Harper Madigan: Junior High Private Eye by Chelsea M. Campbell Read Free Book Online

What you boys wanna know is who sabotaged my getaway sticks.”
    Austin bites his lip and stares hard at his notebook. “G… e… t… Is there a space or is it one word?”
    “Try L-E-G-S.” I motion for him to shut up, focusing on Veronica again. “Who says it was sabotage?”
    The compact snaps shut. Veronica’s eyes narrow, pointed right at me. I’ve got her full attention now. “You listen to me. I don’t know who you are or where you come from, but I bet you know who I am. Everyone does, and everyone knows I’m not just the lead in this show—I’m a triple threat. I can act, I can sing, and boy can I dance . At least, that was true up until last Friday.”
    “Even stars have accidents. Maybe you were standing too close to the edge, lost your footing, and you don’t want to admit it. It’s easier for you to say it was sabotage than to face the truth. You did this to yourself.” I don’t know if that’s true, but I want to see her reaction.
    “It was anything but my fault. I’ll tell you how it went down. Rehearsal was over, and everybody’d left to go home. Everybody except me, because I wanted to get in a little more practice time, and it was just me and Danigail Bates . I thought it was weird that she’d stayed after, because that brother of hers, the so-called writer, Oliver?”
    She pauses, as if I don’t know who Oliver is.
    “Well, he’d already taken off. I don’t know why she hung around, but it gave me the creeps. So anyway, I was standing at the front of the stage, practicing my solo. I must have been pretty into it, because I didn’t hear her coming up behind me or anything. But then, all of a sudden, I feel her shove me. She put her hands right on my back and pushed. I screamed. What kind of star doesn’t scream when she’s attacked? Anyway, the next thing I know I’m on the floor and my ankle feels like the world’s going to end, and then there’s Danigail, all freaked out about what she’d done, asking me if I’m okay, pretending like she didn’t have anything to do with it!”
    Austin glances up from his notebook. “But you didn’t actually see her do it?”
    “I didn’t need to see her—she was the only one around! And everyone knows she had it in for me. She bad-mouthed me all the time. Ask anyone.”
    I fold my arms, taking this in. “From what I hear, that’s because you were harassing Oliver.”
    Her face turns sour, and for a moment all the makeup in the world couldn’t hide her ugly contempt. “Oliver’s the one who heard me scream. He must not have gotten far yet, because he got there first. He saw Danigail still standing, hovering over me, and he saw me on the floor, clutching my ankle. He did the math just like I did, and even he knows his sister’s dangerous. You should talk to him if you don’t believe me.”
    Talking to Oliver is the last thing I want to do. Luckily, the warning bell goes off, signaling five minutes to homeroom. “Well, I think we’ve heard enough. Thanks for your time, and if you’ll excuse us—”
    “Wait. There’s one more thing.” Veronica slams her locker shut and moves to face me. “Danigail and Alexis, my understudy? They’re real good friends.”
    She pauses, letting that sink in.
    “They’ve been whispering to each other a lot—won’t let anyone else hear what they’re saying. Alexis wanted my part, and now she has it. Because of Danigail. You just think about that and tell me this wasn’t sabotage.”

    ***
    I’m washing my hands in the bathroom when the door creaks open. Someone shuffles in. I play it real cucumber-like and don’t look up, but something tells me I’m not going to like who it is. His footsteps are both hesitant and deliberate at the same time, like he’s here for a reason but is thinking about bolting. I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure he’s not here to use the facilities.
    Slowly, I glance over out of the corner of my eye. I don’t recognize him, but he must recognize me