A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery 2)

“Tomorrow I’m going to talk to them about putting iron bars on your bedroom windows.”

“Fire marshal won’t allow it,” Madison said. “My dad already asked.”

Sara gave Jack a look to shut up, then back at the girls. “Tell us what happened.”

“It all started because Mrs. Beeson was...” Madison looked at the other girls.

“Fat and boring.” The dark-haired girl couldn’t take her eyes off Jack.

“And she was always watching us,” the blonde said. “It was creepy.”

“From what I’ve seen of you three, you need watching,” Jack said.

“Whatever.” Madison waved her hand in dismissal. “We didn’t mean for her to hear us.”

“Or see us when we, uh...you know, acted like her,” the blonde added.

Kate had been listening without speaking, but she was the youngest, so she had a better idea of what the girls had done. “So which one of you is the best at mimicking?”

The one who was fascinated by Jack lifted her hand.

“And you are?”

“Britney,” she whispered. Everyone was quiet as they waited for her to speak. “I just pretended I was her, that’s all. She walked funny and she never said much and she...” Britney looked at her hands.

“And poor Janet heard you making fun of her.” Sara didn’t conceal her disgust.

Madison sat up straighter. “We told them all that we were sorry.”

“And we paid for it,” Ashley said. “My dad grounded me for two whole weeks.”

“Are you saying you did this in public?” Jack was aghast.

“What media did you use?” Kate asked.

Madison gave her a haughty look. “We aren’t stupid. We know that using the internet means it goes out to the world. We thought we were alone. Private.”

“So where were you?” Sara asked.

“We were on the stage at school, behind the curtain,” Madison said. “We’d told our parents to pick us up thirty minutes after the show ended so we’d have time to hang out. We’ve been best friends since kindergarten.”

“We didn’t know our parents were there waiting for us,” Ashley said.

“And why didn’t they turn off the video camera after the play ended?” Madison sounded as though everything was someone else’s fault.

The adults were looking at them in openmouthed astonishment. Without a word, Jack got up and poured three gin and tonics. A G&T was the only drink Sara would take. He handed them to Sara and Kate, then sat down with his.

“Could we please have—” Madison began.

“No,” Jack said.

Sara cleared her throat. “So. You made fun of Mrs. Beeson in a hateful way in front of the school’s video system. Is that right?”

The girls nodded.

Kate leaned forward. “Did it play live on the big screens in the auditorium?”

They nodded.