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According to ho hoht of herhome at 7:30 pet started? Perhaps she was going hootten Perhaps not Either way, I sniffed a clue here

Thanks to Mrs Williams, vice principal extraordinaire, I now had a sh school To help facilitate ave ht that was a hell of a nice gesture on her part, and re smiles

The first house on the list was a ables and a wide portico I pulled into the wrap-around driveway

The doorbell was answered by a cute teenage girl wearing irl after my own heart She was blond, pretty, and quite s blue eyes were filled with intelligence

"Can I speak with Rebecca Garner?" I asked

"You got her"

"My naator"

She smiled broadly, and her eyes widened with pleasure I turned around to see who the hell she was s at Turns out it was ator," she said, clapping

"In the flesh"

She turned somber on a dime "You&039;re here about Amanda"

"Yes"

"Mrs Williaive out our address So I knew you&039;d be co by"

"Are your parents home?"

"No, I&039;h the doorway and shut the door behind her "My parents said it would be okay for me to talk to you"

She ledthe street Rebecca, utilizing the full use of the bench, rocked us back and forth A

"Sorry," she said "I&039;m just a little nervous I&039;ve never talked to a real live detective before"

"Well, you&039;re doing a great job of it so far" I pointed at the UCLA logo "Obviously you&039;re highly intelligent and wise for your age if you intend to go there"

She looked down "My dad went there"

"He ent and wise hient, but I don&039;t know about wise Anyway, he&039;s never home, so I really wouldn&039;t know"

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen"

"You&039;re a junior?"

"Yes"

We were silent She started rocking again, and I put ain She ducked her head and said, "Oops"

"Were you with Amanda on the last day she was alive?"

"Yes"

"Tell ot there around seven A out at the gy He never likes to party All he ever did ork out, play sports and hang out with Amanda"

"Did he love Aht The bench creaked slightly I kepttoday Rebecca looked away, brushing aside a blond strand that had stuck to her shiny lip gloss

"Oh, yeah He loved her a lot"

"You think he killed her?"

"No"

"You say that pretty quick"

"He loved her sofor her"

"Was A someone else?"

"No But at the tiuy ouldn&039;t leave her alone"

"Who?"

"Chris, the guy who threw the party He&039;s always liked her"

"Did she fool around with Chris?"

"No She never cheated on Derrick They really did love each other It atching the two of the each other and kissing"

"Tell me about Chris"

"He&039;s a senior Used to play football, but got kicked off the team because he&039;s an asshole You like football?"

"Yes," I said

"I don&039;t understand it Just a bunch of boys ju on each other"

"That about sums it up"

"They kicked his and probably never showed up for practice"

"That&039;ll do it"

"He always had it pretty bad for Amanda I mean, you&039;ve seen her picture She is - was - so pretty A lot of guys at school liked her"

"Especially Chris"

"Especially Chris He hated Derrick Hated him"

"Why?"

She looked at irl, and because Derrick was black He was alwayscomments to Amanda"

"Racially insensitive comments?" I offered

"Yes," she said "Those kinds of comments Everywhere she went, he let her know it It was horrible"

"Then why go to Chris&039;s party?"

She shrugged "It&039;s high school, it was the only party being thrown that night Plus Aized for being such a jerk"

"So what happened at the party?"

"Chris was drunk e got there He was being a real dick Usual Chris, you know"

"Oh, I know"

"You know hi supportive"