Shallow Grave by Alex Van Tol Page B

to Jessica again.
    Specifically, that one.
    â€œHey,” I say, leaning closer. “Is that like the necklace you found in the bin?”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œRight there.” I point to a girl sitting beside Jessica in the photograph. Her hair is tied back, the end of her ponytail curled loosely beside her open collar. She isn’t laughing like the others. Instead, her smile looks tight.
    Shannon peers at the picture.
    â€œYeah, it’s the same one. The BEST. Weird.” Her mouth drops open. “Oh my god,” she breathes.
    When her eyes meet mine, there’s a sudden understanding in them.
    â€œThat’s Sam Stokes.”
    I’m drawing a blank.
    â€œSam Stokes?” I ask. “Who’s she?”
    Shannon releases a long breath. “She’s Jessica’s best friend. Or she was. Or at least I thought she was.”
    I look back at the photograph. Slowly, things begin to slide into place.
    â€œSo…” I say. “Sam’s got one half of the necklace. And…”
    â€œJessica would have had the other half,” Shannon finishes.
    We both look to see whether the matching half is around Jessica’s neck. But you can’t see her neck because of the Laurel Cup.
    â€œThe cup’s in the way,” I say. “So we have no way of knowing whether she had the other half or not.”
    Shannon looks at me. “Yes, we do.”

Chapter Sixteen
    We sit facing each other. Shannon pulls the board over and arranges it between us. The chalk looks just as clear as it did when Shannon printed all the letters out.
    That seems like a week ago.
    â€œDid you have the other half of that necklace, Jessica?” she asks.
    YES.
    My scalp crawls.
    I look up at Shannon. “Which bin did you find the necklace in?”
    She turns and points. “That one.” Then she shakes her head. “But it’s not there anymore,” she says.
    â€œWhere is it?” I ask.
    â€œI dropped it, remember? When the door slammed that first time?”
    â€œRight.” I do remember. I scan the floor for the little silver chain. I hope it didn’t fall through the floorboards. Because the boathouse is right on the dock. And the dock is right over the water. I don’t see it.
    Damn.
    â€œOh, but…oh my god,” Shannon says. Her eyes widen, and she scrambles to her feet. “In that bin. There was rope in that bin, Elliot. Lots of it. The thin kind.”
    â€œRope?” I look at her. “Aren’t we looking for a necklace?”
    Suddenly I get it.
    Thin rope. The perfect kind of rope to wrap around someone’s neck.
    The necklace, found in a bin full of exactly that kind of rope.
    But how likely is it—how perfect—that the suspected killer would actually have her necklace come undone at exactly the right moment, leaving it behind in a bin full of potential murder weapons?
    Unless…
    I grab Shannon’s hand and pull her back down to the floor with me.
    I put my fingers on the lid. “Did Sam strangle you with the rope that’s in the bin?”
    YES.
    Shannon shudders.
    â€œDid you fight her?”
    YES.
    I glance up at Shannon. She nods.
    â€œWhy did Sam strangle you?”
    The lid moves like it’s going somewhere, but then it just sort of stops.
    Shannon takes her hands off and looks at me. “What kind of question is that?”
    â€œWhat?” I ask.
    â€œIt’s too open-ended,” she says. “Everything has to be spelled out. That could be, like, eight paragraphs.”
    â€œSo? It’s not like we’re in any sort of hurry.”
    â€œBut we don’t really need Jessica to explain it all. It’s already pretty obvious why Sam would want to see Jessica dead.”
    â€œWhat? Why?”
    Shannon rolls her eyes. “You are such a guy.”
    â€œThat’s a bad thing?”
    She sighs. “I think Sam was completely jealous of Jessica,” she says.