Marianna understood Ms. Tibold was just trying to do her job, but hearing her yammer on and on was getting on her nerves.

  “Step this way, walk in this direction, spin your partner. No, your arms go like this…” And on, and on, and on…

  Marianna sighed, her arm linked in Caleb Martinez’s as they practiced the graduation march. Thankfully, she had gotten partnered with one of the nicer guys for practice today. While they didn’t talk or even really look at each other, Caleb at the very least was not making lewd comments to his friends or messing around for no reason at all.

  Still, Marianna couldn’t wait until this practice session was over.

  Just be thankful you’re not in the eighteen hundreds, she thought, a bit ironically. She could imagine it: a list of rules a mile long, arranged marriages, too many formal dances, and dinners––and corsets.

  If the women in the past could live through all that, Marianna could make it through one graduation practice.

  But that didn’t stop her from complaining. Or her friends.

  “Dear God, does that woman ever shut up?” Sadie grumbled later, as she put on her dark blue high heels. She gripped Blaze’s elbow for balance while his girlfriend, Lily Beth, hovered nearby, looking as though she felt out of place.

  “I don’t think so,” Hikari said, standing nearby with her arms crossed and a purse hanging off her shoulder. She looked stunning in her red, long-sleeved sweater and fake leather leggings.

  “There’s always that one teacher,” Lily Beth said shyly, stepping forward to stand next to Blaze. Her curly brown hair draped over one shoulder, making Marianna think of a mermaid. “That one that everyone seems not to like.”

  Giving Lily Beth a fond smile, Blaze draped an arm across her shoulders and kissed her temple.

  Sadie straightened, having wrestled her heels onto her feet. She gave Lily Beth a friendly smile.

  “I’ve had a lot of those teachers,” she agreed. “Like Mr. Corday. God, he was the worst.”

  Everyone froze for a moment. Sadie, realizing she had slandered a dead man’s name, paled, eyes widening.

  Mr. Corday had been a teacher at Finley High before being brutally murdered in his own home. Pulling yet another Holmes and Watson, Marianna and Alna investigated his death with the limited resources Alna had. Finding out her teacher, no matter how disliked, had been a drug dealer once, was a shock to Marianna’s system.

  After the suicide of Philicity Clark, Alna had anonymously revealed online Mr. Corday’s (formerly Conner Wright) former occupation, while keeping Philicity’s involvement a secret. Her excuse was that the girl had been through enough already without being ridiculed or shamed in death. Marianna agreed, even over a year later.

  Saxon Sedgewick hadn’t been so lucky and now lived in prison. Strangely enough, he never breathed a word of Philcity’s involvement. Perhaps he was protecting the former girlfriend of his late niece.

  Presently, as students walked past them on their way out of the gym, Sadie stuttered, “Um, I––I mean––”

  “Hey, Sadie,” called Ashleen White as she exited the gym. She walked right to Sadie, purple eyes shining as she gazed down at her. “You did good today. I think practice was a bit less lame.”

  Marianna had to grin as Sadie immediately started stuttering, gazing up at Ashleen with star struck eyes.

  If this was a teenage romance in a television show, it would replace Ashleen with a bad boy character. She seemed to embody the persona, what with her black clothing, chains hanging from her pants. Ashleen’s hair, perhaps in recognition of her surname, was dyed a snowy white and cut into a bob. She had both a lip and nose piercing. On the left side of her neck was a tattoo of a dragon, lacking any colours. Sadie once told Marianna, after she’d been talking to Ashleen, that the dragon was Smaug from The Hobbit. Just that simple fact brought down Ashleen’s “bad girl” persona a notch, in Marianna’s opinion.

  Not that her opinion mattered much. If Ashleen made Sadie happy and treated her right, that was what mattered most.

  “Everyone’s got romance in their life, except me,” Hikari muttered. Despite her grumbling, she sounded fond.

  “I’m sure it’ll happen for you someday,” Marianna replied, patting Hikari’s elbow.

  Hikari made a noncommittal “Hmm” sound, her arms crossed as she fought a smile.

  “I know this great fast food place not too far,” Ashleen was saying, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “Would you like to go?”

  Sadie’s hesitation was obvious. She cast a glance over her shoulder as she replied, “Um, well, I was gonna go to a club with my friends…” she began. She sounded aggrieved at the thought of missing out on lunch with her crush.

  Having none of this, Hikari tapped her heeled foot, her face set into a stern frown while Blaze and Lily Beth watched on.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Sadie,” Hikari said with a roll of her eyes. “We see each other practically every day.” Shoving Sadie’s shoulder, she continued, “Go have fun; I’ll see you in Chem.”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Looking as if someone had handed her the moon, Sadie nodded and walked away with Ashleen, who looked pleased with the turn of events. After shooting Hikari a grin and a cheeky wink, Ashleen walked alongside Sadie, seeming to absorb every word she said as she talked about needing to get her wallet.

  Hikari and Blaze watched her with matching smiles.

  “Okay, well, I’m with the basketball team,” Blaze announced a moment later. Glancing over at Marianna and Hikari, he asked, “See you later?”

  “See you,” Marianna agreed. Hikari said her own goodbye.

  After pressing a quick kiss to Lily Beth’s cheek, Blaze walked off.

  “Hey, Lily,” Hikari began, turning to the girl in question. “Mary and I are heading to the GSA club. Would you like to come with us?”

  Looking surprised but pleased, Lily Beth agreed, and they all set off.

  In her jeans pocket, Marianna’s phone vibrated. Seeing her pull it out, Hikari rolled her eyes.

  “You should get that,” she teased, nudging Marianna with her elbow. “We all know who’s most important in your life. Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.”

  As Lily Beth watched with vague bemusement, Marianna knocked into Hikari. “You know I love you,” she said with feigned exasperation, reading the text.

  I’ve got something for us. I’ll tell you after school.

  Marianna smiled. Another case.

  “Why didn’t they steal both in one night?” Marianna asked, puzzled. She sat in her chair in front of Alna’s desk, gazing at the laptop as Alna scrolled through a news story detailing the second theft from Brigate Museum in less than a week.

  “There could be many reasons,” Alna replied, obviously distracted as she read the article. “Perhaps they are both new and incompetent at thievery, and had to make a quick getaway the first time. They may not have known of the ring and, once learning of it, went back to retrieve it.”

  Marianna nodded, reading alongside Alna as she scrolled through the article. She was a bit surprised Alna hadn’t read it already, seeing as school had been less than halfway over when she called Marianna. The thought that she had waited for Marianna to arrive home to do this part of the investigation was a nice one.

  “It’s so wrong,” Marianna said when they had finished reading the article. “Who kills someone over a stupid ring?”

  Alna didn’t answer, knowing the question was rhetorical. Marianna manoeuvred so that she could tuck her feet underneath her, resting her arms on her knees.

  People had died for less than a ring, Marianna knew. Murdered for something as serious as revenge, or as ridiculous as a video game. Just thinking about it made Marianna sick to her stomach.

  The ring stolen from Brigate Museum had quite a lot of value. It was made from actual gold and diamonds, which itself would have made it expensive. That this ring was previously owned by the wife of the founder of the country of Starla, Gloria Brigate/Wallstone, made it worth millions on the black market.

  Despite its monetary value, Marianna didn’t think it was worth the life of the security guard who’d been killed.

  At least when these people stole the old rifle the first time around, no one had died.

  “So do we have any suspects?” Marianna asked, dropping her feet onto the floor. Alna had now moved on to scrolling through police files, and for all intents and purposes, appeared to be ignoring her. But Marianna knew that nine times out of ten, when she talked, Alna listened.

  “Not quite yet,” Alna replied, still looking distracted. “I’ve done some research, but the few people who seem to fit the criteria have retired, are living elsewhere, or in jail.”

  Marianna sighed, dropping her head back to stare at the ceiling. “It can never be easy, can it?”

  Alna gave her a dry smile. “Now, where would be the fun in that?”

  Smiling a bit, Marianna straightened her posture and pulled out her phone, deciding to do a bit of research herself. She wasn’t as good at getting information as Alna, but she could be useful. Pausing for a moment, she thought about what she should put in the search bar before doing a general search about thefts in Starla. This brought her thousands upon thousands of results, which was to be expected. It was annoying, though. She didn’t think the robbery of a gas station five years ago was important right now.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call what we do ‘fun,’” Marianna retorted, scrolling through the results. “But it gives us both something to do.”

  That was a lie, of course, and they both knew it. Despite how morbid and, yes, dangerous tracking down criminals was, Marianna genuinely enjoyed what they did. She tried not to think about what that said about her.

  Alna was kind enough not to comment on it.

  “Indeed, it does,” Alna said, frowning thoughtfully.

  Knowing she was distracting Alna, Marianna glanced back down at her phone, resolving to be quiet for the next several minutes.

  About ten minutes later, Alna spoke up. “I’ve found a potential.”

  Pulling her eyes away from her phone, Marianna focused her gaze on Alna’s laptop.

  “Clair Zest. She was arrested three and half years ago after police caught her robbing a gift shop,” Alna said, her eyes focused on the information splayed on the screen. “According to the report, she was responsible for the theft of four other stores, including some jewellery stores.”

  Nodding along, Marianna read the police report, her eyes alighting on some information Alna had not yet listed. “She was pregnant and in college,” Marianna murmured, brows furrowing. “Which is enough motivation, apparently.” Marianna doubted getting pregnant young was a risk for her, seeing as she was dating a girl. It wasn’t as though she understood what Claire had gone through, but she could sympathize.

  “Indeed,” Alna hummed. “She now lives in Brigate, having moved here after paying a rather hefty fine.” Alna tapped away on the keyboard for a moment, pulling up one of Ms. Zest’s social media pages. “Going by her occupation,” she continued, pointing at a spot on the page that listed Ms. Zest as a clerk, “it is safe to assume she finished her college education.”

  “Which bank does Aiden work in again?” Marianna wondered.

  “Redwood Bank.”

  With a nod, Marianna settled back in her chair, having leaned forward to see the screen better.

  “That’s good. At least we won’t risk running into him if we interview Ms. Zest at her bank.”

  Alna gave a wry smile, probably thinking of the time she had interviewed a victim of Harlow Ashworth in the very hospital her mother worked in. Marianna hadn’t been present for that interview, having barely known Alna at the time, but Alna had told her about it when Marianna asked what she missed out on for that particular “case.”

  “Any other suspects?” Marianna asked, bringing them back to the task at hand.

  That sobered the mood. “Not yet. Theft is not something I give much attention to.”

  Marianna nodded.

  After a few moments of silence, Alna said, “I would rather not meet Zest in her bank, but I am seeing few other options. We will have to go soon. On Monday, perhaps, after you have finished school.”

  “Do you want to search her house?”

  “That,” Alna said, “is where it gets complicated.”