“Woah,”Peter uttered. “What’s all of this?”
“Keep your beak out,” Thea said, only half-joking.
Bryce rolled her eyes at the terrible pun.
“Is it research for the podcast?”
She frowned at that. She didn’t remember ever talking about the podcast with Peter. “How doyouknow about that?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been listening to it for months. Half of the town has. You guys are famous now.”
“You never mentioned it.” Thea crossed her arms over her chest, though she wasn’t quite sure why it mattered. It just seemed strange that Peter, who was so desperate to talk to Bryce at work that he’d once read out every ingredient listed on his string cheese — a short list to be sure since, shockingly, the main ingredient was cheese — hadn’t mentioned to his crush that he listened to her show.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Didn’t I?”
“Anyway —” Thea interjected.
This time, Officer Shaw was the one to interrupt. “What the hell are you doing with those?”
The policewoman nudged past Thea to inspect the newspapers, lips pursed sourly at what she found. “Does Rita know you have these?”
“Yes,” said Thea impatiently. “I’m just borrowing them for research purposes.”
“You don’t think it’s a tad insensitive to come in here with them on full display after the town has lost two people this week?” Shaw’s cold, grey eyes narrowed. It felt as though Bryce was watching a police interrogation first-hand, or else a woman scolding two badly-behaved children.
“I didn’t think of it that way,” Thea muttered, as meek as Bryce had ever seen her. “Sorry.”
“Put these away,” the officer ordered. “Now.”
“But Officer Shaw —”
“Thea,” Bryce warned, but it was clear when Thea continued that it had fallen on deaf ears.
“Is there anything you can tell us about the deaths? It’s just that Bryce and I record a true crime podcast together, and we were wondering if you could give us any information about what might have happened back then.”
“Who do you think you are? Velma fromScooby Doo?”
Both Bryce and Peter grimaced at Shaw’s sharply-spat words. Thea was most definitely on her own on this one. Bryce was almost embarrassed to be associated with her. Her best friend never knew when to stop.
“I lost one of my colleagues this week. Have somerespect.”Shaw stalked off, ponytail swishing behind her as she barged through the customers and left the arcade.
Thea was left to watch, mouth agape, before she turned back to Bryce. “Can you believe her?”
“I know. Clearly,I’mVelma.You’reDaphne.” Bryce couldn’t help but find some entertainment in Thea’s flabbergasted expression. She’d walked right into that one, and Shaw had had every right to scold her for it. Bryce loved Thea endlessly, but she could be insensitive and tactless, and perhaps she needed someone other than Bryce to tell her so sometimes.
“Suspicious, if you ask me. Bad vibes. Maybe even serial killer vibes. I guess we’ll soon find out.”
Peter spoke up before Bryce could argue. “Wait, you’re notactuallytrying to figure out who’s killing people in town, are you?”
“Sheis. I’m not,” Bryce said at the very same time that Thea proudly announced, “Yes we are.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“No,” deadpanned Bryce.
Thea shot her a glare. “We know what we’re doing.”
“No we don’t,” Bryce mouthed to Peter, before checking her watch. “Anyway, it’s time to start closing up. Curfew starts at seven-thirty.”