CHAPTER 13: INTERROGATING
I had devoured my piece of chocolate peanut butter pie (still not as good as Wired's peanut butter banana milkshake!) and was sipping on a hot chocolate by the time Jenna Martin joined Ethan and I at The Pie Shop.
The Pie Shop was a diner, but they specialized in pies. If their peanut butter chocolate one was any sort of representation, they did make pretty excellent pies. Ethan had opted for a burger and fries instead of desert, but I was fine with having a slice of pie for dinner. I knew I had just eaten a bunch of cookies and maybe following that with pie wasn't the best idea ever, but I could eat healthy at home. I wanted to spend my money on something yummy and besides, canned soup and TV dinners were waiting for me at home if I wanted them.
"How's the pie?" Ethan asked between bites of his burger.
"Great," I managed, between my own mouthfuls.
It was silent for a moment and I wondered if without the murder to talk about if we'd even have anything in common. I decided to find out, "So, I noticed a guitar in your room. Do you play?"
"I try to when I have time. I took lessons in junior high, but I've just been messing around since," Ethan said, chewing on a fry.
"What kind of music?" I asked, making sure my mouth wasn't full before I spoke.
Ethan thought for a moment, "Indie rock mostly, although punk rock is fun, maybe a little folk rock too. I'm a big fan of Green Day. I know they're getting up there, but they're fun. And, I like Bob Dylan. He's classic."
I didn't know much about music, but I could hear the love he had for it in his voice, "Are you in a band?"
Ethan shook his head, "Not right now. No time between school, sports, and college prep stuff. Maybe eventually. I write my own songs too, so it keeps me going."
"What kind of songs do you write?" I was curious.
Ethan shrugged, "Usually stuff that's going on in my life. Sometimes love songs. The usual."
Now I was more curious, "Love songs?"
Ethan laughed, "You're such a girl. Yeah. I mean, not really about anyone or anything, but what I think real love should be like, you know? Hey, it worked for the Beatles."
I smiled, "Yeah. Do you ever play them for anyone?"
Ethan thought for a moment, "Not really. Some of them are kind of personal. Maybe eventually, when they're ready, but I haven't even tried the whole band thing or playing live or anything. So, eventually is my answer."
I nodded, "Just make sure you keep it up. It's important to do the things you love."
Ethan smiled at me, "So, what do you love to do besides crash funerals and solve murder mysteries?"
I thought for a moment, "As boring as it sounds, I mostly read and watch movies."
Ethan shrugged, "That's not boring. I like those things too. What's your favorite movie?"
"All time favorite? That's hard," I thought for a moment, "But if I had to choose, probably Gone With the Wind."
"That's a classic," Ethan grinned.
"And, a chick flick. You wanted to say," I retorted, "But I like it because it was my mom's favorite movie and her favorite book. Now, it's mine. Second on the list would be Star Wars, by the way and it's a very close second."
Ethan laughed, "Bladerunner is at the top of my list."
"Also a classic," I said.
It was really nice talking to Ethan, not about the murder investigation for once, but about normal stuff like movies and music. It was a nice change of pace. I was really interested in what Ethan had to say too. And, no, not because he was cute, but because he was actually cool. So, it was too bad that the moment was interrupted by Jenna.
Jenna had obviously come straight from the funeral home, still in her black dress and sexy stockings. We were still in our funeral garb too, but Ethan had left his jacket in the car.
"Hi," Jenna said, sliding into the booth next to Ethan.
I was sitting across from them and trying not to notice how close she sat to Ethan. "I'm Kait."
"Jenna," Jenna said as she held a tight smile. "So, I guess I should just start. I don't want to do the usual bullshit talking about stuff that doesn't really matter. You both think my sister was murdered?"
"We're not trying to freak you out, Jenna," Ethan had turned to her, with concern.
"Oh, I'm not freaking out," Jenna said, "I've been thinking about it since we talked and I think you could be right. But I think you could be wrong too. I mean, we've had a couple of crappy years."
I nodded. Ethan did the same. There was an awkward silence. I watched Jenna fidget in her chair. It was so bizarre to see her sitting across from us very much alive when her twin was across the street in a coffin. They looked so much alike. This had to be horrible for Jenna. Still, we had to start this before Jenna changed her mind.
"So, what exactly happened to Vanessa the night she died?" I asked after a moment.
It had to be asked and I knew it would be hard for Jenna to talk about, but all Ethan and I knew was what his mom had overheard and what was in the obituary. We had to ask. At least that's what I kept telling myself even though I felt guilty about it.
"Well," Jenna said, and then seemed to collect herself. "It was pretty much a normal day. I mean, I didn't see Vanessa in the morning. She liked to sleep in. I went to work. Then I came home around four. Vanessa and I argued for a second and then I went out with some friends. My mom found her a few hours later in the bedroom."
"What did you argue about?" I asked as Ethan shot me a warning look. I ignored him.
Jenna sighed, "She sucked at taking messages and someone called for me, but she couldn't remember who. So, I got mad at her. I mean, if it was someone really important they would have called my cell, but still. Write it down, Vanessa."
I nodded. Ethan was quiet. Jenna looked sad.
"So, did anything happen before your mom found her in the bedroom?" I asked.
Jenna shook her head, "No. My mom was downstairs making lasagna and watching TV. She went upstairs to find out if Vanessa wanted some and found her dead."
"And you were out with friends?" I asked again. Was there anything else Jenna knew that she wasn't saying? Any detail could mean something.
"Yeah. You can check if you like," Jenna said looking at me, challenging me to ask her for proof of her whereabouts.
"No, it's okay," Ethan said for me.
I shot him a look. We might have to check on them, but for now I decided to try a different tactic. We needed to know about this anyway.
"Do you know if Vanessa knew a guy named Troy Matthews?" I asked.
Jenna thought for a moment, fidgeting uneasily. "Well, I don't know if it's the same guy, but she did date a guy named Troy right after we graduated high school. That was forever ago, though."
Ethan and I exchanged a glance. It was very likely our Troy knew the latest victim too! It was all becoming a very, very big coincidence. He had to be the murderer!
"Are you sure?" I had to ask again, just to be positive.
Jenna looked straight at me with the same intense brown eyes her sister must have shared, "I remember her talking about a Troy a lot. I met him once at a party. He seemed okay. But, I can't tell you his last name. She dated a lot of guys. I didn't keep much track of her love life. I have my own to worry about, you know."
"But do you know what he looked like? Anything?" Ethan asked, wanting to be sure too.
"I mean, he was a guy. Cute. Blonde hair, I think. Maybe light brown? Built. She liked the muscular guys," Jenna shrugged.
"Anything else?" I asked.
Jenna continued, "Truthfully, if we could help it, Vanessa and I never brought boyfriends home. My mom was having a lot of issues, my dad was going to jail, and we kept family and everything else very, very separate. And, even though Vanessa and I were twins, we were not very close. We're totally different. She only mentioned Troy to me a couple of times."
"And you remember his name?" I asked. This could be the key to our investigation! Troy seemed to be very much the common denominator. It had to be the same guy.
"Vanessa was crying in her room. I could hear it through my wall. She thought maybe she had found someone to finally be serious about. Turned out he wasn't serious," Jenna frowned and looked at her hands, which she had clasped together, anxiously.
"Did he break up with her or something?" I asked, taking my last bite of pie.
"He cheated on her with another girl," Jenna looked really, really angry for her sister.
It was just like Liz. This guy was a player. He dated a girl, cheated on her, and then she died. So, now we just needed to figure out Troy's motive.
Jenna paused for a moment and then said, "Do you think this guy Troy has something to do with this then?"
"Yes," I nodded looking at Ethan, who nodded too.
Jenna had settled it for us. Troy Matthews was our prime suspect.
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Jenna asked, watching us with an intense gaze.
I looked at Ethan. He looked back at me. We had no idea.
The next day at school, Ethan and I planned to meet for lunch. It was a date! Okay, not really.
After talking with Jenna Martin, Ethan and I knew that we had to find Troy Matthews. Jenna was not completely convinced her sister had been murdered and she split pretty quickly after we talked about Troy, but it was all understandable – her sister wasn't even buried yet. With more time, we knew she'd be on our side. Regardless, Ethan and I felt like we were definitely on the right track. If we could get something, anything on Troy, maybe Detective Dixon would listen to us. Even if he started an investigation of Troy as the head of some drug ring, it would at least be a step in the right general direction.
Ethan found me at lunch again and sat across from me, "So, I was looking through my sister's things last night and I think I found something that might help us."
"What?" I asked.
Ethan pulled out a sheet of paper, "Troy Matthews' class schedule."
I grabbed the schedule from his hand and looked at it, "How did you find this?"
"I was looking through her backpack. They must've exchanged schedules at some point. Maybe to meet between classes or something," Ethan was looking over the top of the paper. "How do you feel about ditching school tomorrow?"
I looked up from the schedule I had just been analyzing. Troy was not the brightest peach in the pie, if you get my meaning. He had a remedial math class, in addition to a remedial English class, although the rest of his classes seemed normal enough, if you counted Metal Shop I and Art 103, which rounded out his class schedule.
"Why would we ditch?" I asked. It wasn't that big a deal to me, actually. I had ditched three times before. Twice to go to actual funerals and once right after my mom died just because I felt like spending the whole day reading Harry Potter. I could have ditched the whole week and just sat and read the entire series, but I didn't. I thought I might have gotten caught if I had done that.
"I want to follow Troy," Ethan was getting his lunch out of his customary paper bag. "See what he's like and take it from there."
"Are we going to try talking to him?" I asked, taking a bite out of the slice of pizza I had bought from the cafeteria. I knew I wasn't eating well lately, but hey, I hadn't gained any weight yet. And, the salads in a high school cafeteria....ew. At least I was eating real pizza, Pizza Hut Pizza. The school had switched to it last year. Yum.
"Is it safe to talk to him? I don't know, but I do want to see if we can find out anything. Maybe I'll just know," Ethan shrugged. "If you don't want to go with me, it's okay. I just wanted to ask you."
"No, I'll go!" I said quickly. I didn't want him to think I wasn't interested in spending another whole day with him because I was. I was getting used to having him around all the time. It was like it almost wasn't a novelty to have Ethan Ripley sitting in the high school cafeteria having lunch with me now. Almost, but not quite.
Ethan took the schedule back from me, "So, it says that Troy has a 10 am class - Metal Shop I. It gets out at 12 noon. Want to meet at my house at ten thirty and then we can head over to Palos Community College together?"
I felt myself nodding and I was going to say something, but I forgot when the worst thing ever happened. Ariel Walker walked into the cafeteria, even though it wasn't her lunch period.
I saw her walking toward us and froze. Ethan must have thought my expression was odd because he turned to look too. I wish I had taken the time to notice the expression on Ethan's face as his maybe date to Homecoming was stalking toward us, but I was too busy staring at her in surprise and wondering what mortification I had in store for me now. It was going to be bad, if only because it was going to happen in front of Ethan. The cafeteria, which I was sure was still gossiping about us anyway, was going to be in for a real treat if Ariel had anything to do with it.
Ariel stopped in front of our table. I held my breath waiting for Ariel to make me look like a freak in front of Ethan. It figured that she would do this right at the time when it felt like Ethan was accepting me and maybe, thinking I was an okay girl. I mean, maybe I hoped for more than that, but a week ago he knew me as the weird girl, so it was progress. Now, Ariel was going to ruin everything for me again.
Ethan looked up at her, like this was no big deal. "Hey, Ariel. What's up?"
Ariel looked down at him, smiling brightly. It was like I didn't even exist. I was surprised the insults hadn't started flying from her mouth yet.
"Well, do you have a date for Homecoming yet?" Ariel asked in her sweetest voice.
I hadn't heard her use that tone of voice since we were bffs in junior high and she was trying to get her mom to let her go with my family to Wisconsin Dells for the weekend, even though she was getting a D in math and was grounded. It worked then too. She had the voice down.
Wait a minute. Wait just one minute. Ariel told me that she and Ethan were already going to the Homecoming Dance together, so what was she doing? She had suggested that he had already asked her.
"No, not yet," Ethan said.
I looked at him. Ethan Ripley didn't have a date for Homecoming. I was incredulous. It was less than two weeks away and he was the most popular guy in school. How could he not have a Homecoming date yet? I mean, unless he hadn't asked anyone. Had Ariel lied to me? Why?
"Would you want to go to the dance with me?" Ariel sang it, like she was really The Little Mermaid.
I wanted to put my hands over my ears so I could block out the sound of Ethan's obvious answer. Instead, I just waited to hear Ethan agree. I couldn't give Ariel the satisfaction. She would already enjoy this whole scenario far too much without me reacting negatively to it.
Ethan was silent for a moment. "Actually, Ariel, I can't go with you."
Did I hear that correctly? Did Ethan just turn Ariel down, even though she was using her do my bidding voice and everything?
"Why not?" Ariel whined.
Ethan shook his head, "I just can't."
And, with that Ariel stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving Ethan staring after her and me staring open mouthed at Ethan. Why couldn't he go with her to the dance? I mean, she was pretty and popular and totally going along with the whole popularity track he was on.
"Why couldn't you go with Ariel?" I asked before I could think about it.
Ethan turned back to face me and shrugged, "My mind is on other things besides dances right now. And, anyway, I just didn't want to, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings either."
Okay, I thought. Boys are dumb because Ethan totally hurt Ariel's feelings. Especially the part where he said no to her in front of me, which I knew had to be the ultimate in humiliation for her.
"Oh," I said, like it was no big deal, when inside I was doing cartwheels. Ariel had just tried to humiliate me and it had totally backfired on her. It was awesome.
My brain was spinning and already two steps ahead of me. If Ethan didn't want to go to Homecoming with Ariel, who did he want to go with? Did I have an inkling of a chance? I'd be okay with going as friends, even. It was a good day!