The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter by Aaron Reynolds

Author:Aaron Reynolds [Reynolds, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781368051835
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2020-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

I stand up on the lunch table to make myself appear bigger. I am a Saint Bernard in a cafeteria full of teacup poodles. I can tell the technique is working because Holly Creskin looks terrified of me. As she should.

“If this cockamamie story is true,” I shout, “and that’s a big IF, then why did you giggle at the end of my current event today?”

“MY current event,” interjects Darvish. That kid cannot let something go.

“Let’s stay on topic,” I tell him. I turn back to Holly Creskin. “It wasn’t exactly a funny article. More horribly tragic than funny. Why the giggle?”

Holly Creskin rolls her eyes and looks embarrassed. “Oh, that!”

I am prepared to use Holly Creskin’s spork as a thumbscrew. But I sense a confession forthcoming. Perhaps torture will not be needed after all.

“Because I know Talon Smithfield,” she says. “The guy you mentioned in the article. He’s the president of People United to Protect Animals Everywhere. He’s very tall. And so passionate about the rights of animals! He’s in high school.”

“Isn’t that the guy who hangs out near PetPlanet begging for money?” I ask Darvish.

“PUPAE,” he says. “Oh yeah, maybe.”

“He wanted to charge us fifty-nine ninety-nine to join his group?”

“I don’t remember. I was distracted by the firehouse tacos. And you getting cursed.”

I turn back to Holly Creskin. “You gave him fifty-nine ninety-nine to join that group?” I ask. “What would possess you?”

She laughs. “No, silly. My parents paid for it. They like animals, too. In fact, my dad is the presi—”

I cut her off. “So what if you know Talon Smithfield? Why would that make you giggle?” I am confused. It’s a sensation I’m experiencing a lot lately.

She giggles again.

“Because she likes him,” says Darvish.

At this, Holly Creskin dissolves afresh into peals of laughter that will not stop. She is now useless to me as a suspect.

I step off the table and walk away, leaving her to her giggle-fit.

Unknowingly, she has cleared herself of all suspicion.

Because murderers don’t giggle. They laugh maniacally. Everybody knows this.

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