Page 123 of Don't Cross Mo Ellery

“Yes, please,” I yell back. “Just a little traffic jam!”

But wait. These parents, and some of the kids—they havephones.They can call 911. Forget Merle. I just need to telegraph to them that they should call but make it subtle...

“Butnoneof this icky violence would have been necessary if it hadn’t been for Hannah ignoring my Insta messages,” Leslie says. “And when E for Execute didn’t work, what was I supposed to do?”

Hannah grimaces, and as she speaks, I can’t help but notice how hoarse she’s become. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why your stupid program doesn’t work. I killed Cran and still had problems. So I upgraded UPGRADE,” Leslie says, her pitch escalating. “To POWERHOUSE. P is for Pick your Weapon, O is for—”

No, no, this is getting away from me—Leslie is way too angry atHannah, and I don’t like the sound of this POWERHOUSE. I need to get her to focus onme. And I need to catch the eyes of one of the parents, which should be easy because they’re all gaping at me.

“I’m going to put your crowbar down for you,” I say, trying to maneuver my body to face the parents. I catch the eye of one mom and sort of nod at her in a way that I hope sayscall 911 but don’t announce it.

“So you started POWERHOUSE, which sounds really interesting by the way,” I say.

The mom pulls out her phone. Yes!

“Thank you,” Leslie says. “Took me a long time to figure out the acronym.”

“And once you got Cran out of the picture, next step was to kill Claudia?” I ask as curiously as I can.

The mom lifts her phone high in the air and yells, “I’m calling 911!”

Oh comeon.

But Leslie doesn’t seem to notice the crowd we’re amassing anymore. She’s too wrapped up in herself.

There’s a lesson in here somewhere for me. Not that Ilikegetting my life lessons from murderers.

Leslie barks a laugh. “That was Claudia’s own fault for snooping. She was on to me from the beginning. Like you said at the funeral, she was getting close.”

That’s Leslie for you, always lurking, always listening. Meek, forgettable, and murdery. I suddenly remember her peeling out of the funeral home parking lot. She probably made a beeline right for Claudia’s house and the gas line.

I retch at the confirmation that my big mouth got Claudia killed.I’m so sorry, I think.

I can practically hear Claudia’s voice in my head:I’m gonna haunt the shit out of you for this.

But now isn’t the time to get waylaid by regret. “How’d you do it?” I ask.

“Psht. I went in the same way you did, in back. Turned on the gas in the basement. Made it look like a leak. Easy peasy.”

“And the money?” I ask.

“An unexpected bonus,” she says, patting the bag around her body.

Oh shit. She’s got it on herright now.

Time to shut this whole thing down once and for all. But how? UPGRADE? POWERHOUSE? Rodney O’Malley?

I’m going to have to wing this, Mo Ellery style.

“That money isn’t going to help you,” I say kindly, and then gesture to the entire school standing around outside, watching rapt. “There’s too many witnesses.”

Leslie suddenly notices the crowd around us. She narrows her eyes at me. “And what would you suggest I do,crossing guard?”

Okay, she’s being snarky, but I think she’s feeling the squeeze.

Before I can say anything, Merle pipes up out of the blue. “Sugarcube, maybe take the needle out of the nice girl—”