“That’s it, then!” Ethan lights up.
“Getting someone expelled for a club position is a bit much, even for Avery,” I say. “Besides, Kaila went off the deep end. I saw it. She was ranting, paranoid, and she punched Emma in the face….” I trail off. Ethan’s giving me a look. Though I have trouble connecting cheese puff–dusted, wine-drunk Avery with something so diabolical…he’s right. “Fine, put Kaila on that list.”
“Under Avery and Emma,” Ethan says, typing out fake bomb threat under both. “You don’t get a fist to the face unless you did something. Could Kaila have come back to campus to get revenge?”
“She couldn’t have hurt Emma.” I shake my head. “They sent her to a wilderness reform program. It’s where rich kids with expulsions go while their parents work to get them into a different boarding school.” Despite my denials, I try to remember whether Kaila was local. Would she have a reason to be back in Massachusetts this close to the holidays? Could she have gotten onto campus last Wednesday?
“So, you’re seeing what I’m seeing?” Ethan’s eyes rake over the list. “Motives. I know you’re set on Avery, but the Harvard thing is weak, I think. A few of these, though, are serious reasons to kill someone.”
“But Emma only did a few of these.”
“The overwhelming pattern from talking to people is that they don’t like any of you. And no one is completely certain who did what.” Ethan goes quiet for a moment. Then he says to his hands, “I’m glad you didn’t know about any of this, though.”
I don’t deserve the zip of happiness his words inspire. “So, this is our new list of suspects? With Seth, Jason, and Kaila as our top three?”
“From this list? I’d really just look at Kaila. Jason had a bad test day, and Seth’s pride is hurt, but those are nothing next to getting someone expelled.”
“Men with hurt pride murder women all the time,” I mutter darkly.
“Seth as a killer, though? I mean, on that subject, we can’t rule out Tyler or the secret boyfriend.”
I can’t believe I forgot to tell him. “Tyler came into the office, so I talked to him a bit. Emma was with him after the party for a hookup, but she left around midnight. She got a text from someone and said she had to go. Tyler thinks it was one of her friends, maybe about an after-party.”
“So, they are lying?”
“If Tyler’s right about who texted Emma, yeah.”
Ethan senses my hesitation. “You think it was the other guy?”
“The hookup Margot mentioned may have been Tyler, but her dropping hints that Emma was cheating…Margot is a Fort Knox of secrets. If she let it slip, it’s probably based in truth. But after talking to Tyler, I don’t think he has a clue. So the jealous boyfriend doesn’t fit. The police seem to agree. Avery said they cleared him today.”
“Really?” Ethan pulls a face. “That sucks. Jealousy’s a great motive.”
“So is revenge.” I wave my hand at our growing list. “I’ll try to get in touch with Kaila. Start there.”
“And I’ll keep digging into the timeline, since now we know Emma left to go somewhere at midnight. We just have to figure out where she would have gone between then and her death.”
“It’s a big blank,” I say. “I talked to Paul, the security guy. He says the key cameras were hacked. Down for a few hours, the critical hours. There’s zero footage of her leaving Whitley. Nowhere to go.” Frustration builds, exploding like someone combined soda and Pop Rocks and shook. “This is hopeless!” I shove Ethan’s laptop at him and jump off the bed, starting to pace.
“We’re not cops,” I continue. “We’re barely journalists, either. A ton of people have motives, but we can’t prove anyone was or wasn’t anywhere at the time of the murder. We’re stuck.”
“On the bright side, that means the cops can’t prove anything about you, either.”
“Except that I was definitely out of bed at the crucial time. It’s circumstantial, but it could be enough. We’re back at square one.”
“Let’s sleep on it. Ask around.” Ethan’s voice is gentle. Reassuring. I stop pacing and sit back down. Ethan continues. “We still have the Margot lead to follow, whomever Emma was hooking up with. You’ll reach out to Kaila. We’re okay.”
Ethan’s the king of pep talks, but I still can’t help feeling like we’re spinning our wheels. However, I keep the rest of my anxiety spiral to myself, nodding when Ethan suggests we meet for breakfast.
A sharp triple rap on Ethan’s door nearly makes me jump a foot in the air. “Lights-out in fifteen!” calls a voice I vaguely recognize. Ethan must catch my expression. “Mr. Tipton is the faculty in residence here.” He looks to the door. “My roommate will be back any minute. You’ll have to be careful sneaking out.”
I don’t waste any time, slipping out into the hallway when Tipton’s back is turned. My legs manage long, quick strides to the main landing, but instead of descending the staircase in view of all, I steal along the perpendicular hallway that tees out from the middle of the building, all the way to the back stairwell. I take it down two levels into the basement to find the busted maintenance door Ethan mentioned, so I can slip out unseen.
The lights in the basement level are motion activated, and they tick on as soon as my feet hit the landing. The soft whir of a dryer to my left indicates the laundry room. I move in the opposite direction, assuming maintenance will be at the front of the basement level. I try the last door to the right, which opens out into a muck room of sorts. There are all kinds of physical plant bric-a-brac, from industrial cleaning supplies to rusting cans of paint, and an ancient lawn mower I am pretty sure is older than I am.
Metal shelves tower in the center of the room. After slipping down the middle of the corridor they form, I find the back door. I reach for the handle, praying this is the right one, when it swings wide open and Tyler barrels right into me.
“Olivia, shit!” There’s a warbling sound as the ream of paper he’s carrying cascades to the floor. I bend over to help him pick up the sheets and can’t help but look at them.
“You’re hosting a candlelight vigil for Emma?”
“A memorial,” he corrects me. “It’s too cold to plant a tree, and not enough time to order a plaque, but I wanted to do something before the holidays. Emma’s parents are coming. I have to get the word out ASAP so people know to stay through Sunday night. I don’t want everyone leaving early.” He sniffles. “I was putting these up around campus and lost track of time.”