"Ugh! I hate you, Kevin!"

"This one's for messing up with my alarm, Jason."

"Well, would you look at that," Marissa and I held back a laugh. "The clown of our group, who is afraid of the clowns, is actually wearing a clown costume! What an irony."

It was hilarious watching the two brothers have a hilarious conversation.

"Out of all the ideas, you thought of this one?"

"Yup! I did some research and it turns out Judy's birthday is today and she loves clowns."

"That stupid, sick Judy Walker, out of all the things, that girl has to like the clowns?"

"Let's go, clown force!"

                         - - - - - - -

"Excuse me, who are you?" A tall, healthy security guy stopped us at the gate.

"We're the clowns that Mr. Walker booked for her daughter's birthday," Kevin said in a clownish accent.

"Wait, let me check with him."

We'll definitely be caught now. No one has booked any clowns.

"Sure," Kevin interrupted the security guy when he was about to call the Walkers. "Check with him and interrupt him. You know how mad he gets when he is interrupted? Especially between something important. Last year, when this same incident happened, the security guy was fired. I don't think you want that to happen to you. He has already booked us. Here, look at this," He showed the security guy a receipt. He bought it and allowed us to go inside.

"Oh. My. God. Where did that come from? And where did you get a fake receipt? " Marissa poked Kevin in his arms.

"Literature. I read a book where an undercover spy used this line. I thought to give it a try as this was the same situation and we are playing the same role and the receipt? I made it up and forged Mr. Walker's signature."

"Well, your literature saved us. I get it. We all get it. Let's go." Jason was really uncomfortable in his costume. Every now and then he was adjusting it and silently yelling at Kevin.

Inside, there was a birthday bash going on. It worked to our advantage as there would be a crowd so no one will notice us planting the bugs. The Walkers house was a duplex with big rooms which was filled with kids, balloons, party glitters, amazing birthday decor, and everything a glam-over-the-top birthday party has.

"Let's be quick" Marissa whispered giving the bugs and the spy cameras to all of us. "Make sure to stay away from the Walkers as far as possible."

We all got split, taking each room and carefully planting the devices in the places where it was hard for the Walkers to notice - behind the clock, underneath the bed, behind the petals and leaves of the artificial plants were some of the few locations were we bugged.

I have bugged 2 rooms so far. When I went inside the 3rd room, near the kitchen, I saw Zack confined to a small bed with a water bowl. As soon as he saw me, he started wagging his tail and woofed. He recognized me even when I was wearing a clown costume.

"Shhh, I'm excited to see you too, Zack. Be quiet. I don't want anyone to come. I promise I'll get you out of here."

I stood up and opened the door after putting the spy cams. But Zack came behind me.

"No, Zack, stay here. I'll be back for you."

But Zack barked out of excitement. Hearing him, Mrs. Walker came.

"Who are you? We didn't book a clown. Rob! Did you book a clown?"

"No, why?" Mr. Walker screamed due to the loud music.

She shoved Zack inside and turned to face me.

My cover's blown.

"Tell me the truth and your suffering will be less."

I couldn't think of anything. So I ran. Ran as fast as I could.

"Stop that clown!" Mrs. Walker yelled.

"Planted everything?" Jason asked Marissa, Kevin, and me as we all ran from the security guards.

We all nodded.

"Jason," I spoke as I ran. "I think now's the time to use it."

Jason nodded and pulled out a bottle containing the paralyzing chemical gas. He opened the bottle and sprayed it everywhere behind us. It worked! The security guards were all down on the floor feeling numb but we still ran. The Walkers were onto us. We felt bad for the innocent kids who just wanted to enjoy a birthday party but the effect of the chemical will eventually wear off.

We ran outside and sprayed it on the main gate security guy as well, he yelled but then was helpless with the paralysis.

Our mission was not successful but not completely failed either. We have planted the bugs and spy cams all around the house. But the one thing which was troubling me was that when the effect of the chemical will wear off, they will know that their house has been hampered. They will definitely search for the bugs and destroy them which meant we have a little time to do our thing.

                         - - - - - - -

"Jason, how long does the paralyzing gas lasts?" Marissa asked Jason while she opened an app from which we could see and hear what was going on in the Walker house.

"Around 30 minutes."

"Then, we have to pray that they speak at least something that would help with the case within these 30 minutes." Kevin crossed his fingers.

Marissa put on headphones and began to listen very carefully.

"Got anything?" I asked her after 20 minutes of watching them on the ground numb.

Marissa shook her head. "Just some random stuff, useless for us." She paused for a while, "Wait, I think they're saying something. Here, I'll turn up the volume."

"This dog caused us so much trouble." Mrs. Walker said. "All this happened because of that stupid dog. From that Annabelle and her friends and now those clowns. I'm telling you, Rob, someone knows other than us."

"Couldn't be possible, Taylor. We were the only ones who were there."

"I know, but what was with those clowns? I caught one of the clowns with Zack. And when I asked who he was, he ran and then this all happened and think about it, Rob, we didn't even book a clown for Judy's birthday - let alone a bunch of clowns with numbing sprays."

"Something's definitely fishy. If they know too other than us, they would also try to get a hold on Zack. What do you think, Taylor? What were they doing here?"

"If they know about Selena's statement from that night, then they would definitely try to get some inside information. Which means -"

"Which means, they would have planted bugs to hear us."

"Who's Selena now?" Kevin asked.

"And what does she has to do with any of this? What are they talking about?" Jason was confused. We all were. We never heard them mention this name before.

"Google it!" I looked at Jason. This could be a lead. "Google the name 'Selena'. She has to be related to the Walkers if they were saying about her like that.

"On it." With a serious expression, he pulled out his phone and began the search.

Now since they got a hint that their house could be potentially bugged, they were not saying a single word. Now all our hope lies in the search result.

"Guys," Kevin yelled out of excitement. "You have to come and see this." Marissa and I went towards them.

"Look at this." Jason showed me a result.

I took his phone and read out loud. "Selena Robinson Walker, the grandmother of Rob Walker, died on a Sunday night last week. The reason for her death has been recorded as mysterious. When the press pressed the doctors for the information, they told that it was classified."

"Now read this." Kevin clicked on another result.

"During Mrs. Selena Walker's last night in the hospital, before she died, only her grandson, Mr. Rob Walker, his wife, Mrs. Taylor Walker, and Mrs. Selena Walker's dog, Zack were there."

"Wait, Zack?" Marissa was shocked and so were we. "If this Zack is Mrs. Selena's dog, then what was with that whole adoption story which Mr. Walker told in the court?"

"Another lie." I rolled my eyes and continued reading the article. "No one knows how she died but the inside scoop told us that that night she wrote her final will and also included something about her dog, Zack in it too."

"That's it!" Kevin exclaimed. "If my gut feeling is right, then all this Zack drama has to do something with the will. All the things which we heard the Walkers said fall into place."

"Which means, they are keeping Zack for the money of the will. How disgusting." I couldn't believe but considering how they are, it was a  normal characteristic of the family.

"But why the drama still now? Mrs. Selena Walker died. So, if they were to be benefited regarding Zack, they must have gotten the money. This part did not make any sense."

We didn't have any guesses or answers to that question but we knew one thing for sure. We got what we needed - a solid proof to turn the tables around.