Page 49 of The Game Is Afoot

“Bethany’s going to sit this one out!” Florence steps into place in between us. “She says she’s having a tough day—you know about her health journey, right, Mavis? She says she wants to listen to her body’s cues and conserve her energy so she can be her best self at Pearl’s party tomorrow.”

I blink at her, trying to determine if there’s even an ounce of self-awareness in between the woo-woo Instagram caption-speak, and still processing everything Hank just said. But also because I’m caught on the last part.

“Pearl’s party? Bethany is…coming to Pearl’s birthday party?

“She said you invited Pearl’s whole Clover Scouts troop! Howkind of you!” She smiles and then winces dramatically. “But I understand with these very,verylast-minute things—you want to make suresomeoneis there. I’m so glad it worked out for Axel’s schedule!”

I ignore the passive-aggression and replay all of my late-night party planning sessions since Tuesday. Did I really send that evite to the whole troop instead of just Christine? I need to check the RSVPs—did I even add an RSVP option? I might need to order a bigger cake.

And Bethany in my house? If she’s capable of what I think she might be…is that safe? But no, she wouldn’t try anything with all those people there. And this’ll be a good chance to keep my eye on her, see if I can figure anything else out about her relationship with Cole, any possible motive. I have a whole day to brainstorm someactuallysubtle questions.

We reach the edge of the sand surrounding the playground, and Florence scoops up Marigold. “I’m going to take her on the swings!”

Good. Maybe I can ask Hank more about his experience at the station, with a lighter touch this time. They found his fingerprints…and who else’s? Are they going to bring the kids in next? Is this whole investigation of theirs really hinging on a Capri-Sun pouch?

Florence holds her right hand out in a half rectangle and mimes the clicking of a shutter. “And maybe some extra video content? I need more B-roll,” she mumbles. Hank nods, clearly knowing this job well, and they walk over to the swings together, as Marigold chants, “No swing! No swing!”

Langston dashes past me, a blur of aquamarine and brown skin, and then a second later, I hear: “Tetrahydrozoline!”

“Baby, that’s a weird-ass greeting,” Jasmine says, whacking Leon’s shoulder.

“Sorry, just—I couldn’t remember the word when I was talking to Mavis yesterday. When she asked what they found in Cole’s toxicology report.”

“Oh, she asked you that, did she?”

Jasmine purses her lips at me, and then turns back to Leon. They have a whole little conversation in jaw twitches, squinted eyes, and slight nods—the way that couples who’ve been together forever can do. And then they both look at me with the same expression, and I can read what they’ve decided:Mavis is playing detective again, and we’re just gonna go with it.

“Tetrahydrozoline,” Leon repeats. “It’s Visine. Someone must have put it in that Capri-Sun?”

“Visine? Visine can kill someone? But you can buy it at CVS?”

“I remember seeing this before! In some Facebook post…or maybe it was thatSnappedshow?” Jasmine chimes in. “Some lady was putting it in her husband’s coffee, and he didn’t know because it’s tasteless! For a while, before it got him, it just gave him some bad diarrhea.”

“Yeah, and it mimics a lot of natural illnesses, so it wouldn’t come up on most screenings, even in very large doses. They only caught it because Irene pushed for the more exhaustive tests.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” I can feel my heart speeding up in frustration. “The detectivestoldus there was a powder residue when they came to talk to Corey on Monday.”

I rack my brain, playing out that afternoon. IknowI’m remembering at least that part right.

“Sodium nitrate. That’s what they said. It’s used as a fertilizer.”

Leon strokes his jaw, considering this. “Was it on the grass or something? And it just happened to transfer?”

“No,” I answer confidently. “It’s not used on grass.”

Jasmine lets out a long whistle. “Sotwopoisons, then? Someone really wanted to make sure he…you know.”

Is that what this means? Or did Leon just get something wrong? But as I look at his pained face, I know he would take care to get this right. Cole was his friend.

“Andthatis what doesn’t make any sense. He was a good guy, Jas.” Jasmine leans into him, slipping her arm around his waist. “I just can’t understand how this happened to him…Who would do this?”

They hold each other, having another one of their silent conversations, and I look away to give them their privacy.

Whowoulddo this? Two poisons to make sure he dies. That’s a lot of planning, a lot of effort…so there has to be a lot of bad blood. Something flickers at the edges of my mind, like a gnat in the corner of my eye that disappears every time I turn my head. I’ve seen all three of my suspects this morning, yet I don’t feel like I’m any closer to a solution. Is Hank’s motive enough to justify killing Cole with two poisons? And what about Bethany? I don’t even really understand her motive fully yet. Then there’s Dom…

My eyes find his shed, where there are some shiny new additions: a chain across the top of the door frame and a massive, ID-card-proof padlock.