Page 25 of The Game Is Afoot

“Would it be okay with you if we talked inside?” Detective Berry asks, nodding toward the door.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Ms. Joyce’s front curtain flickering in protest. Corey’s going to have a lot of questions to answer while he’s installing that security system.

“Um, sure. Of course.” I hold out my hands and then lead the way. When I open the door, Polly is there waiting for us. She doesn’t bark because we haven’t brought her an old lady or baby threat, but she jumps on Corey.

“Hey, Polly,” he says quietly, scratching behind her eyes and gently moving her out of the way. Just Polly, not some silly nickname like “Polly with the good hair”…so he’s for sure nervous.

“Mavis, what is this?”

At first I think my dad is referring to the cops I just let in, but then I see theShitPost-it in his hand. Corey’s eyes widen in recognition at the sparkly orange handwriting, but hopefully whatever these detectives have to say will quickly make both of them forget that.

“Oh, hello.” My dad tucks the Post-it in his pocket and puts out his hand. “Elijah Miller.”

“Dad, this is Detective De La Rosa and Detective Berry.”

Detective Berry expertly takes out her badge and De La Rosa hurries to do the same. It’s clear she’s the one in charge.

“We’re gathering information regarding the death of Cole Robinson. We understand you were there.”

“Yes, it’s so sad what happened. We saw when he first fell, and our friends Jasmine and Leon went with him to the hospital. Have you talked to them already?” Detective Berry furrows her brow at me, and I guess I should have known she’s not the type who wants to be told how to do her job.

“Did they determine what the cause was yet?” I rush to fill the awkward silence. “Obviously I’m not a medical expert, but the guydiddrink a lot of energy drinks, and I read an article—I think it was in theLA Times? Or actually, maybe on that doctors show on ABC? Anyway, I heard they can cause heart attacks, right? That’s why they don’t let kids buy them anymore?”

I didn’t think Detective Berry’s eyebrows could drop any lower, but look at that, they sure can. Shit. I did it again.

“Mr. Robinson didn’t die of a heart attack,” Detective De La Rosa says finally, eyeing his partner to see if this is the right move. “We’re currently investigating this as a homicide, Ms. Miller.”

Shock hits me like a blast of cold air, sending goose bumpsup my arms. Corey’s mouth drops open and my dad cocks his head to the side, like he must have heard wrong.

“A homicide?”

It doesn’t make any sense. Someone killed Coach Cole? And if someone did…why would the detectives want to talk tous? We didn’t see anything, and we definitely didn’tdoanything.

Unless…

Maybe they want to talk to me as a…oh, I don’t know, local expert? It did make the news, me finding Principal Smith, and Detective De La Rosa took my first statement, so he knows how good I am at remembering details. Maybe someone, Jasmine probably, mentioned that I was there Saturday, and they just want my take on things, to see what I noticed. That’s a lot of pressure, but…whatelsedo I have going on now?

“Here. Why don’t you come sit down?”

I lead them to the living room, and we settle in our seats—my dad in the armchair, the detectives on the big couch, and Corey and me on the love seat. Polly twirls to look at everyone, wagging her tail furiously like it’s a party.

Sweat begins to gather at the back of my neck. What can I tell them? Did anything stand out on Saturday? There has to be something. I don’t want to let them down, but also it’s a hell of a lot easier to remember important details when youknowsomething bad is happening to you—like, you know, when your mom friend pulls a knife on you.

“As we were saying,” Detective Berry says, pulling a small notebook out of her shirt pocket. “We have reason to believe that Cole Robinson did not die of natural causes. And—”

“Okay, so I can tell you everything I remember, but outside of the thing with the guy on the mower—Dom? I think his name was Dom?—well, it was a pretty normal day. Except whenhe fell. That definitely wasn’t normal. But I don’t know if I saw anything suspicious. I know I helped you guys out last year, but, um, maybe that was kind of a fluke? I’m not really a detect—”

Detective Berry holds up a palm, and all the words vacate my mouth like magic. “Ms. Miller, thank you for your willingness to…assist. But we’ve already received several witness statements about the morning leading up to Mr. Robinson’s death.” She turns her whole body toward Corey, her knees pointing at him like a neon arrow. “We actually wanted to speak to you, Mr. Harding, because from our understanding, you brought the snacks.”

“The…snacks?” Corey blinks at them, trying to catch up. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“What did you bring?”

“Goldfish, Capri-Suns, orange slices—the usual. Detectives, I’m sorry, but I’m confused. What does this have to do with Coach Cole?”

I’m confused, too. Why does it matter what snacks Corey brought? Did Florence sic them on him? Like,Excuse me, Officers, while you’re investigating this murder(oh my god,murder, I want to throw up), can you also look into this case of inorganic snacks?

“The reason we’re interested in where the snacks came from is because the park’s Green Team, led by a…” She flips to another page in her notes. “…Angela Hart? Well, they found an empty Capri-Sun pouch when they did their weekly cleanup later that day, and Ms. Hart brought it into the station.”

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