Free All-Night Party by R.L. Stine Page A

to me? If you’d only untie me, I could help you figure this out.”
    â€œSave it,” Gil ordered harshly. He moved closer to Patrick. “We’re not untying you. We’re going to holdyou until we can get the police. When they get here, you can tell them that you’re innocent.”
    â€œPlease,” Patrick begged. “You have to listen to me.”
    Gretchen shook her head. “There’s nothing left to say,” she told him. “There’s just too much proof.”
    â€œThat’s the whole point!” Patrick exclaimed. “If I killed Cindy, would I make it so easy for you? Would I leave so much evidence around?”
    Patrick’s eyes darted frantically around the kitchen.
    â€œIf I was the killer, would I hide the knife in my sleeping bag?” Patrick demanded. “Would I walk around in a bloody shirt, and leave flour on my boots? Would I leave my cap in Cindy’s hand? And leave her note in my own backpack?”
    Patrick’s eyes pleaded with Gretchen.
    She suddenly felt uncomfortable.
    Patrick’s words made sense.
    â€œGretchen,” Patrick pleaded, “you’re the only one willing to keep an open mind. You know I couldn’t have done this.”
    Gretchen swallowed hard and stared down at the floor.
    â€œPlease, just think about it,” Patrick continued. “Somebody is trying to make me look guilty. I’m not stupid. If I were the killer, I wouldn’t leave clues all over the cabin.”
    He let out an angry cry. “Don’t you see? Someone is trying to pin the blame on me. It has to be one of you.”
    Gretchen turned to the open doorway. She saw Hannah standing there. Their eyes met.
    Sometimes I wish she was dead!
    Hannah’s words about Cindy echoed in Gretchen’s mind.
    â€œYou’re not going to listen to him, are you?” Hannah asked shrilly. “He’ll say anything so we’ll untie him. If we let him loose, we’ll all be in danger.”
    â€œDon’t you see what’s happening here?” Patrick demanded. “Someone in this cabin is trying to frame me.”
    â€œFrame you?” Gretchen asked. “Why would someone want to frame you?”
    â€œI don’t know!” Patrick exclaimed. “But they went too far. They planted too much evidence! If I killed Cindy, I’d try to hide the evidence. I wouldn’t leave it all lying around.”
    From his seat at the table, Jackson cast a doubtful look in Gretchen’s direction. She could see the question in his eyes. He had his doubts, too.
    Gretchen turned to Gil and Marco, sitting on the counter. Both looked uneasy. She could tell they were also unsure.
    â€œHe’s right,” Jackson agreed. “We’ve been stupid.”
    Gretchen didn’t know what to believe. She paced the kitchen. She took Cindy’s note out of her pocket and read it again.
    She saw Patrick watching her, straining at the ropes to see the note. “Is that the note you found?” he asked. “Let me see it.”
    Gretchen stopped in front of Patrick’s chair. She unfolded the paper and held it up in front of him.
    Patrick leaned forward, pulling the ropes taut.
    Gretchen watched as his eyes moved across the handwritten words.
    When he reached the bottom, his mouth dropped open.
    â€œI don’t believe it!” he cried.

Chapter
27

    â€œI t’s phony! A complete phony!” Patrick declared.
    â€œHow can you say that?” Gretchen asked him. “I’ve seen Cindy’s handwriting hundreds of times. So have the rest of us.”
    â€œBut it isn’t Cindy’s handwriting,” Patrick insisted.
    â€œIt looks like her handwriting to me,” Gretchen replied.
    â€œSure, if you look at it quickly. But you missed something,” Patrick said heatedly. “Something that proves Cindy didn’t write it.”
    â€œWhat?” Gretchen demanded.
    â€œCindy