Riverside novel Chapter 9

Monday during lunch, I met with Ronnie in the library. That was where we started eating now because Peggy insisted on all the cheerleaders sitting at the table we had been sitting at ever since we started high school.

Ronnie and I didn't even bother arguing with Peggy. There was no point when she was a very stubborn person.

Ronnie was sitting at one of the tables, writing in her notebook and occasionally taking a bite out of her sandwich. I sat down beside her and pulled out my own lunch. "What are you working on?" I asked.

"A list of suspects," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"A list of suspects," she repeated. "For the crime."

"Really?" I asked. "Well, who do you have so far?"

"Not much," she said . "It definitely couldn't have been the maid because she said she really needed the job and she didn't really have motivation to do it. In fact, she lost her job because of it and nothing good came out of it."

"Right," I said.

"So it might have been a murder-suicide," Ronnie said. "Maybe the mom or dad did it before killing themselves."

"No, I don't think so," I said. "For one thing, they definitely wouldn't have left River if they killed Emerson. I hate saying this, but I'm pretty sure they loved Emerson more than River. And another, the door was unlocked after it happened, so someone did come in."

"That is true," Ronnie said before crossing it off her list. "Next is some kind of secret lover."

I raised an eyebrow. "A secret lover? Really?"

"Hey, I'm honestly out of ideas," she said. "Nobody was seen around the house at that time, and River definitely didn't do it."

"Well, if River was right about hearing the doorbell ring, then it might have been someone they knew," I said. "Someone who had it all planned. They went in, shot the family, and left without being spotted."

"Right, while leaving River because they didn't know he exists," Ronnie said.

"Or they didn't know he was home," I said.

"No, I don't think so," Ronnie said. "They wouldn't have risked him being home. They would have checked to see if he was if it was executed properly. I really don't think they knew about River."

"Okay, so then who did it?" I asked.

Ronnie shrugged. "A murder-suicide and a secret lover was all I had. The maid didn't do it, and I don't know anybody else who knows the Gillespies."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "I just really want to get River out of prison. He doesn't deserve to be in there, and he's really hated in there because he doesn't talk at all." I then took out my phone and opened up an article about the murder. "And I hate what they're all saying about him. He doesn't seem like a murderous kind of guy at all. In fact, he's really sweet."

Ronnie leaned over and looked at my phone screen. "Is that a picture of his parents and little brother?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Uh...."

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