Page 81 of Half Baked

“Dawn said she thought Mom was going to meet Martin Schroeder. What if Gordy disguised his writing, and Mom believed the note was from Schroeder?”

“Yeah, it’s possible. If we can find Gordy’s family and friends, we can ask them if he wore an eagle pendant. We can’t forget he and your mother were seen arguing that morning. She was murdered in a crime of passion. The person who killed her was pissed.”

I resisted the urge to flinch. “Do you think Smith is really his last name?” I asked. “I’ve got to say, it sounds fake.”

“You think he lied to your mom, or your mom lied to Annemarie?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But it seems off.”

“I’ll look into it while you’re working tonight,” he said. “But my gut tells me it wasn’t him.”

“But who?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, sounding like he hated to admit it.

“So we know she partied and took drugs and dated a drug dealer—twice—but we’re no closer to finding out who killed her.”

“Every piece of information we find is useful.”

“I can’t look into anything tomorrow,” I said, frustrated. “Not with Mallory going to Chattanooga with her old coworkers this weekend.”

“I never expected to solve the case in a couple of days, Maddie.”

He was right, of course, but sitting on it didn’t feel right now that we were getting information.

He reached over and took my hand. “We have time to stop by the high school and re-question Dawn if you want.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

* * *

We pulledinto the high school parking lot about five minutes after school let out. Noah fought the traffic of students leaving the parking lot, but when he pulled into a space in front of the school, he shifted his head, squinting. “Hey, isn’t that Dawn hustling to her car?”

I looked in the direction he was staring and saw her walking fast across the parking lot, dodging between cars pulling out of parking spaces. “Um. Yeah.”

“Let’s go,” he said, already opening his car door. I quickly followed, and we half-jogged to catch up as she opened her car door.

“Dawn,” I called out, somewhat breathless. It was apparent I hadn’t done any cardio in a while. “Wait up.”

She paused, glancing around to see who’d called her. She looked like she was about to get back in her car when she saw Noah and me.

“I’m in a hurry,” she said when we caught up to her. “I have a dentist appointment, and I’m going to be late.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “This will only take a moment.”

It was clear she didn’t want to stick around, but thankfully, she hung her forearm over the top of her car door. “Okay. Make it quick.”

“Thank you,” I said, gratefully. “You don’t remember my mom having a boyfriend at all?”

Irritation flashed in her eyes. “I already told you I didn’t.”

“What about a man named Gordy?”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Gordy?” she repeated.

From the way she said it, it was obvious she knew about him.

I pressed on. “Yes. My old neighbor says Mom was involved with him for several years before she was murdered.”

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