The Big Chili by Julia Buckley Page B

murder? Was it because they were somehow guilty? Did they know something about Alice Dixon’s death? But how would two teenagers have the wherewithal to poison someone?
    â€œNow you look suspicious, too!” Shelby cried. “I told Jake that the cop looked suspicious of us.”
    I folded my hands. “Let’s start at the beginning. Are you telling me that you’re innocent, or that you’re guilty? Because you’re both making really guilty faces.”
    â€œWe’re not guilty of
murder
!” Shelby said, her eyes so large they seemed to fill her face.
    â€œWe just
feel
guilty,” Jake said, his expression helpful.
    â€œOkay. And why do you feel guilty?”
    They exchanged another glance.
    I sighed. “Here’s another question. Why were you even there?”
    Jake decided to field that one. “We need service hours for school, and for college applications. Father Schmidt is pretty nice about signing our service hour sheets when we help with activities at the church. We’ve helped at the St. Bart’s homeless sheltering events, and at the fall festival, and at bingo.Even though it’s not strictly service, since the people at bingo aren’t a community in need, Father Schmidt said it was okay, because we were working for our faith community.”
    That was a long speech for Jake, and I realized that he had more depth than I’d previously realized.
    â€œSo you were doing it as a service.”
    â€œYes,” Shelby said, nodding and smiling.
    â€œOkay. I’m failing to see the reason you feel guilty. I assume this has something to do with Alice Dixon?”
    Again they exchanged a glance. I was getting tired of this. It felt as obvious as a soap opera, although they seemed oblivious to the fact that I could see their dramatic reactions.
    â€œWhy do you think it’s related to Alice Dixon?” asked Jake. He had been petting Mick, and now his hands froze, keeping Mick’s floppy ears sticking up like strange antennae.
    â€œAgain, because you’re
here
and she was just murdered, and you are concerned about the investigating detective.”
    â€œRight,” Jake conceded, nodding. To my relief, he let go of Mick’s ears and finally pushed the hair out of his eyes, giving me a view of his whole face. He was a handsome boy with a high, pale forehead and almond-shaped hazel eyes. “The thing is, we talked with Mrs. Dixon on that night. We sort of fought with her.”
    This was interesting. “I need a third cookie for this.” I took one and bit into it, letting the cream cheese and butter disintegrate on my tongue. “You argued with Alice?”
    Jake opened his mouth to explain, but Shelby cut in. “It’s not like we were looking to fight with her. Jake and I were doing dishes in the kitchen, and she came in to put some sort of decoration on a cake she made. She was there with this bag of nuts and arranging the nuts on the frosting. And wewere talking about animals, because Jake and I are both members of the Pine Haven High Animal Protection Club. Miss Grandy is our moderator.”
    I sighed. Of course she was. On the list of their many volunteer activities, the Grandy sisters worked in the local schools. Angelica coached soccer at St. Bart’s, and Harmonia and Pet donated their time at the high school. I hadn’t known about the animal club, though.
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo Mrs. Dixon was talking about this dog she had. His name is Apollo.”
    This surprised me. I hadn’t pegged Alice as a dog person, and I had never heard of Apollo.
    â€œHe was really Mr. Dixon’s dog,” Jake added.
    â€œOkay.” That made more sense.
    â€œMrs. Dixon said that she had the dog after their divorce, because Mr. Dixon’s apartment building didn’t allow them. But she didn’t like how much Apollo barked; she said it was bothering their neighbors.” Shelby’s eyes looked