The Prom King: A Murder Mystery ✔

Chapter 30: The Confession - Part 4

"What did Ethan do?" Dad asked.

"After school that day, I asked Ethan to work some magic and get Sophie to get him the key to the medicine cabinet."

"Did he?"

"Just like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "I was quite impressed. I didn't expect him to be able to work so quickly."

"She doesn't even feel sorry for this," I said. "She's sorry she was caught. I wish I could give her a piece of my mind." My anger had been boiling throughout this confession. I was tempted to leave the room and stop hearing this, but I had to know what happened. 

"That time is gonna come before you know it, Jo. Trust me, I want to give her a talking to, too," Jonas replied.

"...told Chase that I would 'confess' to what I did so he'd stop worrying about it. The next day at prom, and everything was set up to...you know," Cassidy continued. 

"Why do it at prom with so many people there?"

"Chase only gave me until prom day to confess what I did. I told him at prom that I confessed and all, but I didn't want to take chances and have him find out the next day. He'd probably find out that I didn't do it and tell someone the truth. I figured it might look more suspicious if I killed him after that. Plus, revenge is sweetest when you have a crowd."

Dad grimaced. "If you say so."

"I got Ethan to take a penicillin pill from Miss Robinson's office, and then he was able to sneak it into Chase's brownie. He just took one and put it in a box filled with mints so hopefully, no one would notice if they opened the box. The kitchen doesn't have any security cameras, so he made sure to put the pill in the brownie while he was there."

"How did you know Chase was even allergic to penicillin? Fatally allergic even? Jonas and Johanna didn't know."

"Chase tells me everything. Plus, I also asked him if he had any allergies, so...that helped."

"I see. Weren't you worried about him feeling the pill in his mouth and spitting it out?"

"There were dried fruits in the brownies, so I figured he'd think it was one of the fruits."

"Still, I'm sure penicillin tastes terrible if you just bite into it like that."

"Oh, trust me, it did, but I purposefully made sure Chase didn't have a napkin to spit it out in, and I encouraged him to just swallow it."

"Wow, okay. Then what happened?"

"Chase definitely wasn't feeling good after that. He threw up a couple of times, I think. He wanted to go home or to a hospital, but I wanted him to wait until the announcement for prom king."

"Why?"

"I knew that it would take an hour for the reaction to finish its course. If he went home, his parents might know that it was an allergic reaction, and all that work would've been for nothing."

"Didn't Chase know what a reaction to penicillin would feel like since he was the one allergic to it?"

"The last time Chase had penicillin was to treat an infection he had when he was a baby, so no."

"We all know what happened during the announcement. What about that fight you and Chase had with Sophie?"

"Oh, that was totally coincidental."

"Ok, then why did you keep on fighting at Chase's funeral?"

"Eh, I figured it'd help with the role of the 'grieving girlfriend'. I think it worked too," she said with a smile. 

"Ethan told me that Sophie was being questioned by Jonas and Johanna, and I knew that eventually, they'd find out something. My aunt Valerie works at Stanford University. I'm sure you already knew that. She's the one who told me that Chase had accepted his scholarship there. Anyway, she owed me a favor--"

"What kind of favor?"

"Let's just say I know some things about Val that could get her fired, and she probably wouldn't even be able to work at a McDonald's."

"All right, what did you ask her to do?"

"Well, like I did with Chase, I prefer to get people's silence with gifts, not murder. So I asked Val to make sure that Jonas got the sports scholarship. Then I got my Uncle Robert to get the car to Sophie to bring to Johanna's. Robby owed me a favor too."

"Why did you want Sophie to bring the car?"

"I was hoping she would be blamed for all of this. I guess I was wrong," she shrugged.

"Did you give Carly any gifts before you killed her?"

"No. I didn't like Carly. I knew she had a crush on Ethan, so I decided to just get rid of her. I brought her some cookies, told her they were nut-free even though they weren't, and took her epi-pen. I dropped it in the bushes on the way out. I knew she was like super allergic, and by the time her mom got home, it'd be too late. That's my tale, detective. Any other questions?"

"No, Miss Taylor. I think we're done here. Please stand up."

Dad drew out his handcuffs. "Cassidy Taylor, you are under arrest for the murder of Chase Adams and Carly Carson."