Kirsten worked six nights a week and Harry didn’t know anyone outside of school, so unless he was hanging with Matt the hours between school and bed were lonely.

It was approaching two in the afternoon, leaving eight and a half hours to bedtime. Harry grabbed sparkling water and a plate of random tapas-type things out of the fridge. He sat on a stool and flipped the lid of a battered MacBook that lived on the kitchen counter. Kirsten had been using it while working on a recipe and the screen had icing-sugar fingerprints and a whiff of orange essence.

Harry’s first thought was to transfer the photos he’d taken earlier and see them on a decent-sized screen. But when the iris scan unlocked his phone, the screen showed the notes he’d made while everyone gossiped in Sofia’s car.

JJ Janssen Backup quarterback, 11th grader

Obvious suspect (too obvious!)

Threatened to kill Deion in locker room on Monday

Dad is Jay Janssen Sr, $$$ minted businessman & former drug dealer

Fawn Croker JJ’s fiancée.

25yo!!! Money grabber?

Charlie Croker Fawn’s brainy kid sister

8th grader

Made explosives for show and tell!

Did science project with Matt

Making eight hundred bucks had knocked Harry’s focus away from the locker mystery, but when he read the notes, the thing that stuck out was Matt’s personal connection with Charlie Croker. JJ and Fawn would be suspects, but the cops didn’t have Matt’s personal knowledge, and Harry wondered if they might take a while to learn about Charlie’s explosive-making.

Harry dialled Matt’s number.

‘That Charlie Croker,’ Harry began, ‘the one who makes her own explosives. Did you ever go to her place when you did that science project? Did she have a lab, or a shed, or something where you worked?’

Matt sounded patronising. ‘Still playing Joey-the-journalist?’

Harry grunted. ‘Can you help me or not?’

‘She always came to my house because it’s nicer,’ Matt said warily. ‘But I rode in the car one time when my dad dropped her home. I don’t know the road name, but it’s the corner with the big CVS pharmacy, off North Rainbow.’

‘The CVS we pass on the way to school?’

‘Exactly,’ Matt agreed. ‘North Pine Road or Lonely Pine. Something like that. Just after you turn off Rainbow, there’s a tire place, then you come to a double-wide trailer home. Blue grey colour, sorta like someone mixed all the leftover paint together. But this was back in seventh grade, so they might have moved since.’

Harry tucked his phone between shoulder and chin so that he could use Google Maps on the MacBook.

‘Found it,’ Harry said jubilantly as he switched to street view and saw the trailer home, like Matt had described. ‘1680, Leaning Pines.’

‘How you gonna play it?’ Matt asked. ‘Knock on the front door and ask Charlie if she’s blown anyone up?’