Read Online What Holly Heard by R.L. Stine, Bill Schmidt - Free Book Online Page B

about killing her mother. That we heard a
rumor
that they talked about it.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Ruth said, frowning. “The police will laugh at us if we try to convince them that sweet little Mei Kamata killed her mother
and
her classmate.”
    Miriam leaned back against her headboard, exhausted. “If Mei really did it, the police will be able to find out, won’t they?”
    Ruth didn’t answer.
    They were quiet for a moment.
    â€œI guess I’ll let you get some sleep,” Ruth said. “Let me just give you the homework.”
    Miriam watched as Ruth reached for her backpack and dragged it up onto her lap. Ruth unzipped the pack, reached in, and pulled out the top notebook.
    It was nearly covered with a reddish-brown, sticky liquid.
    Ruth uttered a cry of surprise. She dropped the notebook on Miriam’s bed. “What
is
that?”
    Miriam’s voice was barely a whisper. “Blood?”
    Miriam stared at Ruth, and then at the notebook.Something was scrawled on the cover in blood. Squinting hard, Miriam slowly made out the words.
    â€œWhat does it say?” Ruth whispered.
    â€œâ€˜We know you know,’” Miriam read, her voice trembling. “‘That’s why you die next!’”

chapter 15

    R uth let out a low moan of horror. “Who wrote that?” she cried. “Who put that in my backpack?”
    Miriam let the blood-scrawled notebook fall to the floor. The ugly threat repeated in her mind. She shook her head hard, trying to shake away her fear.
    â€œHow did it get in my backpack?” Ruth repeated. And then she growled, “Mei.”
    â€œWhat?” Miriam cried, feeling dazed.
    â€œIt was Mei,” Ruth declared. “And Noah. They know that Holly told us what she heard.”
    â€œHow could they know that?” Miriam gasped.
    â€œCome on,” Ruth moaned. “The Gossip Queen? They know Holly could never keep her mouth shut.”
    Miriam nodded. Ruth was right. Holly hadn’t kept her mouth shut.
    And Mei and Noah knew it.
    â€œThey’re serious,” Miriam said. “They’re really serious! How can they be so crazy? Killing Mei’s mother, then Holly, and now threatening us?”
    Miriam threw back the quilt and got out of bed for the first time all day. “We’re going to tell the
police.”
    â€œBut we know they won’t believe us!”
    â€œThey will now,” Miriam declared, glancing down at the blood-scrawled notebook. “Come on, Ruth. We have to. If Holly had gone to the police, she might still be alive.”
    Miriam remembered bitterly that
she
was the one who had talked Holly out of going to the police. She wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
    â€œAre you sure?” Ruth asked.
    â€œI’m sure.” Miriam met Ruth’s gaze firmly. This was the strongest she felt since finding Holly’s corpse. “Let’s tell my mom. She should probably go with us.”
    â€œOkay.” Ruth nodded. “Let’s go.”
    Miriam returned home two hours later. Her mother drove Ruth home.
    What next? Miriam wondered, stepping into the dark house.
    The notebook and backpack were in the hands of the Shadyside police. It hadn’t been blood after all. Just red paint—the same kind of paint Holly had been using in the gym the night she was killed.
    Miriam didn’t care. The blood might be fake—but the threat was real.
    The police had taken Ruth and her very seriously once they got a look at the notebook. They had no real leads as yet. And the story about Mei and Noah, Mei’s mother, and Holly’s eavesdropping was an angle they had not known about. They promised to follow up on it immediately.
    Going to the police had made Miriam feel a tiny bit better. What would happen now? she wondered. Would they question Mei and Noah? Would they arrest them?
    An ugly thought forced its way into Miriam’s mind.
    What if Mei