Take the Fall(42)

I set my mug on a side table with a frown, but I have to admit this place wasn’t a bad idea. There’s little to no chance anyone from school is going to walk in—there’s a gentler, cheaper coffee shop much closer—and even if someone did, we’re unlikely to be spotted in this corner. Dina does come here to study, and to get away from the diner, but I’m picking her up from school in Uncle Noah’s Passat since her car is in the shop.

“Yeah, well, let’s not linger,” I say, trying to stay on task. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“Okay.” Marcus pushes his hair out of his eyes and leafs through a sketchbook. “I think, in addition to compiling a list of suspects, we should probably come up with some kind of timeline. If we can figure out where people were and when, we can determine who had opportunity, then work our way back toward motive.”

“How much of a timeline do we need? The picture wasn’t in my locker at the end of the day Monday. The building was locked overnight. Unless someone had access—”

“I’m talking about Gretchen’s murder, Sonia.” He raises his eyebrows.

Heat floods my face, warming up the whole room. “Right. Well, I’m talking about the creepy photo with my face scratched out like I’m next on someone’s list.”

His eyes darken. “So, you’re actually worried about that now?”

I pull at a rip in my jeans. “Until I know who left it and why, I’m being cautious, yeah.”

“So cautious you go walking in the woods by yourself.”

My head snaps up. “Remind me why you suddenly care?”

A line forms between his eyebrows. “I’ve always cared.”

My lips part, but I can’t make a sound. He couldn’t mean that the way I want him to.

He stares down into a black cup of coffee and exhales. “Look, Gretchen could bring out the worst in people, and I was no exception. She wanted me to dislike you . . . so I did my best.”

A sharp pain opens at the center of my chest. Because what he said about Gretchen is true, but the way he treated me the last six months felt too awful not to be real.

“It was wrong, Sonia. I know that doesn’t fix anything. I just want you to know so maybe—” He stops, meets my eyes. “Maybe you’ll stop being angry with me.”

I search his face for some hint this is a lie, that he’s only saying this to win me over. There’s nothing but apology in his eyes. I sip my coffee just to look away. It was amazing the things Gretchen could get perfectly nice people to do. And as terrible as this makes me feel, I’m guilty of following suit. No one wanted to be on Gretchen’s bad side.

“Why don’t we focus on the photo and work backward.” I pull out my notebook, ignoring his frustrated frown. He’s clearly eager to forgive and forget, but this is too much at once. I’m going to need more time. “If we’re assuming whoever killed Gretchen is the same person who left the photo in my locker, why don’t we start by seeing where our lists overlap.”

Reluctantly, he hands over his pad of paper, and I give him mine.

Kip Peterson Marcus Perez

Kirsten Meyer Reva Stone

Tyrone Wallace Kirsten Meyer

Aisha Wallace Tyrone Wallace

Haley Jacobs Yuji Himura

Reva Stone Kevin Fowler

Kip Peterson

Person Unknown

“Haley and Aisha? I don’t think so.” I almost laugh.

“Why not?”

“For one thing, Haley wasn’t even at the party. She was grounded.”

“Reva wasn’t at the party either,” he says. “That didn’t stop you from adding her.”

My temples throb. “Right, but Reva leaving the photo makes sense. Haley and Aisha wouldn’t—”

“Do yourself a favor, Sonia. Stop looking at these people as your friends and start seeing them as suspects. Haley hated Gretchen’s guts. Aisha lived next door to her.”

“Haley didn’t hate Gretchen.” I say it, but I’m not sure. “And since when does living next door to someone make you a murder suspect?”

“What you should be asking yourself is, do either of them have a problem with you?”

I open my mouth. He waits.

“Of course they don’t.”

“Not that you know of.”

I fold my arms tighter. Haley and Aisha had their issues with Gretchen—quite a few people did—but I know my friends. I’ve never given them reason to fall out with me.

“I don’t see Yuji on your list.”

“He stayed at Brianne’s till after midnight. She and a bunch of other people verified that.”

“So, in your world, everyone’s guilty till proven innocent.”

“I know how it feels.” A shadow passes over his face. “Anyone as gorgeous, charming, and intelligent as Gretchen is bound to have her share of enemies. That being said, I’m sure you do too.”

I blink, trying to decide if he meant that as a compliment or an insult.

“I don’t have enemies. Or if I do . . . it’s neither Haley nor Aisha.”

He hands back my notebook. “Okay, fine. Why is Kip Peterson underlined on your list?”

I hesitate, flipping through empty pages so I won’t have to look at him. “Because he says he was in the woods with Gretchen right before she died . . . and because he posted that photo online.”