Wicked Games (Hartley Grace Featherstone Mysteries Book 3) by Gemma Halliday (books for students to read TXT) 📕

"Ellen," Chase said, ignoring that comment, "would you mind playing Tyler?"

She nodded, though there was a sadness in her eyes. She'd looked practically crushed when we'd told her that a freshman had actually done the work that her hero had been claiming as his own. I wasn't sure if it made Connor's death easier or harder for her to take, but she'd been very quiet ever since.

Then Chase turned to Kyle. "And that leaves you playing Jason Pruit, Connor's manager."

"On it," Kyle agreed.

"Now, the purpose of this is to see which one of us could have killed Connor in the time frame of his death," Chase went on. "So, let's all stage where our suspects said they were and see if they could have made it to the VizaSoft booth and killed Connor in the time frame Sophia provided." He turned an expectant gaze my way.

"Right." I pulled out my phone and scrolled into my gallery, tapping on the photos of Raley's notes. Luckily Sam and I had gone over them enough the night before that I could actually read them. "Connor was found just before 11. Sophia was in the restroom at 10:45." I looked up. "Where is the nearest one?"

We all turned and looked around the crowded convention floor.

"I think there's one around that corner," Ellen said and pointed to a restroom sign hung on a wall several yards away.

Depending on how far around that corner it was, it could have taken Sophia a couple of minutes to walk there.

"If she was spotted at the restroom by witnesses at 10:45, let's say she left here at 10:40 at the earliest," Chase decided.

I nodded, mentally noting my role. Potty at 10:40.

"Ellen, you spotted Phoebe here when?" Chase asked.

She scrunched up her nose. "It was probably a little after 10. Like maybe 10:15? 10:20?"

"Phoebe claims she left after that and went to the Marriot."

"But it's possible she didn't," I interjected.

"Or she came back," Sam added.

"For our purposes let's assume Phoebe was telling the truth about going to the Marriot," Chase said. "How long would it take for her to get there, be seen walking through the lobby, then slip out a side door and get back to the con to kill Connor?"

Sam looked up as if calculating in her head. "Well, I think earlier today we got back here from the Marriot's lobby in about fifteen minutes."

I nodded. "Okay, let's say she leaves here at 10:15, after Ellen sees her argue with Connor. She gets to the Marriot at 10:30. Would she have enough time to get back here and murder Connor at 10:45 while Sophia was in the bathroom?"

"Sounds like it would be tight," Kyle noted.

"But possible," I countered. "So Sam, that's your timeline."

She nodded.

"Okay, Tyler said he was in the food court," Chase said, picking up the thread as he turned to Ellen. "The pizzeria has a Mario dancing around to attract people to their food every fifteen minutes. So let's say that was 10:30."

"Got it," Ellen said. "Food court. 10:30."

That just left Kyle. Or Jason Pruit.

"According to Raley's notes," I told Kyle, "Jason was seen arguing with Connor at 10:15."

"So he could have been anywhere by 10:45," Kyle said, frowning.

"Not necessarily." I scrolled to the next page of notes on my phone. "Unlike us, Raley did get Jason to talk to him, and he claims to have been at the Peak Games booth when Connor's body was found."

"Checking out the competition?" Sam asked.

I shrugged. "Could be. Or wanting to talk to Phoebe if she had, in fact, just served his client with papers."

"Either way," Chase said. "Could he have been able to kill Connor and get all the way to the Peak Games booth before the body was found by Connor's girlfriend?" He turned to Kyle. "That's your job to find out."

"On it." Kyle tipped his hat regally at Chase. I couldn't help noticing the shape of his shaved head as he did. Sam was right. It totally looked like an egg. I tried not to stare.

"So does everyone know where they should be?" Chase asked.

We all nodded.

"Alright, it's 4:10 now. Let's all get in our positions, follow the suspects' timelines, and see if anyone gets here by 4:45 in time to kill me."

I cringed at the morbidity of that statement, but I could tell Chase was fully into his role and hadn't even realized how it sounded.

Kyle and Sam shared a slightly-longer-than-quick kiss before she made for the exit, heading to her spot at the Marriot. Kyle walked around the booth to the VizaSoft entrance, hovering there as he waited for his moment to pretend to kill and run. Ellen, still looking a bit dejected, swished her tail behind her as she made for the food court.

Leaving Chase and me alone as we waited.

I shifted from one foot to the next, feeling antsy for no reason. It wasn't as if we were really waiting for someone to come kill him, but even the reconstruction felt a little too close to reality for comfort.

"You okay?" Chase's deep voice broke into my thoughts.

"Uh-huh."

"You sure?" he asked. "Because you're dancing around like you have to pee."

I shot him a look. "Maybe I'm just getting into character," I countered.

He chuckled. "So what was she like?"

"Who?"

"Sophia." He turned to face me. "The hot model girlfriend."

I shrugged. I'd forgotten Chase hadn't been with us on either of our visits to her place. "She's fine."

"Fine?" He raised an eyebrow my way. "That's the worst description ever."

I rolled my eyes. "She's gorgeous, okay? And nice. And smells good. Her place is amazing. Gleaming white. I was afraid I'd smudged her sofa."

He looked down at my street urchin outfit. "I'd