AMANDA

Amanda was sleeping almost peacefully—as peacefully as she could with a murderer in the mansion—when she was jerked awake by something hard hitting her face.

The murderer?! She sat up quickly. Her fears were washed away when she felt a book tumble off of her and hit the floor. She looked up and saw Star smirking at her.

"That's what you get for putting me on first watch," Star whispered haughtily. She turned away with a flick of her hair and flopped down into her chair.

Amanda stood, brushed herself off, and glanced at the clock. It was dark, but there were oil lamps flickering throughout the room that gave off enough light for her to read the numbers. It was time for her watch.

Amanda looked around at the students. She saw many of them sleeping, the three who had been awake settling down to sleep, and Stewart and Heather rising to start their watch. The three of them eyed each other to make sure that they weren't alone. Then Heather wandered off to the bookshelves to read, and Stewart leaned against a nearby wall.

Amanda would have been reading like Heather, but she had some questions for Stewart. When Heather was far enough away, Amanda stepped over to Stewart and leaned against the wall a few feet from him.

He looked at her questioningly, but didn't say anything. As usual.

"Stewart," Amanda said, keeping her voice low. "You've been acting very strange."

Stewart raised his eyebrows, and his eyes seemed to ask, "How?"

"I have some questions for you, and I want you to answer them honestly," Amanda pressed.

Stewart gestured to his throat and shook his head.

"I know you can't talk, and I know I don't understand sign language." Amanda pulled out her pencil and notebook. "Here," she prompted. "Use this."

Stewart took them, then looked back to her, ready to answer.

Amanda took a breath. "Okay. First of all, how did you know something happened to Roy?"

Stewart wrote something down, checked it, and then showed it to Amanda.

Amanda skimmed over the lines quickly.

I didn't know. I just ran out to look for him because Kathryn said it was dangerous to be alone.

Amanda shook her head. "You told me that. But I'm asking something else. I want to know how you knew Roy had disappeared when you checked."

I looked where he might have gone. Maybe he's still in the mansion. But I'm pretty sure he's gone. The Joker did leave his trademark.

Amanda raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Joker?" she asked.

It's what I call the murderer.

"I like it," Amanda said with a smile. "It's much better than saying 'the murderer' all the time." She re-read the last few sentences. "How do you know the Joker's a he?"

I don't.

"Okay." Amanda took a slow breath. He had been lying before; she needed to ask again. "Stewart," she said. "Did you find anything else besides the card?"

He shook his head.

"But you're lying!" Amanda noticed that she had raised her voice, and she brought it back down to a whisper. No one had woken up. "You're lying. Why?"

Stewart didn't answer for about a minute. The only sounds were the ticking clock and the rustling pages of Heather's book. He finally broke the silence with the faint scratching of his pencil. He wrote slowly.

You're right. I'm lying. I also found the article he took when he ran off. It was with the card. I read it. You wouldn't like it.

"What was it?"

The article was about a teen caught for the illegal forgery of valuable paintings. It was him. I didn't tell anyone because I thought it would cloud their judgment. I don't think Roy's the Joker, and I didn't want anyone accusing him because of the article.

Amanda blinked a few times. "No wonder he didn't want Rick to know."

Stewart nodded in agreement.

Amanda thought it would unwise to keep talking about it. Besides, another question was on her mind. "Stewart," she said. "Can I trust you?"

Stewart looked confused.

"I mean, I don't think you're the murderer, or the Joker, I guess. But should I really trust you?"

Stewart thought about it for a moment. He nodded, mouthing, Yes.

Amanda smiled. "That'll have to be good for now. I've been thinking we should join forces. I can tell that both of us have theories. We could help each other figure it out. What do you think? Yes or no?"

Stewart was lost in thought again. Amanda could tell that although he was quiet on the outside, a dozen thoughts were whirring in his head. His eyes lost their thoughtful glare, and he turned his head to look at her. He nodded.