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that morning—maple syrup.”
    Fucking maple syrup.
    â€œLet’s settle down, everybody—take it step-by-step,” Gollum said in a soft voice. He hummed his words like music.
    Mr. Allison stood up. “What are you trying to do here?”
    Everything started to sound scripted, like in The Truman Show . I half expected Igor to hold up his pen, grin, and say, It’s a good thing we have these brand-new Swick permanent marking pens to write down this boy’s statement—the only kind of pens the Carson City police department uses.
    Then Gollum would pipe up, Oh, and these bagels from the Kaufmann Bagel Shop, all natural, all kosher, using only the finest ingredients purchased from local farmers, are de-e-e-e-licious.
    I listened for a catchy jingle. Mr. Allison pulled meback to the room by squeezing my shoulder.
    Gollum stood up. “We’re trying to find the truth, Mr. Allison—what really happened in that shed yesterday morning. We think that the Bishops deserve at least that much.”
    The room spun. The officers cleared their throats and scribbled in their notepads. Mr. Allison looked angry. Mom buried her face in her hands.
    â€œDon’t even start to play that power game with me.” Mr. Allison’s eyes narrowed. His comb-over flopped the wrong way.
    We’d gotten to that part in the movie where the innocent guy tells everything or the guilty one lawyers up. But I didn’t know which guy I was.
    â€œLike we said, we’re just looking for the truth.” Igor gnawed on a toothpick. The clock ticked, rattling the walls. Louder. Louder. Deafening.
    Then Gollum snapped his notebook closed and put his pen away in his breast pocket. “Mark,” he said, looking at my PO. “He’s all yours.”
    Mark finally spoke. Until then he’d looked like he was meditating. Or napping. This all had to be pretty routine to the guy. “Tomorrow morning, at eight A.M ., you will stand before the juvenile master. Kyle, that’s the kind of judge who handles cases like yours. But as I said, until I have the full psych evaluation, Kyle will not be going home.” Markuncrossed his arms and snapped his gum.
    â€œMr. and Mrs. Caroll, we appreciate your time.” Gollum held out his fingers and wrapped them around Mom’s small hand. “We hope to resolve this quickly.”
    How can you resolve a dead body? Dead is dead, right?
    The two policemen left. Mr. Allison stood up. “Michael, call me if you have any questions. We’ll figure this out.”
    â€œThanks, Bob. We really appreciate it.” Dad shook his hand. Mom hugged him.
    â€œKyle.” Mr. Allison came over to me. I looked right through him. I wanted him to disappear too. “I’m real sorry about Jason. I know he was your best friend.”
    I’m sorry, too.
    My throat constricted and everything went out of focus. Fade to black.
    Mr. Allison left with Mom and Dad. They took me back to my holding cell to wait for Mark. I counted the seconds and a scene flashed through my mind, then stuck there.
    I tried to erase it, because it scared me. I had never thought about death like that before. I had never wished for it to come and get me.

8
    M ark and I walked down a hallway. We passed by other cells and a social room. Everyone wore the same blue-gray jumpsuits, like the kind auto mechanics use. There were some kids lying down on bunk beds playing cards. A skinny girl lay on a cot facing a concrete wall. Her shoulders jerked up and down like she was crying.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with her?” I asked.
    Mark looked at her, then back at me. “Not my case.”
    â€œAre there a lot of us?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œCases? A lot of cases?”
    Mark nodded. “Too many, I’m afraid.”
    â€œOh.” My sneakers squeaked on the linoleum. I was glad they had let me keep my orange sneakers. It was thispair of knockoff Vans I’d won