"Ok, so how are we going to do this?" Georgie asked. "It's great that two ninth-grade girls want to catch a serial killer, but I think it will go more smoothly if we have an actual plan."

Georgie's trademark sarcasm always seemed to find its way into our conversations.

"Laugh it up, four-eyes."

"I thought you cared about me," she said, changing her voice and twirling her hair, imitating me.

"That's not what I sound like! Unfortunately, the hair-twirling part is true."

I uttered a fake sigh, and we both giggled.

"Seriously, though, what are we going to do, Luna?" Georgie said, refocusing her attention on the current problem.

"Okay, here's my plan," I said. "Rumor has it that Mr. Greene has always wanted to live in a cabin in the woods. In a recent poll, he answered that as his dream home. It would also fit in perfectly with the murders because he can hide there, where there is no one around to find him."

"That does make sense, Luna, but there's no way to be sure," Georgie replied, concerned.

"Well, there's not really much to go off of here."

"I see. What else?"

I continued. "So I say we should go to Kate Mountain." Kate Mountain is not just one mountain, it's a group of them. Kate Peak is the namesake. Besides, this area is very close to us. Mr. Greene would have most likely gone there. "Then," I told Georgie, "We'll dress up as police officers and go from cabin to cabin up there until we find Mr. Greene. As soon as we find him, we'll 'call our fellow officers' and turn him in."

"Again, sounds like a good idea, but where the heck are a pair of fifteen-year-olds going to get police uniforms? And who's going to believe us?"

"I know just the place."

⭐⭐⭐

"Really?" Was all Georgie could say as she looked up at a big neon sign that said, Party City.

"Yeah, really. Do you have any better ideas?"

She just shrugged and headed inside.

"That's what I thought," I replied, but Georgie wasn't listening. She was already looking at The Wall.
The Wall is what I call the huge wall that gets covered in Halloween costumes during the month of October. It was only October 10th, but sure enough, there were at least fifteen families here looking for costumes for their kids.

I spotted a police costume I liked, and nudged Georgie so she would look at it.

"Really? Police officers wear skirts that totally break our school dress code?"

"Why can't we have a little fun with it?"

"Because we're catching a serial killer who already murdered three people, including his OWN EX-WIFE?!" Georgie yelled.

This was the first time I had heard Georgie raise her voice like that, and people were staring.

Thankfully, they didn't seem to know what Georgie was talking about, and they soon returned to their business.

"Look, Luna," she said, calmer now. "I'm just trying to take this seriously. This is a dangerous game we're playing, and we're only two sophomores. Also, this police impersonation thing is illegal, in case you didn't know."
"Okay, Georgie. I understand."
After trying on more realistic costumes, we took them with us - as soon as we payed at the register.

On the way home, we made one more stop at Target. To finish the police officer look, we needed some boots that had heels to make us look taller. Georgie and I were already both pretty tall for ninth graders, but it was still kind of a stretch to get to police officers. A little makeup would finish the job of making us look older.

And so that was that. Our disguises were complete.