R.I.P. Eliza Hart by Alyssa Sheinmel

Author:Alyssa Sheinmel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Dean Carson texts me again, explaining that in light of recent discoveries, they aren’t available to speak with me at four o’clock anymore.

Please be at Professor Clifton’s office tomorrow at 2pm Sharp.

Sitting on my bed, I stare at the capital S at the beginning of the word sharp.

Maybe I should text back that I need to see the detective today. I could say I have information that could lead them to Eliza’s killer. My finger is poised above the letter I, just waiting to begin my response, but I can’t seem to make myself start typing.

The sound of water running makes me look up. Sam must be getting in the shower. Sam, who doesn’t think I should tell the police about Mack.

Exposure. It’s what killed her, but it’s not how she died.

Does exposure make it more or less likely that Mack pushed her over the cliffs? If he threw her with any force, she probably would’ve cleared the ledge, gone down to the sea, never to be found. That’s what a smart killer would want: no body, no evidence.

If they were arguing and she just fell—an accident—she might have ended up on caught on a ledge.

But if it was an accident, wouldn’t Mack have gone to the police—called an ambulance, search and rescue, the Coast Guard—immediately? If it was an accident, he wouldn’t have left her there to die, no matter how mad he was at her.

Right?

Maybe he thought it was already too late.

I take my phone out of my pocket and Google: How long does it take to die of exposure?

Dying from exposure means death resulting from lack of protection over prolonged periods to extreme temperatures, environmental conditions, or dangerous substances.

Prolonged periods. If Mack had called the police the instant she went over, she might have survived. I keep reading.

The human body is very adaptable and is constantly balancing different things, from core temperature to water content. Too hot and it sweats; too cold and it shivers. But its capability to regulate itself has its limits, and death can occur, for example, by exposure to extreme heat or cold.

In some cases, it occurs by a combination of circumstances and stresses to the body such as a combination of hypothermia and starvation.

It’s not cold in my room, but I’m shivering.

When Eliza descended—after tripping, jumping, being pushed—did she believe she was going to die? Was she expecting to hit the water hard, ready to have the breath knocked out of her on impact? Maybe she thought she could survive the fall. Maybe as gravity pulled her down she was already planning to fight against the waves crashing against the cliff wall. She was a strong swimmer. Maybe she believed she could swim to safety, or that she could stay afloat on her own until she’d be rescued by a nearby fishing boat or wash up on a sandy beach.

But then she landed on the ledge.

Was she awake while she lay there? Did she shout for help, her voice carried off on

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