Between solving murders, almost getting killed, finding the person digging up graves, and watching a girl kill herself, Alna and Marianna had to make room for this little thing called their normal life. And as much as Marianna did, on some morbid level, enjoy solving murders with Alna, she would admit that it was nice to have a day filled with minimal obligations. No Grand March practice or listening to a teacher prattle on about this or that; no exams to write and commitments to worry about.

  Except for studying.

  Marianna sat in the passenger seat, the sun warming her bare legs as she rested them on the dashboard of Aiden’s car, her science textbook open in her lap as she struggled through her boredom to get some studying done. Whereas part of Marianna did fear the idea of graduating high school, right now all she could think about was how ready she was to be done with school. Two months of spending time with Alna, with her only responsibilities being work and preparing for college (and the “cases” Alna got them working on) sounded like utter bliss.

  With a sigh, Marianna allowed her head to thump back onto the headrest. It felt as though all this studying she’d been doing lately was making her brain shut down rather than help memorize material she wouldn’t remember or need two months from now. Some of it was so utterly useless that Marianna wondered why it was a requirement at all.

  Just get through it, Marianna thought, sighing again. She bent her head back to the textbook and forced herself to focus on the words in front of her.

  Twenty minutes passed by the time the driver’s door opened, admitting a blank-faced Alna. Marianna lifted her head, all too grateful for the interruption. Alna looked at her, a smirk playing across her lips. Her frustration must be palpable.

  “I went shopping,” Marianna said defensively. When she dropped Alna off earlier, her girlfriend made it clear that Marianna did not have to wait for the entire two hours for her. In fact, Alna said, she didn’t want Marianna waiting for her at all.

  Gesturing to the backseat, she added, “I even got you something.”

  That earned her a slight smile. “Thank you.”

  They switched spots. Marianna pulled out of the parking lot in front of the South Rock Police Academy while Alna examined the book Marianna bought for her: The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins. Alna was looking quite good today, in her formal black button-up shirt and simple black slacks. Her hair lacked its trademark messy quality, looking rather shiny as the sun reflected off of it. While simple, Alna’s outfit gave off an air of professionalism. She looked as though she was ready to go to a job interview instead of an entrance exam.

  “So how did it go?” Marianna asked after ascertaining their lunch location. She had little doubt that Alna had done well, but that didn’t stop the curiosity from burning through her.

  As Marianna stopped at a red light, she saw Alna’s mouth twist and felt a small flicker of satisfaction. Her assumption earlier was right: Alna was anxious––about the exam or the results, it didn’t matter. It was interesting to see the girl who was normally so self-assured feel nervous about something.

  Not that Marianna was unsympathetic.

  As Marianna pressed on the gas, driving them through a green light, Alna began talking.

  “I believe I did well,” Alna said, although there was an uncertain edge to her voice that Marianna wasn’t used to hearing. “But of course, those who are older than me, and have gone to college, have a much greater chance than I do.”

  Marianna gave her a sidelong look. “I’m sure you’ll get in,” she assured her. Perhaps she was going overboard on the optimism, but that didn’t make her words any less true.

  Alna gave a noncommittal hum, and Marianna had to grin, despite herself. Ahead of her, a white truck stopped to allow a man to cross the street, where a vibrantly coloured donut shop was. “You’re nervous,” she said, without a doubt in her mind.

  This earned a brief glare, albeit one lacking any heat. There was a pleased glimmer in Alna’s eyes. She must have found it a relief that Marianna seemed to have recovered from her brutal nightmare last night.

  Alna slumped in her seat. Up ahead, Marianna spotted the fast-food restaurant they’d agreed on for lunch. The North Pole. A place that, rather ironically, Marianna had decided she quite liked after meeting Harlow Ashworth there.

  “Of course I’m nervous,” Alna muttered, sounding dispirited. “Now that I’ve decided on my career, I find I am quite eager to begin the process of becoming a police officer.”

  Marianna didn’t reply to that for the moment. She braked as a man darted in front of the car she was driving, not even bothering to check for oncoming traffic before he did so.

  “Idiot,” Alna commented once the man was safely on the other side of the road. Her voice was mild, as if she was talking about the weather. Marianna smirked a bit and within minutes they had pulled into the parking lot of the North Pole.

  ***

  Rather inconveniently, the day the Batman comic would go up for auction was the same day Marianna’s first exam took place. The exam started at two o’clock in the afternoon, whereas the auction itself was happening at six.

  Alna told her not to worry. To focus on her exams because they were the most important thing going on in Marianna’s life right now.

  That Alna considered Marianna’s diploma exams more important than actual murders and a grave robber continued to bewilder her. But at the same time, it didn’t. Alna had always considered her education important.

  Being told to do something and implementing it were two different things. Despite Alna’s words, Marianna found herself increasingly distracted during her science final. She ended up having to read multiple questions two or three times, the words refusing to stick in her head. The surrounding silence wasn’t helping, either. Sure, it was supposed to be quiet so that the students could write their exams in peace, but that didn’t help distract Marianna from her racing thoughts. Nor did it help her focus.

  She nearly jumped out of her seat when someone coughed, her head snapping up. She couldn’t spot the culprit, her eyes alighting on nothing but vertical rows of cream-coloured desks with students sitting at them, bent over their exams.

  How did Alna handle it? Marianna wondered as she forced herself to answer the next question. Thinking so fast all the time? It was driving her crazy.

  The students had three hours to write their diploma exams. Whereas Marianna never needed more than two of those hours in the past, she found she took up nearly all the allotted time. So much for getting out earlier so that she and Alna didn’t have to rush to the auction.

  It took all of Marianna’s willpower not to bolt straight for the doors the moment she’d finished double-checking her answers. It was now four fifty-eight. They had a mere hour to get to the auction.

  As they agreed earlier, Alna was waiting outside the main doors of Finley High, sitting on a wooden bench placed against the stone wall to the right. She was more dressed up than normal, wearing a pair of black slacks, ballet flats, and a dark purple shirt with a hint of a v-neck. An auburn wig hid her natural hair, its tresses gathered up into a bun atop her head. If Alna hadn’t told Marianna what she would be wearing, it might have taken Marianna a moment or two to recognize her.

  Alna had been switching her disguise out for new ones in quick succession these days. And in some ways, this one was more elaborate than the others. Not only was Alna wearing a wing, contacts, and makeup to hide her pale skin tone, she had also added freckles to her cheekbones and nose. Those, combined with the reddish hair, gave Alna a near innocent look.

  Her head was bent over her phone as Marianna approached, but the moment she noticed her girlfriend, she looked up. And it was then that Marianna noticed another characteristic of her disguise.

  “Is that a tattoo?” she asked, staring at the black paw print on the right side of Alna’s neck. At her question, Alna’s hand rose to touch it.

  “A fake one, yes,” Alna confirmed. “Tattoos are a near foolproof way of identifying a person. I figured that having such a thing tonight, and then taking it away, would make it more difficult for someone to identify me.”

  Marianna shook her head with a fond smile. “You think of anything, don’t you?”

  In response, Alna flashed her a playful grin, heedless of the small trickle of students that were walking past them. She said nothing and instead grabbed the strap of the backpack she’d brought with her, hoisting it over her shoulder. Marianna found herself a bit disorientated, unused to Alna being a redhead.

  “It’s time for you to get dressed, Ms. Pederson,” Alna announced, referring to her newly chosen alias. “We have an auction to attend.”

  ***

  Somehow, against all probability, they made it to the rec centre with just under five minutes before the auction started.

  Despite what Marianna initially thought, the auction wasn’t exclusive, allowing only the elites in. Rather, it was open to anyone who could pay. A seventy dollar entrance fee seemed absurd to Marianna, but what did she know? She’d never been to an auction before. If they stopped whoever the killers were from stealing the comic tonight (or, better yet, got them turned in), then the money would be more than worth it.

  She was just glad Alna let her pay without a fight this time. Her tutoring gigs paid well, and occurred frequently, but not as much as Marianna’s job at the Gift Shop.

  Speaking of, she wondered what her coworker, Zoe, thought about all those shifts Marianna asked to switch with her…

  The rec centre was crowded. She and Alna had expected this, of course, given all the rare and popular items on sale tonight.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Alna’s––Jenna’s––arm wrapped around her waist. “This,” she began, her lips brushing against Marianna’s ear, “is either the perfect place to commit a crime or the absolute worst.”

  Marianna nodded in response, distracted by Alna’s proximity. Shouldn’t she be used to this by now? She’d been dating Alna for almost two years––not to mention the fact that they spent most nights sleeping in the same bed these days. They were long past the honeymoon stage.

  “Please focus on the task at hand, Moira,” Alna interrupted her thoughts, probably knowing the direction they’d headed in. Marianna gave her a half sarcastic, half teasing smile.

  “Will do, Jenna.”

  Given how crowded the rec centre was, slipping away on the pretence of finding the ladies’ room was almost too easy. It took some manoeuvring and more than once the girls had to release each other’s hands when someone bumped into them, or when one rude man walked right between, breaking the link in a way that seemed a bit too deliberate to attribute to being in a rush to get into the hockey rink. Marianna suspected a homophobe. Alna must have been thinking along the same line because she was looking quite disgusted.

  They extracted themselves from the crowd, linking hands once more as they made their way down the blue checkered floor. Marianna half expected the rec center to be decorated in some sort of theme representing the auction tonight and was almost disappointed when that didn’t turn out to be the case. It looked the same as it did when Marianna and her friends went swimming a couple of weeks ago: dark blue concrete walls with swimmers painted on them.

  The rest of the walls were much the same, barring a portion that was taken by a window. This window allowed people to view the swimming pool, in all its fluorescent glory. Marianna watched with vague interest as someone (she thought they might be a woman) executed a perfect dive into the pool, creating only the smallest splash.

  Wait. Was that Sadie?

  Marianna didn’t realize she’d slowed down until Alna was suddenly ahead of her, tugging on Marianna’s as she continued forward. At the confused look she gave her, Marianna gave her an apologetic smile and quickened her steps.

  “Sorry. Thought I recognized someone.”

  Alna gave her a thoughtful look but made no comment.

  A few minutes later found them outside a heavy metal door, where the items on sale were kept. At eye level for average-height people were the words “Staff only” in silver block letters. Marianna glanced back the way they’d come from. This part of the rec centre was not as well lit as the rest of the building. A couple of feet away from the very door they were standing, one of the fluorescent lights flickered on and off at random intervals.

  “There aren’t exactly a lot of places for you to hide,” Marianna commented, turning to look down the other end of the hallway. Except for a “Staff Only” restroom, this hallway was almost devoid of anything, barring a door at the end that led outside. Marianna could remember being down this hallway only once when she’d gotten herself lost.

  Which was exactly why Alna had brought her here first, so that Marianna would know her general position and be able to find her later.

  “That’s true,” Alna acknowledged, leaning one shoulder against the wall and crossing her arms. If she’d been sporting her regular black, Alna would have looked like the perfect bad girl, with only a cigarette and lazy, arrogant expression missing. “Which is why you’re my eyes and ears elsewhere.” She cast a sceptical look over her shoulder. “I am not overly confident about the results I will gain here.”

  Marianna refused to say it out loud, but she was glad about that. If Alna’s calculations were correct, and the thieves/murderers planned to strike tonight, then it was possible she would be in close proximity (alone) with at least one of them. Sure, Marianna wasn’t exactly the best line of defence, but she’d feel better if she was with Alna. At least then she could provide some kind of distraction, or call for help if things went wrong.

  If Alna was going to be hidden somewhere, even if it meant she got no results, then Marianna could allow herself to be appeased.

  Although she would be cornered if––

  God, no, don’t think about that.

  Before Marianna could freak out too much and overthink the various ways Alna was putting herself in danger, Marianna pecked her cheek, muttered, “Good luck” and beat a hasty retreat. Was she acting like a coward? Maybe. But Marianna didn’t care.

  Alna had almost died once. Sitting by her bedside, hoping beyond hope she would wake up, was not an experience Marianna cared to repeat.

  Marianna soon arrived at the entrance to the hockey rink, where a woman with a blonde bob cut stamped the back of her hand. She should have expected that it would be Batman’s symbol. After all, the Detective Comics was the main attraction tonight.

  The arena looked quite different tonight. Marianna was certain of that, despite not being in here for at least two years. Gone were the banners, advertising the home hockey team and the visiting, the banners with silhouettes of figure skaters. Gone was the ice and the chill that always hung in the air. In their place were colourful banners, ranging from light blue to navy behind the upraised stage. One depicted Batman himself, glaring out at the crowd, a fleet of bats serving as a backdrop. A few of the other banners contained images hinting at the upcoming wares hung next to it, such as one with glittering rings, but this was the most eye-catching.

  Marianna took a seat about halfway up the bleachers, between a man who looked somewhere close to sixty and a boy closer to her age. She pressed her hands between her knees. It wasn’t so much that crowds, in general, made her anxious, but knowing she was sitting between people she didn’t know at all, one of which was older than her. That, and knowing that something would happen tonight and that Alna would be close to the danger… Well, that didn’t help Marianna feel any better.

  She almost texted Alna to check on her, but thought better of it. No need to give away Alna’s position if––

  She was going to give herself an anxiety attack.

  Marianna only had a few minutes to focus on her breathing before the auction started. A man stepped onto the raised platform, wearing an unsubtle black shirt with a Bat symbol on the front.

  The scoreboards/TVs hanging above the arena displayed the man’s image, giving Marianna an unobstructed view of him. He was black, bald, and without a doubt overweight. Despite this––or even because of this––the moment this man flashed the audience an award-winning smile, Marianna had a feeling many people were going to spend more money than they planned. This man looked like the perfect salesman.

  “Let’s get this party started!” the man boomed. Thanks to the speakers, the man’s voice surrounded the hundreds of people sitting in the bleachers, even making a few of them jump. His voice echoed throughout the arena for a few seconds afterward, giving Marianna an almost eerie feeling. But then again, she already felt like she was wound as tight as a bowstring.

  “My name is Elijah Buck and tonight…”

  Marianna only half-listened to the next part of his speech. She ducked her head, allowing chocolate curls to fall over her shoulders as she dug her notebook out of her purse. It was a new one, given that Marianna filled up the last one she’d been using.

  Shielding the page as best she could with her hand, Marianna wrote, Elijah Buck: Suspect?

  After jotting down a few details, Marianna closed her notebook and focused on Mr. Buck. It was when he began the mechanics of how to place bets on their phones that a flash of white caught her eye. Marianna turned on instinct.

  She drew in a sharp breath when she recognized the person sitting a mere three seats away from her.

  Ashleen White. Sadie’s girlfriend.

  Who was looking at Marianna, a puzzled dent between her brows.

  Oh. Oh, crap. Ashleen and Marianna weren’t exactly what one would call friends, but given that she was now dating Sadie, she and Marianna spoke from time to time. She was pleasant enough, if wild and brash on occasion. She treated Sadie well and clearly adored her, which was all that mattered to Marianna.

  Ashleen was not stupid, though. Far from it. Marianna doubted a wig, different clothes and some makeup was going to keep Ashleen from recognizing her. The question was, would she confront Marianna or go right ahead and tell Sadie?

  She must have been staring for too long because Ashleen cocked an eyebrow at her and turned to face the front.

  Marianna did the same, breathing through a minor panic attack. You’re overreacting, she told herself. Too bad that didn’t help.

  Had she been planning to have at least some fun tonight? Well, that was nothing but a pipe dream. Marianna barely paid any attention to the next bit. Her thoughts kept flitting between Alna and the danger she was in, as well as the problem of Ashleen.

  Sometime later, Marianna wrestled herself back under control and lifted her head. Somewhat strangely, neither of Marianna’s neighbours were looking at her, instead focusing on the current item up for sale. She would have at least expected the older man to ask her if she was all right or something. Who did nothing when somebody was freaking out in public? Maybe they hadn’t noticed.

  “––we have a rare book by––

  Mr. Buck moved a lot when he talked. Marianna watched him as he paced back and forth, gesticulating and grinning at the crowd. If he’d been a door-to-door salesman, Marianna didn’t doubt he could have people whipping out their cash and credit cards in minutes. A dangerous type of person, in his own right. But a killer?

  A few more items were brought on stage and sold within minutes: the book to some lady named Dorothy Lewis and a typewriter allegedly owned by a famous writer.

  “And now, for our last item for the night.” Mr. Buck’s grin was almost blinding. “The one I know many of you have been waiting for eagerly,” he continued with a wave of his arm toward the left of the stage. “Batman’s first adventure, Detective Comics No. 27!”

  It could have been exclusive to Marianna, but at that moment, she could have sworn that everyone in the arena held their breaths. Even Ashleen, who’d been staring at Marianna more than anywhere else, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern, seemed intrigued. She leaned her elbows on her knees.

  The man who’d been bringing out the items for people to bet on came forward, his posture stiff. Even Marianna, far away as she was, could see that.

  Unlike every other time Marianna bothered to pay attention, the man wasn’t holding something in his hands or dragging something behind him. Whereas before he’d looked relaxed, almost sauntering up to the stage with how confident he was, now his shoulders were hunched. His steps were short and quick, belying the guilt and fear he felt.

  And Marianna––

  She didn’t need to see anything else.

  Alna. Oh, God.

  Without thinking, Marianna leaped to her feet, tripping over people’s legs, scarcely hearing their muttered curses and protests. She heard Mr. Buck’s voice as if from a great distance, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems a problem has occurred.”

  She fell, the world spinning wildly, disorienting her. Her hands stung as they connected with the floor, but she barely felt it. Even as someone gripped her elbow, Marianna was already scrambling to her feet, grabbing the railing as she stumbled onto the stairs and ran down them.

  Everything might as well have been a blur as Marianna ran through the rec centre. She processed her surroundings enough to head to where she knew Alna would be, but beyond that, nothing registered. Her wig could have flown clean off her head, and Marianna wouldn’t care one bit.

  “No running!” someone shouted at her at some point. Or maybe that was her imagination.

  Marianna reached the hallway she’d left Alna in (alone, defenceless, oh God), her chest heaving. When her eyes landed on a girl who resembled a book character she was familiar with, Marianna came to an abrupt stop, her panicked mind taking a moment to put two and two together.

  And then Alna held out her hands in a pacifying manner, and Marianna registered the cut above her eyebrow.

  “Alna,” Marianna gasped out, stumbling forward and throwing her arms around her girlfriend. She clutched with desperation, the solid feeling of Alna’s arms around her helping ground Marianna somewhat. She pressed her face into Alna’s shoulder, heedless of disguises or anyone who may be watching them. All she knew was that a minute ago Marianna felt terrified for Alna’s life and now here she was, safe. Letting her go seemed impossible.

  “I’m all right, Marianna,” Alna said in a low, soothing voice, running her fingers through the hair of her wig. “But I need you to calm down if you can, my darling Whitlock. We have much to discuss once we get home.”

  Marianna didn’t know what she would have done next. Most likely, she would have kept clutching Alna for a few more minutes, reassuring herself that Alna was alive and well. She might have gotten mad, berating Alna for putting her through this, for being reckless. She might have given her the silent treatment on the ride or continued to clutch onto her, needing comfort.

  If not for the voice that sounded behind her.

  “What the actual hell?”