Adventures In Murder Chasing (Funeral Crashing #3) (7 page)

So, onto Nico it seemed. Yeah, life was really weird sometimes. Or did I just want to chase another murder? Still, I mean, Nico's death sounded really strange and we had already made plans to meet Troy. Should we cancel? We couldn't. We had to follow through now. It was serendipity that we had stumbled upon a real murder. Or was it real? Did I just want it to be real? Maybe it was an accident? Not natural causes, of course, but bad luck? I felt confused. How did I really feel? Was everyone going to think I was crazy? Usually I didn't care what people thought. I was a funeral crasher after all and pretty much everyone looked down on that. Still, was it crazy that I was jumping from one potential murder to another?

I looked at Ethan and Suzie and Kyle. They were already talking about something else. They could just do that. I wanted to get up, pay my heartfelt respects to Gabe and his family and then run out of the funeral and start investigating Nico's death. How did I feel about that? Funeral jumping, murder chasing?

I guess I did like the whole investigating thing. I had to admit to that. I knew Ethan wasn't super thrilled that I liked it, but I couldn't help it. He was the one that started that spark in my brain. I had never even thought about investigating anything before we started hanging out. Maybe it was my calling. Maybe funeral chasing wasn't a bad thing. Truthfully, it suddenly occurred to me that if I was really interested in this whole murder investigating thing, crashing funerals was actually a really good way to hear about people's suspicious deaths. I mean, it was a way to hear about potential cases besides the overt murder cases that made headlines in the news. Obituaries mostly never went into detail about how the person died, but at a funeral, it was such common knowledge, that if it was shocking, someone was sure to be gossiping about it.

So what if I became a funeral chaser? What did that mean? Would Ethan not like me anymore? What would Kyle and Suzie think? Ariel even? Wow, I suddenly cared what other people thought. It had crept up on me. I didn't notice. I hadn't cared since my mom died and Ariel and I had stopped being friends, but now suddenly I did. Weird, weird, weird.

"Kait? Kait?" Ethan said.

I was startled into paying attention, mid freak out, but I tried to appear calm. "Oh. Sorry. Just thinking."

"It's okay," Ethan smiled at me and took my hand. "I was just telling Kyle and Suzie about Nico."

"Oh," I said, looking carefully at them, seeing if they were indeed passing judgment like I feared they would, but they just looked normal - like Kyle and Suzie. Huh. Yeah, I had to ask, "Okay. What do you guys think?"

"Sounds strange," Suzie said.

"Definitely see what Troy says," Kyle added.

"It could be foul play," Suzie said doing her best imitation of an old school detective.

I nodded. I peered more closely at them trying to see if they were thinking anything underneath all that being normal and nice. Did they think I was crazy for chasing another funeral? I looked at Ethan. He shrugged. Suzie and Kyle were looking at me. I felt weird. I mean, how could they be so normal about it? What was wrong with them? I knew it was weird, but they were being so...nice. I suddenly had to get away from them.

"I'm just going to run to the bathroom," I said as normally as I could and got up before anybody could volunteer to go with me and walked out of Gabe's funeral as fast as I could.

Whoa. What was wrong with me? I felt more than a little panicked. I was freaking out. I...I just needed a few moments to myself to gather my thoughts. I knew in my head that Suzie, Kyle, and Ethan didn't think I was totally nuts for jumping onto another mystery, but I felt really unsure of myself. What if this mystery turned out to be nothing too? I felt like I was under a lot of pressure. I wished nobody knew I was investigating Nico's death but me. I knew Ethan of all people wouldn't judge me and leave me, but still. It was all in my head. I knew that. I just needed a second. I mean, I hadn't cared about anybody else's opinion in forever and now people were suddenly mattering. It was really freaking me out. What if they were like Ariel? Maybe that was it. Maybe the whole Wired talk with Ariel was doing this to me. It was always her getting to me, after all. Yeah, I blamed Ariel. Seriously, if I could only get a moment to collect my thoughts, I knew I'd feel better.

I raced toward the bathrooms, mind still whirling, when I bumped into someone. To my horror my wig fell off as the person got tangled in my hair. I quickly grasped at my wig and tried to put it back on.

"Oh my gosh. Sorry," A girl said.

"No, no. I'm sorry," I said, focusing my attention on righting the wig back on my head. My cheeks were red. This was super embarrassing.

Then I looked up. It was Layla standing in front of me. Up close I had to agree with Suzie. Layla's hair was beautiful. It had perfect dark curls. She was definitely a very pretty girl too with those kind of chiseled features that could make her a good model if she chose that career path. Currently, though, she was looking at me with her face all twisted up, like she thought I was strange.

"Why are you wearing a wig?" Layla asked.

"Uh," I said because was there really any good reason for me to be wearing a wig? Then it occurred to me that maybe Layla was wearing a weave and her hair wasn't real either. I didn't say anything. Truthfully, all I wanted was to get my couple minutes of breathing space.

Layla remained looking at me and didn't move out of my way. I had to think of something to say besides, uh, even if I wanted to ignore the embarrassment of losing my wig in front of a girl who I had almost accused of murder even though she was totally innocent. How did I get into these predicaments?

"I, uh," I said, trying to think of something. "I just hate my hair. Wigs are easier."

It could be true. Maybe I had a wig for every day of the week. Layla couldn't know.

"Okay," Layla said like she thought I was a little weird despite my rational response, "So, how did you know Gabe? I don't remember meeting you ever and I'd remember."

I froze, but just decided to be honest, in this case. "We definitely haven't met. I didn't really know Gabe, although I went to Wired a lot. Um, basically a friend of mine worked with him. I came to support her."

I got the impression that maybe Layla was worried that I was Gabe's ex-girlfriend or a new girlfriend. I so didn't want to go there. I didn't need a bereaved girl freaking out on me.

Layla nodded, "Oh. Okay. That's nice of you. You really just wear wigs all the time?"

"How did you know Gabe?" I asked, trying to deflect the question about my hair. Plus I was curious. I knew in my head that the case was over, but I couldn't help it.

"We used to date. He was a really great boyfriend," Layla said, sniffing a little, like she was about to cry. "We were still friends and all that, after, but I guess I'm just having a hard time with it all. I can't believe it, you know?"

I felt so sad for Layla all of a sudden. How could I have ever thought she was a potential murderer? What was wrong with me? She was really wrecked over Gabe's death. You could tell.

"It'll be okay...eventually," I said. "I've lost someone I really cared about too."

Layla nodded, "Thanks. I feel like most people just don't get it. It was like he was here one day and gone the next. It's really hard. I just don't understand what happened."

I touched her shoulder, "Sometimes there is no reason."

"But there should be," Layla said, suddenly looking mad instead of sad.

I felt that way too. It's why I wanted Gabe to be murdered. There was no reason that he should have been taken away so young. I felt the need to comfort Layla, though.

"Sometimes life is just sad," I said, trying to help her as best as I could. "Just... Well, try and get through it as best as you can. Gabe would want you to, right?"

"Yeah, he would," Layla said, swiping another tear from her eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I said. "I, uh, I have to go to the bathroom, so..."

"Oh. Sorry," Layla said. "Go for it."

"Yeah," I said. "Feel better."

Then I walked past Layla, at a slower rate, toward the bathroom. My wig fell askew. I tried to put it back onto my head, but it kept falling with every step. How mortifying. I was glad that there were only a few other people in the hallway. I'd have to really fix the wig once I got into the bathroom. Still, I didn't really care. My brain felt muddled. There was too much going on. There were two deaths at way too young ages and I felt stuck in the middle. I now wished I could help Layla, but Gabe's death was due to natural causes. She was going to have to get over his death with the help of her family and friends. She didn't need my help. Besides, I was still helping Troy learn more about Nico's death. I only had so much time.

I walked into the bathroom and locked myself into the stall. I didn't even fix my hair first. Finally I had a few minutes of quiet. I didn't even have to go to the bathroom. I just wanted to think. Okay. Breathe.

My phone beeped, startling me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was a text from Troy:
Leaving for the Pie Shop. See you there.

Seriously? It seemed that I couldn't take a break from murder investigating for thirty seconds even if I wanted. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and texted Troy back:
Leaving now too.

Troy was already waiting for Ethan and I at The Pie Shop when we got there. Ethan and I had taken our time saying goodbye to Suzie and Kyle. I mostly didn't want them to think I was weird for running off to the bathroom in the middle of a conversation. They didn't seem to think it was weird at all. Well, they didn't say anything at least. Maybe they hadn't noticed. Still, I hadn't meant to make Troy wait. It looked like he had already eaten a slice of pie, from the crumb filled empty desert plate next to him, and was on seconds.

"The pie here is great!" Troy said as we sat down across from him. "How did I not know about this place?"

"The pie's alright," Ethan said, opening his menu. "Personally, though, I like their burgers."

"Which pie did you get?" I asked Troy, opening my menu too.

"I had the coconut crème," Troy said. "I think I'm going to have a slice of apple too. That's classic pie."

I nodded. I was getting pie too. I actually agreed with Troy on the whole pie thing. Their chocolate peanut butter pie was super yummy. Yeah, I definitely had a thing for peanut butter. The waitress came by to take our orders and then it was time to get down to business. Besides, working on the case made me forget to focus on the mouthwatering pie that was coming my way.

"So, Troy, tell us what you know," I said, as soon as the waitress walked away.

Troy took a deep breath, "Well, like I said Nico and I went to high school together. We were good friends."

"And..." I said because Troy didn't continue on and we needed a little more information than that.

I knew Troy probably didn't know where to start. I mean, maybe he and Nico were like Ariel and I: complicated. If someone who didn't know Ariel asked about her, I would definitely have problems deciding where to start the story. Or maybe Troy was just sad. He did just lose a friend after all. I suddenly wished that I didn't have to prod Troy into continuing. He might need some space like Ethan still needed when it came to talking about his half sister, Liz. Wait. Why was my brain still on Ariel? I really needed to get her out of my head.

Troy sighed, bringing me out of my thoughts, and said, "Well, Nico was a good guy. We used to spend weekends collecting stuff from junkyards. He was an auto shop geek and I was already doing art with random materials. He fixed cars although he also liked to tinker with anything mechanical. He could fix almost anything if he stared at it long enough. He just had to figure out how it worked. Mostly he worked on cars, though. I did art. It worked for a high school friendship. After high school, Nico's dad convinced him to go to business school. Nico probably would have been just as happy being an auto mechanic. He said school was great, though. He had some girlfriend for a while that was supposedly super hot. It ended, but you know, he had one for a little while and he had a great job on campus where he pretty much did homework and got paid for it. He didn't get to work on cars as much, though, unless he came home for the weekend. Car permits on campus cost a fortune and he lived in an on campus apartment or dorm room or something, so it's not like he had tons of space for parts and stuff."

"Okay, so Nico's a cool guy," Ethan said when Troy paused in thought. "But if someone killed him, there has to be more. What's the real dirt on him? Anybody hate him? Was there a jealous girlfriend problem? An illegitimate kid? Did he piss off the wrong person?"

Troy frowned, thinking, "No to all of those, as far as I know, but we didn't talk all the time. I maybe saw him every six months when he was at school and maybe a little more often in the summer, when he was home from school. We grew apart, you know? Different lives. We were still cool, but I don't know. His life was at his school, my life was at mine and I was absorbed in doing art. We didn't talk as much. Things changed. We were both busy doing our own thing."

"Yeah, I get it," I said.

It had just occurred to me that even though that had happened to Ariel and I - the friendship changing over time, maybe it happened to everyone. Maybe it was just normal for some friendships to implode or deteriorate or just drift away into nothingness. Troy didn't seem too broken up about his friendship deterioration with Nico, though. So, why was I still so hurt by what happened with Ariel? Plus from the conversation we had almost started at Wired, I wasn't so sure that Ariel was over our friendship either. What did that mean exactly?