Everyone stopped for a moment, staring at each other.

"She was kind of obsessed with proving to everyone she's not dumb," I said, scratching Duke's chin.

"What if she planned this whole thing to prove that she was smarter than everyone?" Khan said. "What's the best way to do that than to kill someone and get away with it?"

"So, it's Chi?" Sebastian asked. "She killed Layla?"

"She's the only one with a background in poison," Yaz said, arching her brows.

I played around with the idea in my head. It made sense logically. Chi wanted to prove that she was smarter than everyone by poisoning Layla and getting away with it. Proving to Gmie that she wasn't a 'dumb slut' did seem to be very important to her.

"You agree?" Khan asked me.

Sometimes things are just that simple. Tim's words circled in my head. Maybe there wasn't some elaborated plan here, and it was just that simple. It was Chi.

She had the motive, opportunity, and knowledge of poison. Plus, she lied to us, trying to get us to pick the wrong people.

"Yeah," I said, putting Duke into my lap and brushing his neck.

"Since we got that solved," Rucker said, pulling over a table with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. "Let's eat."

♟♙♟

We spent the next few hours eating and talking. Rucker's food really was amazing, and he relished in all his praise and compliments before lecturing Khan and me for about twenty minutes.

About two hours before the time limit was up, I wanted to go see Layla one more time. I knew that once her case was solved that her body would be removed.

"You sure about this?" Rucker asked me as we walked through the halls.

"I just want to say goodbye," I said as we stopped outside my room.

She still laid there, dead. Nothing changed. I lowered myself to my knees and just stared at her. Certain parts of me felt a connection to her. A connection that I couldn't name, but I could feel.

Some piece of me knew she was watching us. That her spirit was still around. A harsh pressure tickled my neck, making my chest blow up with a bunch of emotions. I couldn't pinpoint all of them, but one that I could identify was frustration.

It thrashed throughout my lungs and tummy like an angry hurricane, wanting to kill everything in its path. Why was I feeling this way?

Rucker paused over me. "You don't think Chi did it."

Did I think that? The bumbling in my stomach lashed out against my skin, answering my question for me. I didn't think it was Chi. That conclusion didn't sit well with me for some reason, and I couldn't explain why.

And that just made me mad. Mad at myself for not being able to solve this murder.

"Khan's theory makes sense," I said finally, fingers digging into my palm.

Rucker folded his arms. "Doesn't mean it's right. And don't mean you gotta accept it."

I punched the floor. "We don't have time for me to keep investigating and thinking up wild theories. Look what happened with Aries? It was a waste of time."

"Okay?" Rucker shrugged. "That's how you find solutions, by testing theories. Once one doesn't work out, you keep going until you eventually get it."

"But we don't have time to test a new theory."

"Who says we don't?" he asked with a shrug. "Do that brainy observant thing you do and solve this."

"You don't think it's Chi, either?"

Rucker sighed. "Honestly, no. Chi's not stupid. I know that first hand, I spent time with the chick. She's very calculating, but she's like me. She kills for a reason. Proving that she's smarter is a reason, but not enough for her to get her hands dirty." He shrugged. "But I could be wrong."

It's what's not there. Jookie's words rang through my head. I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh, feeling that frustration bubble increase at the thought of Chi being the murderer. She wasn't the killer.

"I'm going to retrace her steps one more time," I said, wiping off my knees. I had one more shot at this. I needed to concentrate and think. I could do this.

"Come on then," Rucker said.

Starting from her room, I fast-walked her route again, and again, coming up short. What the hell was I missing? What wasn't there?

I punched the common room wall. "What am I missing?"

"Calm down, Rocky," Rucker said, standing on the threshold.

I plopped down on the floor in the common room, kneading my temples. "I know I'm missing something."

"You're letting your stress take over," Rucker said. "Relax."

Blowing out a breath, I closed my eyes and smacked my hand on the floor, groaning in pain when I hit Sebastian's clue. "Ouch," I whispered, opening my eyes.

My eyes flickered to the group of clues on the floor before closing again, but then my heart stopped. THE CLUES. It's what's not there.

"I got it," I shouted, making Rucker jerk back.

"Who?" he asked, rubbing his ear.

I started to tell him who killed Layla, but I paused. Thick blobs of intense glum plummeted throughout my veins like a vicious tidal wave on rocks as my mind speculated how Layla's last moments played out.

It really cut me deep. It hurt, even more, when I put all the tiny pieces of evidence together, and it revealed the killers instantly. It really had been that easy.

Her secret had been easy too. It was that she didn't belong. Not with her family where she changed herself to belong and not here with us where she tried to do the same thing and it only drove her crazy.

It was like me. Ever since my family died, I never felt like I belonged. I tried to be normal and fit in, but truthfully, I never did. To the world, it looked like I did, but I didn't. I probably never would.

Wetness brimmed my eyes, threatening to fall at any minute. "It's my fault she's dead," I said in a soft tone. If I didn't let the darkness in, Tini wouldn't have tried to choke her, and Layla might still be alive. If I had been a better friend, maybe she wouldn't have completely lost it and kidnapped all of us, which basically led to her demise.

"Umm are you saying you killed her?' Rucker asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yes, I did," I said, getting up and running away.

"Betinia!" Rucker called to me, but I kept running until I got to Khan's room.

"What the fuck's going on?" Yaz jumped out of her chair as I crashed into the room with Rucker behind me.

I searched around the room, looking for it as everyone stared and talked around me.

"She just said that she killed Layla," Rucker said, staring at me. "And just ran off."

"Wait, what?" Yaz said, looking from me to Rucker.

"Huh?" Khan asked, eyes swirling.

"Betinia, what's going on?" Sebastian asked, coming to touch my arm, but I pushed him off.

I looked around for what I wanted, ignoring everyone else. I spotted Layla's journal on Khan's desk and grabbed it and locked myself in the bathroom.

I wanted to be alone right now. I didn't want to be in a room with a killer or killers at the moment. I just wanted to be alone. I let out a bitter laugh, knowing I couldn't judge anyone.

I had my own demons and faults. This was a game, and they were just playing it, but I couldn't stop the melancholic sensation from taking over my body, ripping through me like jellyfish stings on human tissue.

I opened up the journal and began to really read this time. Some of it didn't make sense, but I didn't go in there looking for something. I just went in, wanting to connect to her and to feel everything she did, and I did, absorbing all her emotions and fears.

I cried for her, really cried. Because I did feel a connection, and now she was gone. Even with all of her psychotic ramblings, weird mindsets, and shitty behavior, it wasn't her fault. Even at her worst, she was still there, still her real self. I caught glimpses of it when she looked at me.

I closed my eyes, droplets peeking out from the corners. A sob choked my throat, tears streaming down my face as my teammates pounded on the door.

Maybe if I would've just opened my door when she cried out to me, she might still be here.

♟♙♟

Do you know who the killer(s) are?