Free Mourning Moon (A Guinan Jones Paranormal Mystery #2) by Callista Foley Page B

their exchanges were tense and sarcastic. Had the friendship been an act, and if so, for whose benefit?
    I'd settled ba ck in the seat and I spotted what I suspected was an unmarked police car a short distance away. The person in the driver's seat moved slightly. As we passed the car, a woman with a round face and dark hair styled in a chin-length bob tipped her head at me.

Chapter Eleven
     
    I didn't see the woman at the funeral. Now that the police suspected Desmond's death was a homicide, she likely was a homicide detective. Sometimes the police attended victims' funerals to show respect for the family or to scope out possible suspects.
    The next morning before first period, I checked the Morning Malcontent blog. After reading the first paragraph, I spit out the water I was sipping.
     
    Crucible Heats Up 
     
    Now that we know the death of Desmond Drake was no accident, expect the crucible to boil over. The five people sitting at his table that day—Embry Sullivan '15, Miss Ione Hamilton '14, Sinder Gillespie '15, Guinan Jones '15, and Luke Chapman '15—are no doubt the prime suspects. Which one of these seemingly normal students offed Mr. Drake?
     
    If you believe in psychics, and that sort of thing, we have a few clues, thanks to Miss Jones:
     
    "I don't want to leave you."
     
    What did Mr. Drake mean? Was he referring to Miss Hamilton, with whom he had a brief fling? Or was it the besotted Miss Gillespie, who we all know carried a torch for him? In his final moments before death, had Mr. Drake perhaps expressed regret over not acting on his feelings for Miss Gillespie?
     
    Did Mr. Sullivan remove a rival for the affections of girlfriend? And Mr. Chapman—what motive could he have? And what of Miss Jones? She didn't know Mr. Drake very well. That doesn't preclude a motive, of course. She also "heard" him say he wanted to make up for something, for someone to know him. The signs seem to point to regret, loss, waste, and love.
     
    Be vigilant, Grierdons, and most of all, be careful. There walks among us a murderer.
     
    When it was time for lunch, I headed outside and tossed my food in the garbage. I hitched my book bag onto my shoulder and started walking away from the school. Fifteen minutes later, I hailed a cab to take me home. An hour later, I was in bed feigning illness.
    There walks among us a murderer.
    I buried my head under the covers. So the blogger had named each of us as suspects. I didn't care about that. I cared that there was reason to label somebody a suspect.
    Murderer.
    I watched TV and ate the soup Granddad brought me. He came in with a chessboard, and we played for a while. He didn't ask any questions, but I sensed he was on the verge. I liked that he didn't push. He'd called my mother and told her I'd left school early. I was dozing when he knocked on my door. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My stomach sank at his expression.
    "What's wrong?"
    "Nothing's wrong," he said, although his face read otherwise. "There's a Detective Jane Czarnecki downstairs. Homicide. She says has a few questions."
    Now my stomach flipped . I changed out of my pajamas, put on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, and raked a hand through my hair. I pretended it was normal to have a homicide detective in my house ready to question me.
    "I told her your parents weren't home," Granddad whispered as we headed downstairs. " I mentioned that I'm a cop, and the detective insists this is investigative questioning only."
    "I don't think Mom will see the distinction ."
    He grunted. "If she can't trust her father, a law enforcemen t officer, for crying out loud...but I called her just in case. She's finishing an interview with one of her ghostwriting clients."
    Detective Czarnecki stood near the fireplace in the living room looking at pictures on the mantle. She turned to face us, a pleasant smile on her make-up-free face. She was the same woman I'd seen at the church. She looked about twenty-five but had to be older.
    "Thank you so