What We Saw by Ryan Casey Page B

Adam looked up from his action plan. ‘Maybe we should leave looking in the shed for a while and start by asking some people.’
    I nodded in affirmation. ‘I think that sounds like a very wise idea, Ad. Worst case scenario, we find proof he killed the girl. Then we can go to the police and prove we solved the mystery.’
    A murder mystery, solved by a twelve-year-old and a ten-year-old. Maybe they’d promote us or put us on some sort of list so that as soon as we were old enough, we’d have a job lined up as special detectives.
    Adam slammed his notepad shut. ‘I think we need to go see Donald.’
    I paused. ‘Are you mad? What if he knows?’
    Adam waited for me to finish, ready to come back at me. ‘We spend a normal day with him. Drop some questions in about Carla. Try to find a link.’
    It was risky, and it was dangerous. Maybe Adam was right, though. ‘We do need to tell Gran and Granddad where we’re going,’ I said. ‘We need to be sure they know who we’re with, in case…’
    Adam threw his pen towards the bed. ‘Nothing’s going to happen, Liam. We’re gonna do this.’
    I nodded. ‘Weird though isn’t it, about Carla? I mean she’s…’ I stopped myself because I realised I was shouting. The floor outside our room creaked. ‘…she’s healthy. She wasn’t even dirty or anything.’
    Adam scratched at his cheek. ‘It is weird, yeah. But we need to find out more. We can’t let him distract us, y’know?’
    I stared into the light above our heads. ‘Adam, I’m worried about Emily.’ I don’t know where the sentiment came from and, judging by the way Adam furrowed his eyebrows, neither did he.
    ‘What do you mean? What about her?’ he asked.
    What did I mean? It was all just gut feeling. ‘I don’t like the way Donald said her name today. And I know it’s probably nothing, but the bruises she always has, too. Have you seen them?’
    Adam shrugged. ‘Everyone gets bruises, don’t they?’
    I sighed. ‘I guess so. I just… I don’t know.’
    Adam reached his hand over and touched my arm. I looked up at him.
    ‘Don’t worry about Emily, cuz. She’s got two big, strong men to look after her.’

Chapter Thirteen
    Despite our plans, Gran and Granddad had other intentions for us the next morning—we were going to Bareslow village.
    ‘Do we have to?’ Adam asked, scrunching up his nose.
    ‘It would be nice if we went. You can get Emily to come along too if you want. Come on, kids, Carla’s just got back. I thought you’d be happier?’ Gran looked deflated. She expected us to be more excited.
    I looked down at Carla, who tilted her head to the side, begging for food.
    ‘Go on then,’ I said. Adam looked round to face me and raised his eyebrows. ‘We’ll go call on Emily, yeah?’
    We picked Emily up, who was enthusiastic about coming along, and set off shortly after. When we got to Bareslow, Adam pulled me back as Emily fussed over Carla.
    ‘Do we tell her?’ he whispered, ice-cream splattered across his face. Emily walked on ahead of us.
    We hadn’t hung with around Emily as much lately, and there was a strange distance between us. I was shocked that her parents had allowed her to actually come out for a day trip with us. Granted, we were only a few miles down the road, but it was nice to be able to spend some time together. The sea smelt fresh, and although it was cloudy and actually rather cold, it suited the little seaside town. One of the little brown houses smelt of fish and chips. Despite only just finishing my vanilla cornet, all I could think about was dinner. I licked my lips and imagined the taste explosion as vinegar hit the roof of my mouth.
    I shrugged. ‘I dunno. I thought we’d decided. We don’t want to scare her.’
    Emily turned to face us. Her eyes moved from me to Adam and back to me. ‘Scare who?’
    Adam ran at Emily and jumped on her back. She screamed as he wrestled her to the floor, laughing away. I tried to smile.
    I hadn’t lied to Adam