Adventures In Murder Chasing (Funeral Crashing #3) Read online

  "I'm Nico's father, Gino," the man following us said.

  I turned around automatically. My brain was frozen again. I mean, we couldn't not give our condolences to the deceased's father. The guy was suffering a huge loss. It was so sad...even if we didn't know the deceased and were at the wrong funeral. Ethan followed my lead, although I noticed that he kept shooting glances at me, trying to catch my eye. I knew what he was thinking. If anyone could catch us lying, it would be Nico's father.

  "Nice to meet you," I said focusing on Gino, instead of Ethan and putting a smile on my face even as my brain started whirling again.

  How in the world were we going to get away from the bereaved father? It would be super rude to just run away from him, even though that had been what we had been about to do. Ethan shook hands with Gino. I couldn't look at him.

  "Nice to meet you, sir," Ethan said, acting totally normal and not like he was totally freaking out, which he so had to be. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

  "I just can't believe he's gone," Gino said, nodding. "We just saw him two weekends ago when he was home from school for his mother's birthday and then this happens and it's all over. I can't believe it."

  I nodded. Ethan squirmed. I felt bad for Gino. I wondered what happened to Nico, but I couldn't ask. I was supposed to be a friend of his and thus should already be in the know. What had I gotten us into?

  "It's really sad," I said simply.

  "Come and meet the rest of the family," Gino said eagerly, "They'd all want to meet some of Nico's friends from school. I feel like we're getting to know more about him. We hadn't met that many of his college friends and now..."

  "Um, we can't," I started to say, panicking.

  "Please," Gino said and then looked so sad that I couldn't think of any reason not to follow him over to the rest of the family.

  Well, of course, except for the fact that we didn't actually know anything about Nico and his death, we actually weren't college buddies, and we were really at the wrong funeral! I mean, seriously, why didn't we just say so in the first place? The funeral home was the one that had messed up the labels on the front directory! It was an honest mistake, even if we had been about to crash somebody else's funeral. Nobody else would have known that, but us.

  "Okay," I said and started to follow Gino toward his family. I couldn't help it. The guy really wanted us to meet everyone else. I couldn't let him down.

  "Kait, what are you doing?" Ethan whispered frantically in my ear. "We can't meet the rest of the family. We don't know Nico!"

  I didn't know what to say to that. Ethan was totally right and yet, I didn't know how to get away from Gino, so I kept following Gino anyway. I mean, the man was going through such a horrible loss and our presence seemed to help a little. I couldn't help it! Ethan tried to catch my eye. I met his and gave him an I don't know what the heck I'm doing, but we have to do this look. Actually, I probably just confused him because he started pulling on my arm instead of just following along with what I was doing.

  "Kait, we need to get out of here," Ethan whispered again and tugged my arm a little harder in the opposite direction of where Gino was leading us.

  I moved forward anyway. I was on autopilot in that state when you don't know what to do, so all you do is keep doing what you've already started to do. Usually it meant that I did nothing and then whatever happened, happened. In this case, though, it meant that I continued to follow Gino toward his family. My brain was frozen with indecision, torn about meeting Gino's family and consoling them and running like mad from the funeral home to get away from this impending train wreck.

  "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" A voice I recognized said from behind us.

  Ethan and I stopped and turned to look at the person speaking. I wasn't sure if Gino stopped to wait for us or if he was already back with his family. It took me a second to figure out who the person standing in front of us was because it was so out of place to see him at a funeral. It was Troy, Ariel's Troy.

  "Troy? What are you doing here?" I asked in shocked response instead of answering his question.

  Troy studied me for a moment before he spoke. I saw him glance at my hair. I had almost forgotten that I had a wig on, but he didn't say anything, just looked at me curiously.

  "I knew Nico from high school," Troy said. "I still saw him some weekends when he was home from college. So, what are you doing here? Wait. Do you think that..."

  Troy stopped before he said it and looked around like he was afraid someone might be listening in on our conversation.

  "No, no, no." I said. "We're actually at the wrong funeral, but Nico's dad stopped to talk to us and we sort of got roped into talking to him."

  "Kait couldn't help herself," Ethan said, sarcastically, but he was smiling. Wow, he was cute when he smiled.

  "Sorry," I smiled sarcastically back at him.

  "So, you don't think Nico was..." Troy still couldn't say it. "Because it's really weird how he died."

  "And how's that?" I asked. Yup, I really couldn't help myself.

  "Well, they found Nico in his dorm room. A bookshelf fell on him and killed him," Troy said.

  Ethan shot me a look. Oh dear. Ethan knew me too well. I shouldn't. Oh boy. I couldn't help it. I had to know more.

  "Really? A bookshelf?" I asked. "That's very strange."

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ethan shake his head wearily. I focused back on Troy. He was watching me.

  "I know," Troy said. "Super weird."

  "We shouldn't talk about this here," Ethan whispered. "Nico's relatives might not be too big on us investigating something that's supposed to be an accident."

  Ethan was right. I had forgotten where we were in the heat of the moment and the thought of a second potential murder mystery. I automatically looked toward the relatives and saw that Gino was looking over at us, standing with his family, waiting. He was definitely within earshot. I was starting to be a loudmouth. I mean, I was never as quiet as Suzie, but I wasn't usually a loudmouth that had to worry about being overheard. Oh no. My face was going red. I hated being pale sometimes.

  I did my best to ignore my mortification, hoped nobody had heard us, and then I looked at Troy and whispered, "Are you up for pie in like an hour or so?"

  "Sure. I like pie," Troy said, like that was the best suggestion ever. "Where?"

  There was a great pie place across the street from another funeral home. It was called The Pie Shop and they were open twenty four seven, so we could stay and talk as long as we liked. Plus they had good pie and food, I guess, although I usually just had pie. I gave Troy the details.

  "Okay," I said after I was done explaining how to get to the Pie Shop. "Then go ahead and pay your respects. We'll see you there in like an hour or so? We still have another funeral to go to. You can text me if you're running late. We'll wait for you, so don't rush or anything. Say goodbye to Nico and all that. It's really important to say goodbye. Um..."

  "Wait? You're going to another funeral?" Troy asked.

  "Well, I told you we were at the wrong funeral..." I started, feeling defensive.

  Still, logistically, I couldn't blame Troy for being incredulous. I couldn't believe it myself. I was investigating two cases in one night. I hadn't expected that turn of events.

  "We'll explain everything over pie," Ethan said, shaking his head in a you don't want to know gesture.

  "Okay," Troy said looking from Ethan to me curiously.

  "And, um, if while you're saying goodbye to Nico, if you could notice if there's anybody interesting here from Nico's life, that might be helpful," I said. "Take notes if you have to."

  I was serious, but I think Troy thought I was kidding. Seriously, it could be important to the case. I didn't say anything, though. I had talked enough. I almost wished we could stay longer and scout out the funeral and meet some of the potential suspects in Nico's case, except it wasn't quite a case yet and Suzie was waiting for us in another part of the funeral home for another case. I suddenly felt a little stressed. It was overwhelming to be investigating two cases at once. Should Ethan and I stay longer? How did the police conduct multiple investigations? Then again, maybe they weren't doing it all in the same night and they also probably didn't still have a mound of homework to do once they got home.

  Troy nodded, smiling, "Okay. I'll keep my ears open. See you in an hour or so, then."

  "And, I mean," I said, suddenly feeling bad. I hoped that Troy knew I didn't want him to put the case in front of his friend's memorial, "Like I said, make sure you say goodbye to Nico. That's more important overall. Really. Seriously."

  "Thanks," Troy said and unexpectedly grabbed my hand, looking me in the eye. There was only us for a moment as Troy stared into my eyes, "It's okay. You guys can go. I'll be fine. I'll see you guys later."

  Troy let my hand go and Ethan immediately grabbed it. It only occurred to me at that moment to wonder where Ariel was at in Troy's moment of need. Shouldn't she be with him at his friend's funeral?

  Troy had already walked away from us, leaving Ethan and I alone. Ethan was tugging at my hand, but I couldn't help but watch Troy as he walked up to Nico's casket. He stopped and looked in at Nico. Troy had seemed so normal a second ago, but I saw his shoulders slump. I couldn't see his face, but I could only imagine how he felt. He had lost a friend. My heart went out to him. Troy put his hand on the coffin still staring at Nico. I almost stepped toward him, suddenly wanting to give him a hug. Ariel really should have been with Troy to hold his hand.

  "Should we get out of here now or what?" Ethan asked, breaking into my thoughts. He sounded a little irritated.

  I looked away from Troy and looked over at Gino who was talking with his family, but kept occasionally glancing at Ethan and I. I felt torn. We
should get away from them before we got ourselves in trouble, but...

  "I think we should talk to him," I said.

  Ethan looked confused. I didn't blame him. We had a clean getaway if we wanted it, but I suddenly didn't want to run.

  I clarified, "Gino, you know, the dad? I think we should talk to him before we leave. At least do a little investigating ourselves. I mean, if we're really investigating, we should do it right. Then we'll go to Gabe's funeral. I promise."

  "But your rules..." Ethan said.

  "The poor guy just lost his son. Let's talk to him for five minutes. Besides, we know enough from what Troy just told us to not mess up. I think," I said and automatically looked back over at Troy who was still standing next to Nico's casket lost in thought. I was doing this for Troy too. "I promise, just five minutes. Then I swear we'll go look for Gabe's funeral."

  Ethan shook his head and sighed, but said, "Okay."

  We walked over to Gino. Ethan took my hand again. I looked up at him. Wow, he was really the most amazing, supportive boyfriend. Most guys would probably run away screaming if their girlfriend dragged them to multiple funerals early on in their dating history. Yeah, Ethan was like the best boyfriend ever. I couldn't blame him for being a little reluctant. That was totally normal. Still, he was going out of his way to support me. I'd have to do something nice for him soon to show him that I appreciated him back. I mean, nothing too romantic, to scare him off, but just something really nice. I didn't want him to think I was totally in love with him. I just liked liked him. Huh. What could I do? What wasn't too...wait. I'd have to think of something later. Right now, there were funerals to investigate. Priorities.

  "Sorry about that," I said as soon as we walked up to Gino and got his attention. "We ran into someone that we knew."

  Gino nodded, "I know Troy. He used to come over sometimes when Nico was in high school. Troy's a good kid."

  I nodded.

  "Like I said, it's really nice to meet some of Nico's college friends, though," Gino smiled.

  Ethan and I nodded again. I mean, what were we going to say? We didn't even know what college we were supposed to have gone to. Yeah, we were really in over our heads. We should have gotten more details out of Troy. It was too late now, though.

  "Well, let me introduce you to the family," Gino said as he got the attention of the relatives near him, "This is my wife, Nico's mother, Isabella, Nico's sister, Bianca, and his cousins, Antonio and Fiorella."

  Isabella, Nico's mom, nodded at us. She smiled, but her eyes were red rimmed with tears. Bianca, his sister, looked over at us. From the pictures I had seen of Nico, Bianca looked just like him, only younger and a girl. Still, they looked like siblings. She had to be around my age. Antonio and Fiorella were in their teens too. In fact, Fiorella looked familiar. I just couldn't place her. I wondered if we had to be careful. Did she go to school with us maybe? I glanced at Ethan, but he didn't seem to recognize anyone. Where had I seen Fiorella before? Did she come into the video store? I couldn't place her for sure. I felt weary. Yeah, we had to be careful.

  Gino continued with the introductions, "And these are some of Nico's friends from school. What were your names again?"

  We hadn't given them. I thought quickly. I could lie, but Fiorella really looked familiar. Did I know her? She could be about our age. I had to say something. I made a choice. Worst case, she'd know we lied about knowing Nico from school, but that's if she recognized us. What if she said something, though? Like right now in front of Nico's immediate family? I felt sweat begin to form around my temples. I had to say something.

  "Kait and this is Ethan," I said.

  Ethan shot me a look. I knew he was wondering why I had told them our real names, although in theory there could be hundreds of Ethans and Kaits out in the world, you know? I didn't give them our last names, after all. Still, if Fiorella recognized us, maybe we could get out of the hole we had dug ourselves into by a half-truth.

  "Hi," Ethan said, automatically, recovering before I did at what I had just done.

  Silence descended over the group. I mean, what did we say to an entire group of people who had just lost someone they loved? I tried to think about what people said to me when my mom died, but I didn't really remember. It was things like, I'm sorry about your loss and other things that hadn't meant much at the time. I appreciated the sentiment, but it didn't help much. That was the awful thing about funerals, the closest people to the deceased hurt so much that there was nothing exactly right to say. Still, we had to say something. I had put us into this situation for a reason. My mind raced trying to think of something, anything to say. I didn't dare look at Fiorella. Where had I seen her before? I focused on Gino instead.

  "We're really sorry for your loss," I started, awkwardly. It was the first thing that came to my head. "Nico was a great guy. I, uh, I really thought he was a great guy. I'm really sorry."

  Yeah, it had all come out better in my head. Still, I meant every word. I was sure Nico had been a great guy from what Troy had said and from the fact that everyone in the room was wiping away tears.

  "How did you guys know Nico, exactly?" Antonio asked. "I go to Landale College and I don't know you."

  I was surprised to hear the skepticism in his voice. If anything, I had thought we'd get caught by Fiorella. I was opening my mouth to answer Antonio's question, but Ethan beat me to it.

  "We had a class with him," Ethan said. "We didn't know him super well, but we'd talk to him in class. It's just such a shock. We wanted to come."

  "What class?" Antonio asked.

  I could barely breathe. We had to take a guess. What class would be the most likely class Nico was taking?

  "English," I said, without thinking.

  Antonio nodded. I wondered if he even knew what classes Nico was taking this semester. Either way I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief because nobody said anything. Antonio was still just staring at us, though, like he was trying to place us. I didn't dare look at Fiorella. If both of them were staring at us like Antonio was, I might not be able to resist the urge to make a run for it. At least Gino didn't look at all suspicious.

  "Well, we should go," I said, looking at Gino and trying not to sound as uncomfortable as I felt. "We're really sorry for your loss."

  Ethan nodded in confirmation to what I was saying and then added. "We'll really miss him."

  Gino nodded. His wife looked like she was trying to hold back tears. I continued to focus on them. If Nico's death really wasn't an accident, I would be investigating his death for them. This is what I had to take away from this funeral. They were so sad. They had suffered such a great loss. They deserved answers if there were any to give.

  "It was really nice to meet you," I said as I took one last look at them, smiled softly and took Ethan's hand and walked away.

  I felt Ethan's hand in mine. I looked up at him. He was looking at me. I smiled. He smiled back.

  "Thank you," I said.

  Ethan nodded and then added, "You're welcome. You were right. Talking to them was the right thing to do." I nodded. Yup. Ethan was really the best boyfriend ever. I wanted to hug and kiss him and tell him I loved... Whoa. Not again. I just wanted to hug and kiss him, but it was totally inappropriate to make-out in the middle of a funeral.

  "Um," Ethan started.

  "What?" I asked.

  "Just be a little more careful next time. I feel like we almost got caught," Ethan said.

  "Yeah, sorry about that," I said. "I was a little impulsive."

  "A little?" Ethan asked.

  I shrugged, "Okay, maybe more than a little."

  Ethan squeezed my hand and didn't say anything else as we walked toward the room's exit. Now, especially after meeting Nico's whole family, I was super motivated to find out if Nico's death was an accident or not. Plus even as we left the viewing room, I noticed that Troy was still standing near Nico's coffin, pouring over the pictures of Nico as if he was trying to take all of them in, detail by detail, in an effort to remember his friend. My heart went out to him. Again, I found myself wanting to go over to him and give him a hug, but I stopped myself. That was Ariel's job and besides, there was another death I had promised to look into.