The following evening, Jake made sure to double check that Tina's parents had in fact left for her memorial. The last thing he wanted was for her parents to be home while he secretly investigated for clues. He also made sure to hide his plans from Kitty, because she still seemed angry at him for whatever reason.

"You're sure the house is empty?" Marley asked for the thousandth time.

"Yes, I saw Tina's parents' car pull out of the driveway an hour ago."

"How do you even know we'll find anything?" Marley said.

"I guess we just have to take our chances." Jake shrugged as he used the key under the mat that Marley told him about to open the door. "Okay, you check downstairs, I'll check upstairs. Yell out if you find something," he instructed.

"Got it," Marley said, and disappeared. As Jake ran upstairs, she looked all around the kitchen, living room, and bathroom for any signs of Tina. It was strange to her that she couldn't see her former friend's ghost. They were both dead. Shouldn't the two of them be able to communicate?

The first place Jake checked upstairs was Tina's room. Obviously. It seemed like the most logical place where there would be any signs of clues. Jake rifled through Tina's belongings and felt a jolt of sadness. It was clear that Tina's parents hadn't touched anything in their daughter's room. He didn't even know if they've been in her room since her death. Jake couldn't even imagine what they were going through. It truly broke his heart.

After finding absolutely nothing in Tina's room, Jake checked the upstairs bathroom and her parents room, but could find anything as well. Just as he was about to give up, he heard Marley calling for him from downstairs.

Jake tore down the stairs and followed Marley's voice into the downstairs bathroom. "What is it?" he asked, out of breath.

"There's a piece of paper folded in this cabinet," Marley pointed. "I can't pick it up."

Jake took the paper out and unfolded it, reading it aloud. "December 23rd: Kitty's been acting kind of strange. I asked her a simple question about Marley's death and she got all flustered." Jake paused. "That was over a week ago," he recalled.

"Keep reading," Marley said.

"December 25th: I told Kitty I invited Ms. Rose for Christmas dinner. Kitty told me she suddenly had to cancel."

"That's strange," Marley said.

"I can't believe Tina wrote all this stuff down," Jake said in amazement.

"Tina always kept a diary," Marley remembered. "But why would she write all this on a piece of paper and put it in her bathroom?"

"Maybe so no one would find it," Jake guessed. He cleared his throat and continued reading. "December 26th: I know who killed Marley Rose."

"That's all it says?" Marley asked.

Jake nodded, unable to speak.

"December 26th was the day she died," was all Marley muttered.

"D-Do you really think-"

"She couldn't have," Marley snapped, cutting Jake off. "Kitty's my best friend."

"Marley, from what Tina wrote, it makes sense," Jake said, not able to believe it himself.

"But Kitty wouldn't kill Tina as well."

"We just..We need to talk to Kitty about this. Privately," Jake said, his heart beating so loudly, he was sure everyone in the neighborhood could hear it.

Marley started to hyperventilate. "This can't be happening."

"We have no official evidence yet," Jake said, trying to be as comforting as possible. It was hard though, because he was silently freaking out as well.

"J-Jake?" Marley said, her voice very shaky. "Do you think Kitty found out Tina knew and killed her so she wouldn't get caught?"

Yes, Jake thought. He knew that had to be it. It all fit. Kitty was with Marley the night she was killed. Kitty wasn't with Jake when Tina was killed either. She was already at Tina's doorstep. She could easily have snuck out the house after killing her and pretend to be surprised.

"Do you?" Marley repeated, more urgently this time. Deep down, she knew the truth, but she didn't want to believe it. Kitty was her best friend. She didn't know how Kitty could do such a thing. Twice.

"I don't know," was all Jake could manage to say. "I'm just as shocked as you are."

"But maybe Tina found out that it wasn't Kitty who killed me," Marley tried to argue. "Maybe she thought it was Kitty, but found out it really wasn't."

"Either way, we have to talk to Kitty as soon as possible."

"Well it's not like she's going to confess to murder." Marley rolled her eyes. "It's obvious that if she did do it, she didn't want anyone to find out, so she k-killed Tina because Tina would have told the police," she said, all in one breath.

"I still can't believe this," Jake mumbled, running a hand through his short hair. "We have to-" He paused when he noticed that Marley was no longer in sight. He looked all around the room, but couldn't find her.

"Marley?" Jake called out. When she didn't respond, Jake figured that she was overwhelmed and needed her space, which Jake completely understood. He packed up his things and headed out the front door. As he walked out of the house, he was hit with a strong sense of homesickness. He'd been in Lima for almost two weeks now. He missed his house, his room, his bed, and of course, his mom. Most of all, he missed his old life. He missed how simple it was. But Jake knew he could never go back to his old life. It wouldn't be right. Lima was basically his second home now. But then there was the time issue. Jake needed to be back home by the end of winter break, which was only four days away. Only four days left to catch the killer. Only four days left to be with Marley. Jake shuddered at that thought. He couldn't imagine not seeing her again. She was practically his girlfriend except for the fact that she was dead. Jake knew at some point she would have to move on, to heaven or whatever the hell people went to when they were finally at peace with their death, but he didn't want to think about that yet. He would save that worry for another day. Right now, the most important thing was to straighten things out with Kitty, and hopefully get an answer from her. And Jake prayed as hard as he could, wishing that Kitty's answer wouldn't be in the form of a murder confession.

Hey, so I'm changing my pen name on here, and on tumblr. I thought it was time for a change, since iheartfinchel0 has been my username for so long. And if you follow me on tumblr, then you know I'm totally obsessed with The Walking Dead, and I actually just finished writing my first twd fanfic, which is about Glenn & Maggie (of course, lol), and I thought I should have a fitting username for my love for both shows, so my new pen name is going to be TheWalkingGlee. Anyways, hope you all liked this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one! :D