stepped into the book-lined room.
Olivia waved me into the chair next to hers. âDonât worry about the cameras. This is one of the times theyâre off.â
âHow do you know?â I asked. Veronica had told us the union would only allow us to be filmed a limited amount of hours a day, but that she wasnât going to tell us which hours those would be.
âI have my ways,â Olivia answered, all mysterious.
I just looked at her. Sometimes thatâs a good way to get people to say more.
âOkay, I got Mitch to tell me,â Olivia admitted. âHeâs pretty cool. He told me this was the little girlâs bedroom before it got turned into the library. You know, the little girl who saw her father kill her mother. He knows everything about the house.â
âSo what did you want to talk to me about. Without cameras,â I said.
Usually I have this blushing problem around girls. But right now, Olivia didnât feel like a girl to me. She felt like a suspect. Joe calls this feeling his Spidey sense. I call it instinct. Instinct combined with experience.
âIt seems like weâve got two groups of peoplehere. People who actually need money. And people who donât,â Olivia said. âLike youâwhat would you do with the money if you won?â
âCollege,â I answered automatically. âHelp my parents pay off the house.â I go over my cover story a lot so I can answer things right away like that.
Olivia nodded, like sheâd guessed something right. âAnd what about your brother?â
I hesitated. âI donât know. I donât really know him. We kind of just met.â
âYeah. You were adopted by different families. Seeing him with his Diesel shades and his two-hundred-dollar jeans has to be hard,â Olivia said. She reached out and touched my hand.
I still kept getting the suspect vibe from her.
âKind of,â I answered, because I figured it was what Frank Dooley would say.
âJoe doesnât need the money. Ripley certainly doesnâtâsheâs just here for PR anyway. James would probably blow it all in six months. And, letâs face it, Kit should go back wherever she came from. Sheâs a lousy actress. Have you seen her mugging for the camera? Itâs embarrassing.â
I wanted to ask her what she meant about Ripley being here for PR. That seemed important to the case. But I didnât think Frank Dooley would go there right away.
âThat guy Bobby T doesnât need cash, thatâs for sure,â I said. âHe got some big bucks when they optioned his blog.â
âYeah, and I was reading on Purple Girlâs website that heâs already blown it all,â Olivia told me. âA guy like that, who can blow a million fiveâwhich is what he gotâdoesnât deserve a second chance. Heâs not getting the Deprivation House money if I can help it.â
I couldnât help wondering exactly how far Olivia would goâor had already goneâto make sure Bobby T didnât win.
âBobby T spent all that money?â I asked. âIs that even humanly possible?â
âClearly you donât hang around the right humans,â
SUSPECT PROFILE
Name: Olivia Gavener
Hometown: Homestead, Florida
Physical description: 5â7â, 140 lbs., red hair, freckles, brown eyes.
Occupation: High school student.
Background: Oldest of five kids, helps out family with paycheck from fast-food job.
Suspicious behavior: Said she would do anything to sto Bobby T from getting the million.
Suspected of: Sending death threat to Ripley Lansing and other contestants; attempting to kill Bobby T.
Possible motive: Needs money to continue to help family and have a different life.
Olivia answered. âNot that I do.â She shook her head. âOr maybe they are theright ones. Just not the rich ones. Anyway, according to Purple Girl, Bobby spent that
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