Her First Mistake by Carey Baldwin (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

job, interview everyone and find out the truth. Some of the others might know about this too, and if they confirm that Paul was bothering Celeste, then no one person, except maybe me, will have a target on her back. What do you think?” Mia thought it was a viable plan, but Jane didn’t respond.

As the color drained from Jane’s face, Mia turned toward her desk.

There, spotlighted by sunlight streaming in from a high window, sat a big, white, fluffy ball.

Celeste’s pom-pom keychain.

Fifteen

Detective Samuels’ voice boomed as he spoke with the crime scene techs who were dusting for prints in Harbor Youth Academy’s four-year-olds’ classroom. He’d ordered Jane, Mia and Alma (who’d been called to the school to identify the keyring) not to leave, and now the three of them huddled on wooden ladder-back kiddie chairs placed out of the way of the police, directly beneath a vent blowing the pungent odor of piney floor cleaner up their noses. If not for the bone-crushing grip Alma had on her hand, Mia would be tempted to bolt out of her chair and make a run for it.

“If that’s not Celeste’s keyring, I don’t see the purpose of turning Mia’s classroom upside down, or of questioning us.” Jane crossed her arms.

“From what I gather, Samuels wants to get what he needs before the place is overrun with children, just in case I’m wrong.” Alma’s lips quivered as she spoke. “He compared it to finding a possible murder weapon.”

“What does he mean by that?” Mia’s heart climbed to her throat, but she deliberately infused her voice with calm, both for Alma’s sake and because she didn’t want Samuels to sniff out her fear with his killer instincts.

“He said when he’s on a case and he finds a smoking gun, he doesn’t wait until he knows for sure it’s the murder weapon before collecting evidence from the scene, and in this situation, he won’t wait until after he determines if these are the actual keys Celeste had with her when she arrived at the Piano Man on Friday night.”

“But you told him they’re not hers,” Jane said.

“He wants to try the keys in Celeste’s door and her car, just to make sure. I don’t think he thinks I’m lying, but you know he has to show due diligence. I’m not insulted. I want him to consider every possible angle—document everything. I want him to find my daughter.”

Mia wanted him to find Celeste, too. But she wasn’t as keen on him considering every possible angle.

Not if it meant putting her under a microscope.

When she’d spied that giant, white, fluffy ball on her desktop, her first thought had been that Aunt Misty had found Celeste’s keyring and had put it there to teach her some sort of lesson. But that theory didn’t hold water because Aunt Misty wouldn’t have known the keyring belonged to Celeste. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have done anything that could potentially get Mia in trouble.

And when, on closer inspection, Mia had realized that the keyring on her desk did not belong to Celeste—Celeste’s was inscribed with the designer’s name and had a charm dangling from its chain—she could only stand silently by while Jane got weepy and Pinkerman called the police.

Pom-pom keyrings weren’t uncommon, and therefore, this one was probably left by a parent or older sibling—an unfortunate coincidence, nothing more.

Except… every bone in Mia’s body was ringing with alarm.

She couldn’t entirely discount the idea that someone had snuck into her classroom and deliberately planted a look-a-like keyring, showcasing it on her desk, to let her know they knew what she’d done.

To let her know they were watching.

An involuntary shudder drew sympathetic looks from both Alma and Jane.

“What a mess!” Jane said. “This is definitely creepy, but I don’t think it should be allowed to disrupt the entire school. Pinkerman overreacted canceling classes for the day. And she should’ve waited before she called the police. I’m so, so sorry, Alma, that we got you all worked up over a coincidence.”

“Not to worry,” Alma said bravely. “I want to be in the loop, and I’m glad Samuels is so conscientious.”

Mia nodded, but as she watched Samuels collecting evidence, she couldn’t help wishing he would be a little less thorough. She snaked her hand out of Alma’s grasp, and her fingers brushed against the cool rungs of a gold charm bracelet Alma wore. Mia sent her a shaky smile. The idea of this wonderful woman finding out what she’d done and hating her was too much to bear.

She simply couldn’t confess to stealing Celeste’s keys.

But, assuming Samuels would interview them each privately, there was still something she needed to tell him.

Paul Hudson had been stalking Celeste.

When Mia saw the detective headed their way, she decided to volunteer to let him question her first.

“Ladies.” He eyed an empty kiddie chair and wisely chose not to sit. “I’m sorry to keep you cooling your heels and then run out on you, but I’m afraid something’s come up. I’ll be in touch later, though, to take your statements, hopefully by tomorrow or the following day.”

“What came up?” Alma asked.

“We’ll talk soon.” Samuels clicked his tongue as if that put an end to the conversation.

“If this has anything to do with my daughter’s case, I’d like to know. You promised me, Detective, that you would keep my family informed of any new developments.”

He lifted one shoulder. “Is it all right if I talk freely in front of everyone here?”

“Certainly.” Alma nodded. “Please don’t make me wait.”

“There’s no break in the case or anything of that nature. I promise I wouldn’t keep anything that important from the family,” he said.

“I’d like to judge for myself what’s important or not,” Alma said.

“It’s just something I’ve got to deal with regarding the footage from the security cameras at the Piano Man.”

“Security footage?” Mia’s stomach clenched. She hadn’t noticed any cameras at the restaurant, but then again, she hadn’t been looking for any.

As she tightened her grip on the