Lisa and Stevie were in Max's office. Everyone was being interrogated about Carole's shoot out. As Lisa finished talking, Stevie gave her a thump on the back. "Good job, kid. You dig okay," Stevie whispered. "Stop quoting The Outsiders!" Lisa replied as she left the office. Officer Hillenburg wrote down what Lisa had said, then looked at Stevie. "Well, Stephanie-." "-It's Stevie." "Right. Okay, Stevie, tell me your side of the story." Stevie nodded. "I'm…I was Carole's best friend. She hated violence and I'm not really sure why she turned to it in the first place. Her mom died around the same time that my brother Steven died, which was a little over a year ago. Ever since then, I think Carole's becoming a little more hostile towards people. Maybe this hostility turned her towards killing. But I doubt that.
"Carole is one of the smartest kids in my school. She's won Student-of the-Month twice already, and she's real polite," -Hillenburg began to give her a strange look-"Honest. But she told me once that she wanted to get rid of her anger like a gun depletes its bullets. I told her that was wrong to think that, but she didn't really listen. She is stubborn. Her reason for killing Kristi was probably to deplete her bullets, if you know what I mean. But I don't know how she got the gun. I don't know how the heck she got that gun, Officer Hillenburg. I swear." Stevie sighed. Hillenburg smiled. "Tell Veronica to come in." Stevie nodded, and left the room.
" 'Ey, Stevie," Mr. Lake said quietly. Stevie was breathing through a mask. Tubes were fixed in his nose, arms, and legs. He turned his head towards his father and managed a smile. "Hi, Stevie. How ya feeling?" Stephanie asked. She reached out to hold her brother's hand, but her father grabbed it. "Stephanie, no. You aren't s'pposed to touch 'im," he warned. Stephanie drew her hand back. Father and daughter watched the brother/son as he fogged up his mask. "Aww, man, Stevie! You know I…I d-don't like having to get your homework from Doug all the time…you know that…I don't wanna hafta now…" Stephanie sniffed. Stevie made a strange noise that seemed to be a chuckle. Mr. Lake handed his daughter a tissue. "Well, Stevie…We'll go out an' buy you a ton o' presents, 'kay? We'll be back, I promise!" So with that, Mr. Lake grabbed Steffie's wet hand and the pair left to speak with Stevie's doctor.
"So, Carole, you want to get outta those cuffs, doncha?" Officer Murray asked, walking across the room. Carole was the final one to be interrogated, as she WAS the perpetrator. "Well, maybe just a teeny weeny bit," Carole replied sarcastically. Murray slammed his hands on the desk in front of Carole. "I am an officer, and you do NOT talk to me like that!" he spat. "Geez, sorry, Barney Fife!" Murray slapped his head. "Okay Carole, I'm going to put this in words even YOU can understand-why the heck did you hold a stick-up?" Carole twisted her face maniacally. "Simple. I'm a girl of my word. And I need to break out of my mold." Hillenburg, who was recording everything, removed his feet from the table they were on and muttered, "Why not just join a darn club or something?"
"Your friend, Stevie, said you normally hated violence. Why did that change?" Carole introverted her eyes from the policeman. "ANSWER ME WHEN I SPEAK TO YOU!" "Because…because…my mother…" "YOUR MOTHER WHAT, D? WHAT?" "MY MOTHER DIED FROM CANCER, BUT SHE COULD'VE LIVED IF AN IDIOT HADN'T BROKEN ALL OF HER BONES BY KNOCKING HER CAR OFF THE ROAD! I WANTED TO KNOW HOW A MURDERER FELT BEFORE THEY KILLED SOMEONE!" Murray and Hillenburg exchanged glances, and then became quiet.
Stevie and Red Rover jumped over a, well, jump. They hadn't ridden together, and Stevie wanted to try him out. "Hey, Stevie!" a voice called (oh brother…). Stevie halted Red Rover and turned. "Oh, hey Red," she said. Red leaned on the fence as Stevie and R.R. trotted over to him. "Uh, Stevie, I'm sorry about, y'know, Carole becoming a homicidal maniac," Red murmured. Stevie walked R.R. straight across the ring and back. "Me too, Red," she said, looking at the sky. "Me too." She rode R.R. to the jump again and had him jump over it trice (yep, that's a word!). Red scratched the back of his neck, thinking of some sappy comment that would cheer Stevie up. But he, of course, couldn't think of one.
Lisa closed her bedroom door and jumped on her bed. Although she had been there just this morning, she felt as though she hadn't been home in years. Her little sister Melanie opened the door and shouted, "STOP JUMPING! Ashley and I are attempting to make a voodoo doll of Veronica!" Melanie slammed the door and Lisa stuck her tongue out. She laughed and lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'm glad to be home…" She picked up her copy of The Three of Great Importance (inside joke that no one but me will get!) and began to read where she had left off. Emilia had just run into the Forest of Wonders and Crik was looking for her. The cats of the Crow King's court were attacking Grimy back at the Halloween festival. Lisa was captivated by the story, and ended up falling asleep with the book in her hand.