Free The Red Slippers by Carolyn Keene Page B

and pulled out a strip of photos, the kind taken in the photo booths that you see at amusement parks or weddings.
    These photos were of Fiona and Colin. In the first one, they smiled. In the second one, they stuck their tongues out. The third, they held bunny ears over each other’s heads, and in the fourth they kissed.
    Maggie’s eyebrows shot to the top of her head, and her jaw literally dropped open. “You and Colin are together?” she asked, sounding completely scandalized.
    â€œShh!” Fiona hissed. “No one can know! I hid the photo strip in the piano bench. I was worried that you would find it when you went to get your shoes back, so I used the fire alarm as an opportunity to take them, but then your hired goon confronted me.”
    Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Were you at Hugo’s last night with Colin’s dad?” I asked.
    Fiona nodded. “But Colin wasn’t.” She looked at Maggie. “Please don’t be mad at Colin,” she said.
    â€œWhy would I be mad at Colin?” Maggie asked. “I like Colin.”
    â€œI know,” Fiona said. “And he likes you. I don’t even think it was really personal. He was just lashing out. You know how he gets when he’s angry, and yesterday after his dad showed up and threatened to never let him dance again, he was so upset.” Fiona looked down at the ground, fighting back tears. “He was saying how it wasn’t fair. All your dreams were coming true with Oscar coming to the performance and everything, and all his dreams were being ruined.”
    It took a second to click into place, but I realized what she was saying. “Colin destroyed Maggie’s dressing room, didn’t he?” I asked.
    Fiona nodded miserably. “It was so scary.”
    â€œI don’t get it,” Maggie asked. “I thought Colin and I were friends.”
    â€œYou are. He was out of control. Your dressing room was just in the wrong place. I knew I had to do something to try to help him. I convinced his dad to meet for dinner. I wanted to persuade him to come to the show tonight. I thought if he saw Colin dance, he would realize how good Colin is, and maybe he’d change his mind.”
    She looked at the ground. “But I don’t think I got through to him. He just kept saying how embarrassing it was to see his son in tights.”
    She took a deep breath. Tears leaked from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She clearly cared a lot about Colin. I looked over at Maggie, whose face had softened.
    â€œI know Colin’s really sorry about your dressing room. He’s planning on writing you a letter of apology, promising to pay for the damage.”
    Maggie nodded, obviously still trying to make sense of everything that Fiona had just said.
    Fiona looked up at the stage. “Your scene is next. You’d better get to the wings before Jamison flips his lid.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Maggie said. She hurried backstage, and Fiona followed her.
    George, Bess, and I sat in some nearby seats.
    â€œSo,” George said, “case closed? Whatever Fiona didn’t do was Colin acting out because of his dad?”
    I thought about it. It certainly explained some of what had happened to Maggie, but not all of it. And, more importantly, it didn’t feel right. I had learned to trust my instincts when it came to solving mysteries. Usually everything fit together, and there were no more niggling doubts in the back of my mind. I didn’t have that feeling now. Colin destroying Maggie’s room had been impulsive and irrational. Everything else that happened to Maggie—that is, other than the pranks Fiona had confessed to—had been planned out; there seemed to be a purpose behind it.
    â€œI’m not sure,” I said. “Maggie’s phone being tampered with and the poster being vandalized all happened before Colin was confronted by his