Jex Malone by C.L. Gaber, V.C. Stanley

was
sleuthhound
and it means to track or trail. It’s a term from 1200. A Middle English word—and a very good one.”
    How does she know this stuff?
    â€œMy brain is about to explode,” Deva announces.
    I stop short to think for a moment.
Well yes, you are pretty good at it. I could have lived in this room all summer and not figured out how to find those files on the computer or dug out the ones in the closet.
    â€œWell, yeah—you are pretty good at it,” I reluctantly announce.
    â€œSo what do you think about this?” Nat replies. “Hear me out, I have an amazingly great idea.”
    â€œOkay,” I respond cautiously while my stomach does a triple flip.
    â€œI’m suggesting we solve the case,” Nat says, watching three heads, including my own, pop up so hard that it’s a miracle we don’t have instant whiplash and require neck braces.
    â€œLook, I know you don’t know me. But I’m sort of self-taught when it comes to major crime investigations,” Nat says with pride as she stares me down.
    â€œWhat?” Deva and Cissy respond simultaneously while I look at Nat like she’s nuts.
    Because, clearly, she is.
    â€œWe’ve known you since birth. What crime have you ever solved?” Deva demands.
    â€œI’d like a shot at it,” Nat replies. “Look, some police departments actually let citizens in on cases and give them a chance to figure it out. It’s a really successful approach. Turns out you have to be at least twenty-one to get into those kinds of programs. That’s … discrimination! Age discrimination! I don’t want to wait—and I won’t put up with discrimination of any kind.”
    My brain is in overdrive. How did I go from wanting to keep these girls’ mouths shut about snooping around my dad’s files to Ms. Crazy “Let’s Solve the Case” thinking she’s living an episode of
Law and Order … as one of the cops
?
    These girls are nuts
.
    Okay, Okay … Jex, think fast.
    Now, I’m thinking to myself in a rapid-fire way. I have to get them to keep their mouths shut or trouble is coming. Big, big, fat uber-trouble! What do people from New Jersey do when they want other people to keep their mouths shut?
    No, I can’t go all Tony Soprano on them, although it’s tempting.
    Okay, but the mob is good at getting people to shut up. I need a mob-like solution like a hit man … no, too bloody … like someone getting whacked … no, too violent … I need something mob-ish like an oath! Like when wise guys pledge eternal loyalty. I need …
    â€œA club, but not really a club,” I blurt out. “We need to make this official and form a real detective agency! To solve the case! Like Nat said, ‘Let’s solve it.’”
    â€œA what?” Cissy asks. “Solve what?”
    â€œAn agency, a real detective agency,” I announce. “I think if we’re going to do this right and solve the case, we need to be official. Secretly official, but still official.”
    â€œA real-life detective agency,” Deva replies, raising her eyebrows. “Is this like a club? Is it like the Girl Scouts? Because I don’t do that shade of green.”
    â€œNo, no, no—not like the Girl Scouts—and not a club. What are we? Twelve years old? We’re a little too old for a secret club,” I interrupt, adding, “but, if we’re going to do this right, let’s form something real and have some rules about who is going to do what so that we don’t waste anyone’s time.”
    â€œIf we form our own little agency, our work will have some, um, organization to it,” I ramble, which I’m good at under dire circumstances like this one.
    â€œOh, I see what you mean,” Nat says with a tone in her voice that seems to say: “I have no idea what this girl is talking about, but I still want to