“Shouldn’t you be doing schoolwork?” I asked Theo.
“It’s already done,” she replied. “Schoolwork’s a breeze.”
I wished I could have said the same when I was in school.
“It’s good you’re both here,” Theo continued. “If you’re not toobusy making goo-goo eyes at each other, we can get down to business.”
“We’re not making goo-goo eyes at each other!” I shot back.
“Sure.” She drew out the word. “Where’s the murder board?”
“I’ll go get it,” I said in a rush.
I darted into my bedroom and hauled the whiteboard out from under my bed, along with the packages of magnets and pens.
“We should hang it on the wall,” Theo said when I returned to the living area.
Wyatt immediately relieved me of the cumbersome board.
“We can’t leave it out in the open,” I said. “I don’t want Livy to see it.”
“Fine. Set it on that desk then.” Theo nodded toward the small desk pushed up against one wall.
It hardly got used except for storage, since Livy usually did her homework at the kitchen table and I mostly used my laptop on the couch.
Wyatt did as Theo had directed, and I ripped open the packages and dumped the pens and magnets onto the surface of the desk.
“Maybe we should do this another time,” I said, tossing the empty packaging into the recycling bin by the door. “I’m not sure I’m up to investigating right now. It’s been a rough day.”
I gave them a condensed version of what had transpired at the police station.
“All the more reason for us to solve this murder,” Theo declared. “The police obviously don’t know what they’re doing.”
“And we need to clear Emersyn’s name,” Wyatt added, earning him a grateful smile from me.
“That too,” Theo conceded, though not, I thought, with sufficient fervor.
I sank down onto the couch. “I can’t believe the police think I might have killed Freddie. Can my life seriously get any worse?”
I really should have known better than to taunt the universe like that.
Chapter
Thirty-One
My mom peeked in through the door, which I’d neglected to shut. “Oh. Are we interrupting?”
My dad appeared behind her. My mom didn’t hesitate to join us in the living room, but my dad hovered in the entryway.
“Not really,” I said as I slowly got to my feet, wariness tensing my muscles.
“Your neighbor let us into the building as she was leaving,” my dad said. He could have meant Mrs. Nagy or any other female Mirage resident.
“What brings you by?” I asked. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“You’re not the only one to be taken by surprise today,” my mom said, the edge to her voice setting off clanging alarm bells in my head.
“Susan…” my dad began in his peacemaker voice.
