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Eric off the hook would go a long way toward convincing the rest of the students to give me a chance. And unbeknownst to Eric, he had given me the perfect place to start.

“What do you want?” Chessie Bock’s eyes narrowed to unattractive little slits as she glared at me from the open doorway.
    “Eric wanted me to tell you that he’s okay.” I watched Chessie’s face go from suspicious to concerned to pissed in a flash.
    “Why didn’t he call me instead of you?” Her lips pursed together, and her nostrils flared. Jealously wasn’t an attractive look for Chessie.
    “He didn’t call me. I saw him at the police station. He’s trying to get a hold of his parents.”
    She chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. “They’re in Maine. Eric was supposed to go with them.”
    “But he wanted to come to camp. He told me.”
    “I wanted him to come to camp,” Chessie corrected. “Eric wanted to go fishing with his dad. This is my senior year. I want to do better than place fifth. Eric’s a great singer, but he has some trouble dancing. He needs all the help he can get.”
    Yikes. The guy was sitting in jail, and his girlfriend was dissing his moves. Not cool.
    Chessie seemed to read my mind. “Someone like you wouldn’t understand.” She gave me a hard stare. “Our choir has to be way better than the others even to have a shot at winning. If it weren’t for Mr. DeWeese, we would have won last year. He doesn’t know how to play the game.”
    “What game?”
    Chessie brushed a lock of dark hair out of her face and let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, Mr. DeWeese is a nice guy and a pretty good teacher, but he doesn’t do the things he needs to do to get us to the top. Mr. Lucas might have been a creep, but he was on the Regional Performance Choir Board. He made a point of knowing the judges. He got his team an advantage by any means possible.”
    I wasn’t sure what was creepier—Greg Lucas hitting on Chessie or her admiration for his schmoozing skills.
    “It sounds like you know a lot about Mr. Lucas.”
    She shrugged. “I guess.”
    “Could you tell me about him?” Her eyes filled with suspicion, and I rushed to say, “I guess I feel bad that I don’t even know if he has a wife or kids. After all, I was the one who found him dead. You know?”
    Chessie’s mouth formed a surprised circle. Clearly, she didn’t know. After a moment, she said, “He got divorced last year. Everyone on the competition circuit was talking about it. His wife said he was having an affair. I’m betting it was with one of the judges from the Midwest Invitational. His choir had huge pitch issues, and they still took first. Now that he’s dead, we might actually have a shot at winning.” She sighed. “Too bad.”
    “Too bad what?”
    “We could win if we had a real coach.” She gave me asaccharine smile. “Instead, we’re stuck with you.” With that, she flounced back into the house and slammed the door behind her.

    With no camp the next day, I was free to rethink my strategy for getting the kids on my side. Chessie hadn’t been impressed by my willingness to help her boyfriend. Maybe once he was sprung, she’d feel differently.
    I got dressed and headed down to the kitchen, hoping to find Aunt Millie. Otherwise, I might not eat. The last two days, Millie had left the house before I headed for sustenance. Both days, I’d found Killer sitting in front of the refrigerator. The minute I tried to go for the milk, he growled and snapped. Food wasn’t worth losing an arm for. Especially not Aunt Millie’s food.
    Thank goodness my aunt was in the kitchen. Killer was nowhere in sight. Aunt Millie turned her perfectly lacquered head and smiled over her coffee cup.
    I poured myself a large mug of coffee, snagged a bagel from the cupboard, and sat down at the counter. “I took your advice.”
    “That’s wonderful.” Millie’s eyes gleamed. “Jackie Mitchell swears you’ll meet the man of your dreams if you just give the