just told the group. I still couldn't quite tell if it was a good idea or not. I mean, we needed to be honest with each other about these things otherwise we couldn't rule anyone out for sure. “Oh,” Ellie said. I winced, I could feel everyone in the room losing hope that my dad was innocent- “Someone who knew he was there must have told Detective Figueroa in their questioning. That must be one of the reasons they falsely accused him.”

“Of course,” Renuka said, “That makes sense. Now we just need to figure out who knew he went back. One of them must have told the police.” We all agreed and I typed the list. That was Luke, Ally, Betty, Belinda, Farran and Lori. “Now we just need to narrow that list down to one person.” I said.

“Yeah, but we still need to work out why.” Renuka chimed in.

“I know,” I replied, “but we definitely have something. We’ve got a start.” And with that, the meeting was adjourned.