Secrets in the Attic (Secrets 1)

"Right, sorry. Do you know where Karen

Stoker is right now?" he asked sharply.

"No," I said. I told myself it wasn't a lie. I knew

where she was before we left the house, but I didn't

know where she was at that moment. Maybe she had left the attic. Maybe she was outside. Maybe she was

in my room.

"Did she tell you she was thinking of doing this

terrible thing?"

"Oh, no." Again, that was no lie. She hadn't

ever said anything about killing her stepfather. "We've heard she was upset about her mother

marrying Mr. Pearson, and we know she never wanted

him to adopt her, but did you ever witness anything in

their home that would upset her enough to do this?"

Detective Simon asked.

"I didn't witness anything that would give me

such an idea, no."

"You never saw them argue?"

"I never saw Karen and Mr. Pearson argue

when I was in the house."

"Did you see them argue anywhere else?"

Lieutenant Cooper asked with a deep sigh of

annoyance.

I shrugged. "They didn't argue so much, but

Karen was upset with things he said when she was at

the drugstore sometimes."

"According to her mother," Detective Simon

said, some frustration in his voice, "you were with her

more than she was."

"I don't know how that could be true. We rode

the school bus together back and forth. We were