I want to assure him that literacy isn’t contagious, but he doesn’t seem like the type who uses humor as a coping mechanism. Which means we basically have nothing in common.

We’re alone in here, since the librarian retreated to her office and everyone who doesn’t take seventh period has gone home, to work, or to some kind of extracurricular practice.

Officer Green stalks past the table where I’m sitting, and for the dozenth time, he stops to stare at me for a second. He clearly wants to ask me something, and I can’t blame him. But my mom told him she’d be the one to take my statement.

Finally, the library door opens and she comes in. She doesn’t sleep much, and she eats too much junk food at work, but neither of those have anything to do with how tired she suddenly looks.

It’s the dead baby.

She sits across from me and sets her phone on the table, open to the audio recording app. “Okay, Beckett, I need to ask you a few questions, and I’m going to record the whole thing, so I can refer to it later.”

“Are they going to let you do this?” I ask, and she looks confused. “I mean, shouldn’t they take you off this case, since your daughter is involved?”

“You’re not ‘involved,’ Beck. You’re a witness. And Andrew”—the other investigator—“is busy with that copper theft out at the substation.”

Yet I can’t help noticing, as she taps the RECORD icon on her phone, that she lets Officer Green stay as a witness.

While the app records, my mother states her name and rank, then she announces me as a witness and gives my full name, birthdate, and address. Then, finally, she looks at me. “Okay, Beckett, so tell me what happened.”

“I went into the locker room and noticed a drop of blood in one of the showers. Then I saw the duffel bag. When I realized what was in it, I ran into the gym and got Coach Killebrew. She called 911.”

“What were you doing in the locker room? Coach says it’s supposed to be off-limits for a couple more days, because of the fresh paint.”

I glance at Officer Green as warmth floods my cheeks.

“Beckett?” My mother frowns. “You’re not in trouble. Just tell me.”

“I was kind of … hiding. I broke up with Jake last night, and I took a college day today because I didn’t want to see anyone. Then I remembered that I can’t miss that French test, so I came to school just for seventh period. When I saw a bunch of his friends in the gym, I ducked into the locker room so they wouldn’t see me.”

Fact-Check Rating: True, but incomplete.