“You should stay away from him.”
“I don’t plan to go anywhere near him. I just want to pull on the string.”
Jude quirks his eyebrow.
“You know that scene fromThe Goonies? Where Mikey finds a string and he starts to pull it up?”
“I’ve never seenThe Goonies,” Jude says.
“Doesn’t it lead to a booby trap?” Twig asks.
I ignore the interjections. “Right now, we’vepicked up a string. I don’t know where it leads. I only know that I have to follow it to the end. Don’t you want to follow it with me?”
Jude’s knee begins bouncing under the table.
I can tell he wants to say yes.
I set my elbow next to my tray. “You should come to Evermore after school. I’ll be there until seven. At least let me show you the book.”
The battle rages.
I’m desperate for curiosity to win.
“I can’t after school,” he finally says. “I have … obligations.”
Something tells me if I were to wait for some elaboration on these cryptic obligations, I would be waiting in vain. “When are theseobligationswrapping up?”
“When your shift ends.”
“Then why don’t I bring the book to you?”
Twig almost spits out his Powerade. He manages to get the drink down, then pats his chest. “Sorry,” he says, coughing some more. “Wrong pipe.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin and looks at me like he has opinions.
“Just say it,” I tell him.
“Maggie isn’t going to let that book out of her shop.”
“What Maggie doesn’t know won’t kill her.”
Twig frowns.
Honestly, I’m not a fan of the idea either, but it isn’t like I’m going to steal the thing. I’ll return it first thing tomorrow. “She won’t even know it’sgone, Twig. I promise.” I turn away from his disapproval. “Meet you at seven fifteen?”
“Sure,” Jude says.
We spend the rest of lunch period in silence.
Twig, nervous.
Jude, brooding.
Me?
Wondering how the heck I’m going to get such a giant book out from under Maggie Henshaw’s nose.
13
THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
