‘I think it’s obvious who the spy is,’ Chets says. ‘It has to be the person who we know has a Crater Lake Christmas tree in their house.’

‘We saw Karim’s mum change,’ Kat says, ‘and how it affected him. She changed in the labs, not at home.’

‘That was yesterday, though,’ Mak says. ‘He slept at home again last night, so he could have turned between then and now.’

Karim has gone pale as he looks around at 214everyone staring at him like he’s a snake about to pounce. ‘It isn’t me,’ he says. ‘Lance, you know it isn’t me.’

And I feel like a horrible person saying it, but at this point I can’t trust anybody. None of us can. ‘You did say you crashed out last night. That you had a really long, deep sleep. Maybe some sporage leaked out into your house after all, and did its work while you were unconscious.’

‘Also,’ Ade says. ‘Your mum could have come home and knocked you out and put a new tree in your house.’

‘My mum wouldn’t knock me out,’ Karim says.

‘Yeah, she would, if she’s one of them,’ says Mak. ‘Or she could have spat a sedative ball into your food.’

‘She wouldn’t even have needed to knock him out,’ Kat says. ‘She could have snuck in at any point and stuck a cone under his pillow while he was sleeping, like an evil, reverse tooth fairy.’ She makes a face at Karim. ‘No offence.’

‘What about Chets?’ Karim says. ‘We didn’t even see inside his house to know what kind of Christmas tree he has. And he just magically turned up in the right place at the right time.’ 215

‘Sounds like you’re trying to pass the blame because you’re guilty,’ Chets says. ‘And Lance knows that my mum always has a pre-lit, luxury, you-can’t-tell-it’s-not-real Christmas tree, because she doesn’t like the mess of the needles dropping, and she hates getting scratched when she has to wind the lights around.’

‘That’s true,’ I say. ‘She does always have one of those.’

‘You see,’ Chets says. ‘It’s obviously you, Karim.’

Karim looks so hurt, and it makes me feel like a proper scumbag.

‘To be fair,’ Ade says. ‘You’ve seemed rather unlike yourself today, Chetan. You’re much more aggressive than usual, and I’ve noticed that you’ve been dragging things out all day, like you’re trying to buy time.’

‘Ade’s right,’ Mak says. ‘Sorry, mate, but you have. You’ve been a jerk to Karim all day.’

‘You’re just siding with Ade because you like her,’ Kat says. ‘Madriak, the sequel.’

‘That’s snaky, Katja,’ Ade says. ‘Mak and I haven’t even spoken to each other since he started going out with Georgia-Rae. He made it quite clear that he doesn’t like me.’ 216