The Lady Sleuths MEGAPACK TM(256)

                Right, sure, Max, you’re a big 20 years old, and now all you have to do is put on your Nancy Drew outfit and beat the police to a murderer. Piece of cake!

                * * * *



                             I knocked on Katie’s door.

                Well, not Katie’s any longer. Dee’s door, now, only Dee’s.

                She opened it, bouncing up and down impatiently on her perfectly pedicured toes, equally unsurprised and unhappy to see me. Dee is the pretty one on the floor—her family emigrated to Boston from Kashmir 10 years ago, and Dee’d brought with her the glossy black hair and striking features of a Bollywood film star—but right now her oval face was somber.

                “Look,” she said, waving vaguely towards Katie’s side of the large double room, “I’m not going to tell anyone about you two, if that’s why you’re here. It’s none of my business. It’s nobody’s business.”

                I gaped at her. “You—you knew?”

                “Oh, Max, of course I knew. It was so totally obvious—I realized what was going on like six weeks ago.”

                “But—but I—”

                “The way you looked at her? I might be a freshman, but I’m not stupid.”

                I swallowed hard. “Dee, you can’t—”

                “I’m not going to bust you, Max. I haven’t said a word about it to anyone, and I’m not going to tell anyone now.”

                I pressed my lips tightly together and inhaled through my nose, processing this new information. “But she’s dead,” I said at last. “What if I’m the one who—?”

                “Yeah, right,” she scoffed. “She broke your heart, so you killed her? I don’t think so. And I want to know who did it as much as you do. They have to find out before—well, before he does it again.”

                I hadn’t even thought of that. Somewhere out there was a killer, and whoever it was who’d killed Katie could just as easily kill again.

                I pressed the heels of my hands to my temples, trying to think.

                “Katie’s parents,” I finally said. “Do you know if—when they’re coming up? To get her things?” I sat on Katie’s bed, softly stroking Bennington, the stuffed bear she’d had since she was a kid.

                “Tomorrow,” she said. “I talked to her dad about an hour ago. They couldn’t get a flight, so they’re driving. They’ll be here in the morning.” She sighed and sat on her own bed. “Look, Max, you know Katie and I weren’t the best of friends, but I want to help. What can I do?”



                             I looked at her. “I want to ask you some questions, I guess. Is that okay?”

                She nodded, and I saw that there was moisture in the corners of her eyes.

                I took another deep breath and gathered my thoughts. Maybe the best way to begin would be to follow Branigan’s lead. “For starters, where were you last night?”

                “I was at Professor Farmer’s picnic until about 11,” she said. “Brandon gave me and Gavin a ride back here, and I sat up studying for my calc exam until like 12:30. Then I went to bed.”