Partners in Crime (9780545463119) Read Online Free

eyebrow.
    â€œWhat?” she said. “The boxes were expiring tomorrow. I’m doing my mom a favor. We wouldn’t want to have to throw it out and waste food.”
    â€œTwinkies expire?” I said doubtfully.
    Darcy ignored my question. “So,” she whispered, “I started on that list.”
    I glanced around nervously. Talking about suspects right in the middle of the cafeteria gave me butterflies in my stomach. Not the good kind like when a cute boy (um, Zane) smiles at you. More the nasty butterflies-with-fangs kind.
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. “Let me focus on getting through the school day. We do have an English quiz after lunch.”
    Darcy waved her hand as if that wasn’t important. “But what about the investigation?”
    I glanced over my shoulder. “It’s too risky to talk about it here at school. We’ll pick that back up this afternoon.”
    She took a huge bite of a Ring Ding and thought it over. After some chewing, she said, “Only if we can meet at my house this time.”
    I sighed. “Deal.”
    Â 
    I did well on the English quiz, so I was much less stressed by the time we climbed the stairs to Darcy’sroom that afternoon. Our homes were almost identical from the outside. But inside, they couldn’t be more different. Darcy’s bedroom walls were all dark purple except for the one behind her bed, which was black. Darcy and her mother liked modern-looking furniture, but to me, most of it just looked weird.
    I slid onto a wavy-styled chair that looked like a strip of bacon. “So let’s see the list.”
    Darcy took out her notebook and opened it to a page of names. “I wrote down everyone who was in class the day of our presentation. It could be a boy or a girl because the e-mailer didn’t say they were identical twins.” She shrugged. “Let’s figure it out!”
    I attempted to lean forward, but the bacon chair wouldn’t let me. “Who’s first on the list?”
    Darcy shoved me over a bit so we could share the bacon chair. Thankfully, it was big enough for two. “Maya Doshi,” Darcy said, pointing at the name. “She was very quiet that day.”
    â€œMaya’s always quiet,” I said. “I think I’ve only heard her speak two words in my entire life.” I looked at the list. “What about Fiona Fanning?”
    â€œPlease.” Darcy rolled her eyes. “That girl has more shoes than brain cells. She wouldn’t think to e-mail us from the website.”
    Darcy’s finger trailed along the list of names and stopped at one. “What about Zane Munro? Did you see how nervous he was during the presentations?”
    Zane? No way , I thought. “He was nervous because he had to stand in front of the class by himself, and Hunter Fisk kept shooting spitballs at his head. Plus, he wouldn’t bother with all the secrecy. If he wanted my help, he’d just ask.”
    Darcy tilted her head to the side and said in a singsong voice, “Norah likes Za-ane …”
    â€œDarcy, stop it.”
    â€œYou want Zane to be your boyyy frieeend.”
    I crossed my arms. “Shut up. Next suspect.”
    Darcy let out one last laugh, then moved on. “Speaking of Hunter, he was firing death rays at me from his eyeballs today.”
    â€œYou tied his shoelace to the chair and made him fall in front of the entire class.”
    â€œOh yeah,” Darcy said, smiling. “I guess his evil stare could’ve been because of that.”
    â€œSlade was sweating a lot today in social studies,” I said. “Sweating could be a sign of guilty secret keeping.”
    â€œOr it could be that Slade always sweats.” Darcy made a face. “He’s wetter than a dog’s nose.”
    We went through the rest of the class list, but it all ended the same. No real clues, just guesses. Darcy started to pull at her hair and it