9

In the morning, I got up and went to work. Lisa was on the phone when I got there. I leaned against her desk and raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and ended the call. "What?" She grumbled.

"Was that Ken?" I asked.

"Maybe. Why do you want to know?"

"I'm your brother-in-law. I'm supposed to know. Does he forgive you for canceling your date?"

She smiled. "Yeah. I think he might be the one I marry."

"Didn't you just meet?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You haven't even been on a date with him yet. You can't really think you'll marry him when you barely know him." Not that I wouldn't be happy to see her finally settle down with someone. But still, I knew Jasper since we were kids.

"Uh, last night was supposed to be my date, remember? But Night Wolf screwed that up."

That was true. I sighed. "Come on." We went to the conference room. She sat and I went to the front of the room. When the others came in I said, "So what do we know?"

"One of the neighbors saw the orange sedan. It still doesn't have a license plate," Noah said.

"Paris seemed to throw screaming tantrums a lot. So when one of the neighbors heard her scream last night they said it didn't surprise them," Julian added.

"We found a diary in Paris's room," Amanda said. "So I'll start reading that soon."

"Mirrors, picture frames, and a glass jewelry box were shattered. All jewelry was taken too," Lisa said.

"Any electronics?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they were destroyed."

I nodded. "Mr. Rong said his daughter had a date but she didn't say who she was going out with. He doesn't know if she drank or did drugs either. She went to Cat High which is owned by Mr. Hoot. Several times Paris said Mr. Hoot kissed her and would smack her if she refused to. Mr. Rong talked to him and Mr. Hoot says Paris is lying. However, Mr. Rong believes that his ex-wife did it because she loves wolves. Julian, Noah, I want you to talk to Mr. Rong again. See if he knew Daila, Sara, Halla, and Mrs. Ruth. Amanda, Lisa, I want you to talk to Mr. Hoot. I talk to Mrs. Air. Dismissed."

I got into my car and drove to the Air household. I knocked on the door and Faith opened it. "Hey, Faith. Is your mom home?" I asked. Will be bad for Mrs. Air if she isn't home.

"Yes. She's doing laundry and asked me to get the door," Faith said.

I tried not to picture Night Wolf being the one at the door instead of me. Faith would have been the next victim if that had happened. I breathed slowly keeping my emotions in check "Okay. I'll go to the living room and you go get your mom, Okay?"

"Okay." She let me in and ran to get her mom.

I closed the door and went to the living room sitting on the sofa. Mrs. Air came in. "Oh. Are you here as a detective or normal?"

I smiled. "Detective. Though I do have some news. Jasper and I adopted a boy. His name's Timothy and he's seven."

"Home-schooled or in-person?"

Like I would put one of my kids in a kill zone. "Home-schooled. I have a few more questions for you."

She sat and Faith ran into the kitchen. "Okay."

"Did Halla babysit Daila Dee?"

"Yes."

"Did she know Sarah Ruth?"

"Yes. Sarah was there sometimes when Halla went to babysit."

"Why was Halla babysitting at a young age?" Seriously, ten was a young age and she wasn't even ten when she started! She had been seven!

"She just wanted to."

"That's not what she told the Dee family."

"What did she tell them?"

"That you were having money troubles. Is this true or was she lying?" I knew the Dee family hadn't been lying. I could tell when someone was lying to me which is how I knew Mrs. Air had just lied to me.

Mrs. Air looked down. "She wasn't. I had gotten fired and we had been just scraping by."

"Why did you lie to me just now?"

"Because I was ashamed!"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have troubles sometimes," I said soothingly. "Did you know Paris Rong? Did Halla?"

She blinked. "Paris? She was Halla's Tutor. Is she okay?"

And just like that, another connection formed. All these kids had known each other. "I'm sorry to say she was found dead last night."

Her hand went to her mouth. "Dead?"

"Yes."

"Was it Night Wolf?"

"Yes."

"Oh, no!"

"Did Halla ever say anything about Mr. Hoot?"

"The principal? No. She called him The Best Principal Ever."

Hmm. "Really?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just something I need to ask. Did Paris ever talk to you about stuff that's going on in her life?" If Halla did it to the Dee's I'm thinking Paris did it to Mrs. Air.

"Sometimes. She didn't like that her parents are divorced. She wanted them to get back together. Her father hates wolves and her mom loves them. She dais that's why they divorced and I said there had to be more to it."

"Did you talk to Mr. Rong about it?"

"When he came over for dinner once. He said that was only one of the reasons and there was a lot more to it. When I asked what other reasons are there he just said it was complicated." She paused. "I do know he hated how Paris had to visit Mrs. Rong every weekend."

I smiled slightly. "Were you dating him?"

She blushed. "I kind of still am."

I chuckled. "Good for you. Maybe we can have a group dinner. That way you can meet Timothy and I can meet Mr. Rong outside of work."

She nodded. "How's tonight?"

"Eight?"

"Yes."

"Deal." I texted Jasper real quick and he said that it was fine.

"Do you have any more questions?" She asked.

"Yes. How long had Paris been Halla's tutor?"

"Three years."

I blinked. That's the same amount of time as Halla babysitting Daila. Maybe she had been getting behind in school. Or she just struggled with some classes. "So ever since she started babysitting?"

"Yes."

"You've had no job for that long?"

"I have one now. It's an at-home job so I can keep an eye on Faith and babysit Amelia when you need me to."

I nodded. "How long have you worked at this job?"

"Two years. I told Halla she could stop babysitting but she enjoyed it so much that she kept doing it."

"Did Halla ever complain about any of the Dee family?"

"Only that they kept trying to give her more money. She just didn't want the raise."

I stood. "Alright. I'll see you tonight."

"See ya."

I left and drove straight to Jasper's office. I need to talk to him.