Change of Heart by Norah McClintock

person they arrested—it’s Billy.”

“Y
    ou’re kidding,” I said, even though I was sure this was something my dad would never kid about. I reached for the newspaper. There was an article in it about the murder and the arrest, but it didn’t say much. It didn’t even name the person who had been arrested. It just said that it was a male youth.
    â€œHow do you know it’s Billy?” I said.
    â€œYour mother called.”
    â€œMom? What does she—”
    â€œBilly’s parents called her. They want her to represent Billy.”
    If Billy’s parents had called my mom, then what my dad was saying was true. But my brain was saying,
No, no, no, it’s not possible
.
    â€œBilly didn’t do it,” I said.
    My dad didn’t say anything.
    â€œHe didn’t do it, Dad.”
    â€œRobbie, we’re just going to have to wait and see.”
    Last night he had seemed so certain that Billy could never take another life. Now he sounded as if he thought it might be possible after all.
    My cell phone rang. It was Morgan.
    â€œThey arrested Billy,” she said.
    â€œI heard. It has to be a mistake. It just has to.”
    â€œI talked to Sean’s brother Kevin,” Morgan said. “It doesn’t sound like a mistake. It sounds like he really did it. Do you know what that means, Robyn? It means that I spent the past five months going out with a murderer.”
    â€œHe’s not a murderer, Morgan.”
    I glanced at my father, who kept his eyes firmly on his newspaper.
    â€œWhat’s the matter with you, Robyn?” Morgan said. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Why are you always taking Billy’s side?”
    â€œBecause he’s not a killer, Morgan. You know he isn’t.”
    That’s when Morgan did something that she had never done before, no matter how angry she was.
    â€œShe hung up on me,” I said to my dad.
    He looked up from his newspaper. “This will probably be rough, Robbie. If I were you, I’d try to stay neutral.”
    â€œI’ve been trying to stay neutral. What else can you do when your best friend cheats on your other best friend? But you know what? It doesn’t work because Morgan is completely unreasonable. One minute she’s in love with Billy. The next minute she calls him a stalker and a killer. If you were me, and one of your friends had just been arrested for murder, the very last thing you’d do is stay neutral—and the first thing you’d do is try to figure out what really happened.”
    â€œRobbie,” my dad said, his voice gentle now, “you told me yourself how Billy has been behaving. And you know the case against him—he had a grudge against the victim, he was found with the weapon, he was at the scene. Motive, method, opportunity. It’s the trifecta of homicide.”
    I stared at him in disbelief. “What are you saying, Dad?”
    â€œSean was killed by a blow to the back of the head, which means that whoever did it hit him from behind. It wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t self-defense. Someone came up behind Sean and hit him hard enough to kill him.” I didn’t want to believe what he was telling me. “When Sean’s mother found the body, Sean’s face was covered. It was covered after Sean was dead. Murders don’t usually cover their victims’ faces after they kill them, Robbie—unless they feel remorse.” He peered at me with his slate-grey eyes. “Does that sound like anyone you know?”
    What was wrong with everyone? “It’s a mistake. It has to be. Billy would never do anything like that.”
    My dad didn’t say anything.
    â€œCharlie Hart is working on the case,” I said.
    â€œI know. Your mother told me. He’s a good cop, Robbie. Cautious, too.”
    In other words, Charlie Hart wouldn’t have arrested Billy unless he was sure that he had a solid