sugar, spice and everything nice.

THREE

"Did they - the forensics, I mean - did they find out which poison was used to kill Tessie?"

"Yes," Officer Carson answers as he looks up from his notes. "It was a combination of nail polish remover, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, bleach and rat poison."

"Ew," I say, as if I didn't know - after all, I made the poison myself.

"The killer used household objects, so we think that they knew it would be easier to find them if they bought obvious items." Officer Carson says. He has dark eyes and skin like Tessie, but he has buzzed hair - like Eli.

"Who are the suspects?" I wonder out loud.

Officer Carson looks up. "Apart from you, you mean?"

"Yup," I say. "I want to help find out who killed Tessie."

Officer Carson raises his eyebrows. Then he shrugs. "So far we have you, Tam Nguyen, Aria Johnson, Elijah Wills and Emilio de Rossi."

I whistle. "Tam? She's in my math class. What's her alibi?"

"She says she wanted some candy and books."

"Fair," I admit. "What about Emilio?"

"He was, apparently, looking for an Italian-English dictionary. He was also casually spying on Elijah."

I snort. "Yup, sounds like him. And Aria and Eli? They were Tessie's best friend since kindergarten and boyfriend, respectively. What are they there for?"

"They were having dinner out with Miss Smith so they would have had the opportunity to put the concoction in her drink or on her food."

I nod. "What were their reactions when you accused them of Tessie's murder?"

"Miss Johnson burst into tears while her sibling Talia looked at me like they were going to kill me, and Mr. Wills started crying while his dads looked furious."

"Poor guys." I say. "They really did love Tessie. I know they didn't kill her. They have no motive, and no mental health conditions that could make them do that even without motive. You should have seen them at the announcement assembly. They both looked like they wanted to walk right off a cliff then and there."

Officer Carson looks at me. "You do realize that that puts you under closer inspection if we decide they're not suspects any more, right?"

"I know, but I don't care. I didn't do it, and I know they definitely didn't do it, so why would it matter to me?"

✣ ✣ ✣

"Officer Carson told me that the cops took Aria and Eli off the suspect list," I tell Babcia.

She sighs in relief. We need to act innocent at home, too - the cops could have planted a microphone and camera. "Dzieki Bogu. The poor kids. It must have hurt them so much."

I nod. "I'm glad they're off the list."

"Me too, kochanie." Babcia wipes her hands on her apron, then puts the cookies in the oven. I sit on the kitchen table, a big oak table from the United States. "Get off the table, you'll make it dirty."

"These are clean clothes, Babcia!" I protest. "And I just showered."

Babcia sighs, but lets it be. "What day is it?"

"Thursday," I say. "I'm going to the funeral procession tomorrow."

Babacia's head whips around to face me. "Silly girl! Don't sit here, go get your outfit. Remember, be respectful."

I hop off the table and run upstairs. My closet is quite big, and I find a pair of plain black jeans, a black shirt, and a black jacket. I place them on my bed, then get my Docs from the front door. I put the friendship bracelet I have from Tessie on the shirt, then put black lipstick and eyeliner on there as well.