Adventures of a Graveyard Girl (A Kait Lenox YA Chick Lit Mystery) (Funeral Crashing)

by Milda Harris

  I also needed to track down Casey Hunt and hear her account of finding the body. That was where Detective Dixon had a leg up on me. He had a legitimate reason to ask people about a murder case. I didn't. Still, I was hoping Casey might talk to me. I was hoping she'd talk to everyone, actually, just to keep the gossip train focused on her. She did like the attention, normally. That would make it easier for me to approach her anyway, if she was being super open about it. Casey might have seen something that could help me pinpoint the killer. I could only hope.

  Going back to school after having been out of school for a week was always a shock. Everything changed and yet it was like you had never left. Even though I didn't really have any friends, I still missed out on any of the little dramas that made school interesting. Okay, maybe I did listen to some of the gossip. It was definitely more captivating than some of the lectures. It was like a real life soap opera going on around me, you know? And, speaking of getting behind, need I mention, all the homework? The teachers were all sad and sympathetic that I had been in the hospital, but not enough to let me out of doing the assignments entirely. In fact, I had to make-up everything. It was so unfair. Did they know how much work that was going to be?

  Everyone was a little distracted, though, at school. The high school had used the murder as an incentive for better security since it was obvious that the "it will never happen at our school" attitude wasn't true. Metal detectors were being installed at all of the entrances and a couple of off duty policemen were stationed at points around the school. It was definitely about time for us to catch up with the times. It's sad it took a tragedy to make the school revamp their school safety protocols.

  Besides that, the murder of Madison Brown was by far the hot topic of the school and to my dismay, Casey Hunt was nowhere to be found. The rumor was that she was hiding out at home. It was totally out of character for her, but Casey had found a dead body, so maybe she was still in shock or having a nervous breakdown. I could understand that. The gossip vultures were definitely going to pounce once Casey came back to school and she should be ready for it. It was disappointing, though, Casey's account of what happened was pretty important to my case. I'd have to hope, for now, that she came back to school in the next couple of days. Otherwise, I might have to hunt her down since I didn't see Detective Dixon giving me a copy of Casey's police statement so that I could read it.

  I kept a lookout for Noah Robertson, who would have no reason to skip school, unless he was on his way to Mexico, but I didn't see him in the first two hours. I wasn't even sure what I was going to say or do when I saw him. I mean, I couldn't exactly go up to him and say, "Hey, did you murder Madison Brown? Oh, and can you tell me your motive?"

  It was before third period and I was rushing to my locker to grab a book, so I almost missed him. It was obviously Noah, though. He was tall, broad shouldered, and had brown hair clipped super short, like he had let a buzz cut grow out. I don't know what was wrong with me because I didn't even stop to think about it as I walked as hard as I could into him. It's not like little old me was going to make a dent in this massive guy, but then again Madison Brown had managed to break his foot by accident. Still, at least I took the time to notice that Noah was wearing a walking cast on his right foot and smashed into him on the other side.

  As I felt myself fall backwards, my books scattering out of my arms, I pondered the intelligence of my choice. Sure, it had worked with getting to meet Troy. And, really, I couldn't just walk up to a random guy in high school and start talking to him out of the blue, could I? That would be crazy. So, yeah, the old fallback, run into someone and run into them hard, had to work.

  "I'm so sorry," I said automatically as my butt hit the hard tile floor. I did mean it. I shouldn't have run into him so hard. That hurt.

  Noah was still standing, looking down at me with a frown, like I was a total idiot, and didn't saying anything to me. Then he just turned and walked away, leaving me looking stupid, sitting on the ground with my books scattered down the hall. I could hear a couple passersby snickering because they had seen the impact, my fall, and the odd results. I ignored them and gathered up my books. Okay, obviously the old run into him as hard as you can fallback didn't work. Now, I had a lead in to talk to Noah, though. I definitely wouldn't mind yelling at him for ignoring me when I apologized to him. That was totally rude. Did the guy have no manners? I glanced around, suddenly anxious. Okay, good, Ariel hadn't been witness to this. That, at least was promising. I ran to my locker, grabbed my book, and made it to my third period class just as the bell rang.

  I kept a watchful eye out for Noah as I walked to my fourth period Chemistry class, but we didn't cross paths again. I was still mad even though an hour had passed. My butt still really hurt. I was almost positive that I had a black and blue mark from my fall. I didn't see why Noah couldn't even acknowledge me when he was the person that had made me hit the ground. Sure, I had made it happen, but Noah didn't know that. He was so totally rude. Maybe it was just this easy and I had stumbled across the killer right off the bat. Either that or Noah sure had a lot to learn about manners. I really couldn't wait to find him again so that I could tell him off and, of course, continue with my murder investigation.

  I made it to class a couple of minutes before the bell and saw Kyle and Suzie talking at my lab table. I felt a pang. Even though Madison Brown had been murdered, it looked like Kyle and Suzie's big Homecoming date had been a huge success. Suzie's hand was on Kyle's arm and she was laughing. Kyle was smiling up at her from his chair like she was the only person in the entire world. I, on the other hand, didn't know where I stood with Ethan and I had repeatedly broken my promise to him in the last twenty-four hours. That probably didn't bode well for any romantic thoughts I was having.

  I hesitated in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt Kyle and Suzie's moment, but I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I moved forward and toward them. Besides, my books were heavy. I had to put them down before my arms fell off. My butt already hurt. I didn't want to add my arms to the list.

  "Hey guys," I said cheerily as I walked behind Kyle to sit in my lab chair, setting my books down on the table in front of me.

  Kyle and Suzie both looked over at me, surprised. They had been so absorbed in their world that they hadn't even paid attention to me walking around them. Wow, was I like that with Ethan? I hoped so.

  "So, how'd your date with Ethan go?" Suzie asked, entwining her hand in Kyle's.

  Yeah, they were totally an official couple if they were holding hands in public. I wondered if they had defined themselves. Were they officially boyfriend and girlfriend now? I felt a little more envious. I really wished I knew what was going on with Ethan and I.

  I shrugged, "Good, well, except for the whole cancelling of the dance because of a murder thing."

  Kyle nodded, "I know! I was so glad Suzie was with me at the time. She had just gone to the bathroom like fifteen minutes before they found the body. She was so lucky nothing happened to her."

  Suzie smiled at Kyle, "You would have protected me, though, right?"

  Oh dear, they were going to be one of those super cutesy couples that drove you insane to be around with all their cute talk. Then again, I would have given anything to do the cutesy thing with Ethan, so I was a total hypocrite. Was breaking my promise going to affect us doing that? I pushed the worry away and focused. This was important too.

  "Did either of you guys know her? Madison?" I asked. Even if they weren't bffs with Madison, any details other than what I knew could be helpful just because they were from another angle.

  Kyle shook his head. Suzie paused. I looked at her curiously.

  "I kind of knew her," Suzie admitted after a moment.

  If I was the suspicious type, I'd be finding it very numerically insane the amount of people that Suzie came into contact with that got murdered. And, she was a quiet girl who kept to herself and did nothing wrong, so it was a weird coincidence. I mean, what were the odds, you know? She di
dn't know that many people. Still, it wasn't like Suzie was the rebellious type who went out of her way to find trouble. Or, was there more to Suzie than I knew from seeing her every day in Chemistry class?

  "How'd you know her?" I asked after Suzie didn't say anything more.

  "Well, I used to know her. She and I had this tennis camp together the summer after sixth grade. Madison was a year older than me and in seventh, but at tennis camp it didn't matter," Suzie said. "I was terrible at tennis and hated it, but my mom forced me to finish camp anyway. Madison hated tennis camp too, so we bonded and spent the afternoons after a morning of getting yelled at for being terrible tennis players, getting ice cream, going to the mall, or catching a movie. We both gained like five pounds that summer with all the junk we ate. She joked that we were going to have peanut butter M&M, cinnamon bun, popcorn, soda babies with all the junk food we were eating. It was a really good summer and we kind of stayed friends when school started up, but it wasn't the same. Because Madison was a year ahead of me, we never had any classes together and Madison had her own school friends in her grade, so we drifted apart in the first couple of months after the school year started. Then one day Madison just stopped calling me back. I didn't talk to her for a while after that, although I probably saw her from a distance here and there at school, but we never spoke. Then I ran into her at the beginning of the summer before I was going to be in eighth grade, so before her freshman year, and she was totally different from the Madison I was friends with in tennis camp."

  "Peppier?" I offered.

  "No," Suzie said, "Totally depressed, actually. I mean, we complained about tennis camp, but we had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs anyway. The Madison I ran into that summer was almost totally out of it and a little chunky, like she had totally let herself go."

  "What? But..." I started trying to wrap my head around the idea of a depressed Madison. It was impossible. All I could see was the peppy girl I had seen at the first Pep Club meeting - the girl who was full of life and positive energy.

  Suzie shrugged, "I don't know why she was depressed or anything. I mean, maybe when I saw her she had just broken up with a guy or something. But still, you could tell she had major problems and I only talked to her for a few minutes."

  I was still trying to grasp a depressed Madison and I had to say it, "But she was president of the Pep Club."

  "Well, only this year. She must have gotten better over the last two years. Or gotten meds or talked to a counselor or something," Suzie started, thought for a moment, and then continued, "And, that happened by her junior year because I saw her at a bunch of basketball games cheering like a maniac with the Pep Club last year and she looked totally alive again and way healthier."

  "Can you think of anyone who might want to murder her?" I asked.

  Suzie looked at me strangely, "Are you investigating again?"

  "You did just get out of the hospital," Kyle warned me. He was always so realistic and rational. That's probably why he was a science genius. Still, did everyone have to take Ethan's side on this? I had a side too.

  Suzie and Kyle were in the small group of people who knew the whole story about how I had ended up in the hospital. At least, I think they were one of a few. I didn't seem to be the talk of the school so far. Then again, there had been a girl murdered at the Homecoming Dance over the weekend, so that might have blown any story about me being a female sleuth in addition to a funeral crashing graveyard girl weirdo out of the water.

  "I was just curious," I said, not wanting to admit my sleuthing to anyone in case Ethan found out by way of casual gossip, "So, can you think of anyone?"

  Suzie gave me a look, but instead of questioning me on my motives again she thought for a moment and said, "Maybe."

  "Who?" I asked after Suzie didn't say anything more.

  "Well, if I had to guess a suspect, and I mean, she may not be guilty at all..." Suzie started.

  "Just say it," I demanded. Suzie was the type to feel guilty about naming names and normally I would too, but this was murder we were talking about.

  Suzie sighed and then said, "Madison's ex-best friend, Julia Morgan. They were friends forever, even when we were in tennis camp, but at the beginning of this year, they had a huge falling out when she claimed Madison stole the Pep Club presidency from her."

  "How do you know about that?" I asked, wondering why Ariel hadn't said anything about Julia. Then again, maybe Ariel was friends with Julia too and biased against her being a murder suspect. "You're not in Pep Club, are you?"

  Suzie shook her head adamantly, "No. It's so not my thing to yell and cheer at games. I'd rather be reading a book. Actually, I kind of know this guy Logan who used to be friends with them too in junior high and he's the one that told me that Julia and Madison had a huge falling out about Pep Club."

  I had no problem believing the idea that the killer was a girl. Girls could be just as murderous as guys when they put their minds to it. Was the Pep Club presidency worth a murder sentence, though? I didn't know Julia Morgan. Still, it was possible that she thought it was completely worth it. I mean, crazy was crazy. I'd have to talk to Julia and see what I could find out.

  "Do you think Julia really could have done it then?" I asked Suzie to clarify.

  Suzie shrugged, "Who knows, you know? I didn't know her that well even when Madison and I were friends, just because a big group of us only hung out a couple of times. Still, the one thing I do remember about Julia, though, is that she was kind of ruthless. Madison got this shirt for her birthday that Julia wanted, but her mom wouldn't pay for it, and Julia spilled fruit punch all over Madison on purpose, to ruin it when we were at the mall. Things like that."

  I nodded, considering this. Spilling punch on your best friend's shirt wasn't the same as murder, but I still put Julia on my short list to talk to, right behind Noah. For Madison being such a happy peppy girl, I was surprised how easily murder suspects were finding their way out of the woodwork. Of course, I was only at two real leads, but I wondered how many more would be on the shortlist by the end of the day. It was only fourth period and I hadn't even really done much investigating yet.

  The bell rang and Suzie kissed Kyle quickly on the lips and ran to her lab table. They sure were disgustingly cute and I probably would have teased Kyle about it as we prepared for our Chemistry lab, but I was too busy thinking about what Suzie said. I had my second suspect. I was going to have to think of a more clever way to talk to Julia Morgan. The bump into a person had lost its effectiveness and I didn't have much hope for the just talk to them tactic either. I guess I could lie and come up with a clever facade, a part to play that would get people to tell me what I wanted. That worked in books and movies too. The problem, as far as high school went, was my weird girl reputation. People already assumed I was a certain type of person and I couldn't break that stereotype in one conversation. I'd have to ponder further.

  My stomach grumbled. I was already hungry for lunch. I didn't want to be. Lunch meant seeing Ethan and I'll admit it, I was a little nervous about that. Did I admit to breaking the promise? Or did I just not say anything so that by the time Ethan found out, I'd already have solved the case? Maybe Ethan would be really proud of me instead of mad? I hoped.

  Chapter 7: Lunch Sleuthing

  I walked into the lunchroom and looked over toward my usual spot. Ethan had joined me for lunch a few times before my hospital stay and it had definitely made us the gossip of the school. Then we had gone to the dance and sealed our high school reputation as a dating couple. At least that was my interpretation of things. The question was, would Ethan take this time to get some space from me and sit with his friends at lunch or would he further cement us as a couple to the student body by officially sitting with me at lunch again? It was a good question and that and the breaking of my promise were both warring with my thoughts as I walked toward my lunch table.

  I was disappointed to see that Ethan wasn't at my usual table as I walked by it to the cafeteria food lu
nch line. I glanced over to see if he was with his friends at the popular table, but he wasn't over there either. I hurried into the lunch line and ordered cheese fries and a Coke. Murder investigations made me want junk food. Maybe Detective Dixon had something similar going on with his Styrofoam cups.

  Besides, I deserved the grease, caffeine, and sugar after the hospital stay and everything. I actually missed the high school cheese fries, even if that was crazy. I hurried through the lunch line and paid the cashier with exact change. I didn't want Ethan to not see me at my usual table and think that I was the one that needed space or something.

  Rushing toward my lunch spot, just in case Ethan decided to show up and hadn't because I wasn't there, I felt my heart plummet a little. I really wanted to sit with Ethan at lunch today. I wanted to spend the hour hearing about his classes or the latest sci-fi book he was reading or the song he was working on. The last time I saw him, he had dropped me off after the dance, after the police had cleared us away from the murder scene. It was definitely an anticlimactic end to what was supposed the have been the most romantic evening of my high school life. Ethan hadn't even kissed me goodnight. We had both been distracted.

  And, we hadn't talked since then. Of course, it had just been a short twenty-four plus hours, okay more like thirty something hours. I felt a pang in my heart at the thought of more time passing without talking to him, especially if Ethan was only across the lunchroom sitting with his friends. That was a no man's land to me. Unless Ethan invited me, there was no way I was going over there to sit with him.

  Wow, was I really this obsessed with Ethan? I couldn't help wondering if this was what it was like to fall in love. Or, maybe it was just me going crazy because they sure felt pretty similar and I was very confused.

  I walked toward my lunch table feeling more melancholy. Ethan wasn't there. He wasn't having lunch with me. Oh well, I forced myself to think, that's okay. No big deal. I have a murder mystery to solve and suspects to think about. I had my crime notebook and my cheese fries and my caffeine filled, sugary soda. If I really got bored, I could do my makeup homework. I'd totally be fine.