"Yup." I grabbed the card and started for the front door. "Thanks for getting me home so I didn't miss this."

Broadrick unlocked his truck doors. His vehicle was less conspicuous than my Camero. "Of course. This is an important day for Vivi."

He drove us to my parents' house and parked three blocks away. Cars lined either side of the street, blocking mailboxes and half of Mrs. Draggerton's driveway. She would not be happy about that. Good thing her family took away her driver's license last year.

I gave him a thumbs up as I shut the truck door and started for my parents' house. They always threw every summer party in our small, nonattached garage that rarely had a car parked in it. That meant I had to sneak to the side to avoid being seen by the partygoers as they wandered in front of the area and driveway.

At Mrs. Draggerton's yard, I cut in and made my way toward the back of the shared space. With a quick glance backward, I jumped over the short four-foot fence and edged toward my parents' home. I hit the corner and rushed through the back, hitting my old bedroom window.

The window was already open an inch-in my father's words "letting out all the central air"-and I pushed it up the rest of the way before climbing in. My knee bumped into a table and a dish of tiny beads fell to the floor. The sparkly items scattered across the carpet. Oops.

"What the hell?" I questioned under my breath with a grimace.

The room that I called my own for over twenty years was completely different. My bed was still scrunched up along the side wall, but my dresser was gone along with a small vanity I used for years. In its place stood two long white tables. One had a sewing machine set on the side with a pile of fabric next to it. The other-the one I hit my knee on-had a collection of beads and a piece of canvas in the middle.

I climbed over the table and stared at the materials. Oh, not beads, but sparkling gems. My mother turned my room into a craft room, and she was halfway finished with a diamond painting of a red cardinal surrounded by white snowy flowers. Sure, I didn't live at home any longer and had no plans to move back, but it still stung like a betrayal. Why didn't anyone warn me?

Oh right. They were barely speaking to me.

The sadness turned to an angry buzz.

Whatever. They could have the room. I had my place now and a hefty rent payment to prove it.

I dusted off my shoulder for effect and put my ear to the door, listening for anyone in the hallway. It was quiet. With a deep breath, I opened the door by holding the handle tightly so it didn't squeak and hurried into the room across the hall. Vivi's space.

Her door opened easily, and I closed it behind me. Vivi's room was untouched from the last time I saw it except for the enormous pile of clothing splashed across her bed, covering the light blue comforter.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent Katy a message.

VONNIE: I'm in.

The door to Vivi's closet was open from her earlier indecision over what to wear. Some things we had in common. I slipped into it and closed the door behind me, leaving only an inch for me to see into the space.

Minutes passed as I waited for phase two of the operation: Give Vivi her congratulations.

My back ached, causing me to fix my posture and find a new position against the door. Finally, voices filtered in from the hallway.

"Is this your room?" Katy asked whoever she had with her. Hopefully, my sister.

Her part in the plan was to attend Vivi's graduation party like a normal guest. When she arrived, she'd ask to use the bathroom and use the time to unlock my bedroom window, giving me an easy entrance. Once I was in position, she had to lure Vivi to her bedroom for our surprise meeting.

"Yeah," Vivi answered, "but why do you want to see it? My yearbooks are all in the garage with everything else."

The bedroom door opened. "I lied about that. Have fun," Katy said and then pushed Vivi into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Vivi spun around. "Hey!"

"Shhh," I said, opening the closet door and stepping out.

She turned around again with widened eyes. "Vonnie? What are you doing in my closet?"

We hugged, and I held on extra-long. "I came to tell you congratulations and give you this card."

My tall look-alike sister took the crinkled card from my hands. "Thanks, but why aren't you out with everyone else?"

She didn't know? "Dad asked me not to come. You know, because of... everything."

Vivi shook her head, her blonde hair sliding over her shoulders against the light blue silk blouse. "That's stupid."

I lifted my left shoulder, pretending it didn't bother me. It did.

"It's because of Mom." Vivi reached out and hit me on the shoulder. "She's lost her mind. She and Aunt Claire turned your room into a craft room. I keep telling Mom to relax. That you'd figure everything out, but she just won't listen. Aunt Claire says she goes to the jail every day, and the conditions for Uncle Richard are inhumane. She gets Mom all worked up."

"I'm working on it, Vivi, but solving murders isn't that easy." Even if I sometimes made it seem simple.

"Whoever killed Emma has to be the person who framed Uncle Richard."

I widened my eyes. Everyone tried to do my job for me. It still wasn't that easy. "Yes, I've considered the thought. I said it's a work in progress, but today is about you. Did Mom and Dad get you the cake from the bakery?"

She smiled. "Yeah, they won't let me cut it for another hour. Mom says people only come to these things to see the cake, and she doesn't want me to ruin the imagery."

I snorted. She'd said the same thing at my open house. "Crafts with Aunt Claire. Huh?"

Mom hated craft time when we were kids. Vivi always wanted her to do those friendship bracelet kits, but my mom just bought us already completed ones online and told Vivi to tell everyone she made it.

"Don't worry, Vonnie." Vivi gave me another hug. "Mom will get over it, eventually. Once Aunt Claire stops crying so much."

This all started with my aunt wanting me to catch Uncle Richard cheating. Now I'd been kicked out of the family, and she'd spread her diamond painting obsession to my old bedroom.

"No, I haven't seen her!" Katy yelled at the top of her lungs. "Try the other bathroom. Maybe Vivi is in there."

Someone had obviously come looking for my sister. I smiled in appreciation for Katy's efforts to stay and stand lookout. That wasn't part of our original plan. I didn't want her getting messed up in my stuff.

"I better get going before the party guests start a search party for you," I said, resting my hand on Vivi's arm.

"Wait!" Shit hit mine again. "I haven't told you the best news. Allen and I are moving to Texas!"

"Shhh." I put my finger over my lips to calm her down so no one in the hallway heard and blew Katy's cover. "Texas?"

She bounced twice with wild eyes full of excitement. "Yeah. He got accepted into the pre-vet program at Texas A&M. It's one of the best in the country."

My sister's boyfriend wanted to be a vet? When did that happen? What about baseball?

"That is great. But Texas?" Texas was halfway across the country. "Have you told Mom and Dad yet? What did they say?"

Vivi grabbed my hands, crushing my card and Broadrick's two-hundred dollars between us. "Not yet. We're telling them after the open house."

Wow. I struggled to work through the information. My baby sister was moving to Texas? For a man?

"You're going with him? What are you going to do in Texas?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go to school, dummy. I'm going into business, so I can go anywhere. But this is a great opportunity for Allen. Of course I'm going to follow my man."

"Of course," I parroted.

A few months ago, he'd been the prime suspect in the murder of his baseball coach, but now he was off to vet school. Not for baseball? Teenagers, man.

"No, I still haven't seen her!" Katy yelled and shoved an unknown part of her body against Vivi's door.

We both frowned.

"You really have to get out of here." I gave her one last hug. "Let me know how giving out the big news goes tonight."

She squeezed me extra hard. "I will. Love you, V-face."

"Love you, too."

Vivi opened the door and spoke to Katy before closing it on me. I gave them two minutes and then slipped back into the hall and fled the home via my old window.

The noise in the garage rose as I hurried through the backyard and over the shared fence with Mrs. Draggerton.

My phone rang as I reached the end of her far driveway, and I turned to the right, giving any of Vivi's party-goers my back. Hopefully, I looked like any other blonde leaving the party if someone saw.

"What's up, Detective?" I said, answering Anderson's call.

I swear I heard his teeth grind. "It's chief now, and the lab has a result on the red mark found in Emma's apartment laundry room."

My steps skipped on the sidewalk and I almost pitched forward, right in front of Broadrick's parked truck. "What did they say?"