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see if he’s there.”
    AJ’s hunch was right. They found Austin standing outside the club, talking to Henry. Austin’s eyes lit up when he saw them.
    â€œLooking for me?” he asked, his voice full of hope.
    â€œAs a matter of fact, we are,” Aly said.
    Henry nodded. “I’ll see you guys inside.”
    The tall boy went inside the club. Austin nodded after him.
    â€œLucky. He and Bree are going out. Love at first sight, he says.” Austin looked at AJ. “I hear that happens sometimes.”
    AJ flushed a little. “Listen, Austin, I wish we were here for a different reason, but we need to talk to you about Claire’s notebook.”
    Austin looked annoyed. “I already told you, I didn’t take it.”
    â€œBut we found something,” Aly said. “Proof. Your fingerprint is on the handle of Claire’s guitar case.”
    Austin looked shocked. “My fingerprint? But how . . .”
    â€œDo you want to tell us what happened?” AJ asked.
    Austin sighed. “You’re not going to believe me,” he said.
    â€œTry us,” Aly told him.
    â€œI did open the guitar case,” he said. “But I didn’t steal Claire’s notebook, I swear. I just . . . looked at it.”
    â€œWhy would you do that?” AJ asked.
    Austin ran a hand through his hair. “It was stupid, I know. It’s just that Claire is my biggest competition in this thing. I mean, she’s really good. I was just curious to see what she was planning. Then I felt weird about it, and I dropped the notebook. I left the guitar case open. Maybe somebody took the notebook then.”
    â€œBut you could have told us this before,” AJ said. “Why should we believe you now?”
    Austin looked into AJ’s eyes. “I don’t expect you to. But it’s the truth.”
    â€œIt kind of makes sense,” Aly offered. “If Austin left the case open, someone could have taken the notebook without leaving a fingerprint.”
    â€œI guess,” AJ said, but she didn’t sound convinced.
    â€œHey, do you guys want to go inside?” Austin asked. “We can have some coffee.”
    â€œNo thanks,” AJ said glumly. “We’d better go.”
    AJ walked down the street, followed by Aly.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” Aly asked.
    â€œI don’t know what to believe,” AJ said. “I thought the fingerprint would be solid proof. But now it seems like we just have more questions to answer.”
    Aly nodded. “Right. If Austin didn’t do it, then who did?”
    â€œThat’s what we need to find out,” AJ said. “But I’m not sure how.”
    â€œWe’ll figure it out,” Aly assured her. “We’ve got a pretty good track record so far.”
    AJ sighed. “I don’t know. This might be our first unsolved mystery!”

CHAPTER NINE:
    ROUND TWO
    The next morning, Jim took Aly and AJ back to the theater. The second round of the competition was set to start. Each of the six finalists would perform one new song.
    Aly and AJ went backstage to wish them luck. Bree was strumming her guitar. Henry was sitting on a stool next to her, staring at her, almost mesmerized.
    Josh was studying his reflection in a mirror. He looked handsome, as always. His blond hair was slicked back with gel, and he wore a leather jacket and jeans.
    Austin was tuning his guitar in a corner. He gave Aly and AJ a nervous smile. Nearby, Claire was talking to Amber. She waved when she saw Aly and AJ.
    â€œHey, thanks for trying to help me,” she said, when the sisters came over. “It meant a lot to me. I thought if you could go to all that trouble for me, I could at least try hard to recreate my songs. I worked all night last night. I think the song I’m going to do today is better than it was before.”
    â€œShe’s right. I heard it,” Amber said. “She’s going to be