Once questioning was over, Zack and Cody decided to take a little walk around the lobby.
"You think Karl and Jack or that cheque had anything to do with that guy who was murdered?" asked Zack.
"Well, anything's possible," shrugged Cody. "As proven when Hannah Montana and that Raven girl visited us."
"Wow, you remember that?" said Zack sarcastically.
"Yeah," said Cody. "I even remember when London and Hannah got into that catfight over—"
That was when Cody realized something important. "Zack," he said slowly, "have you seen London?"
"No, I can't say I have," replied Zack. "Why? You don't think..."
"No way, it's impossible," said Cody, shaking his head. "She'd never ever...right?"
"Yeah, right," said Zack quickly. His eyes darted over to the deserted candy counter. "Hey," he said. "I wonder where Maddie is?"
"She's probably being questioned, too," said Cody quickly.
"Yeah," nodded Zack. "Probably." His eyes fell on a piece of paper that was on the floor. A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Don't even think about it, Zack," warned Cody.
"Too late," said Zack, bending down.
"What if there's something in that piece of paper that contains crucial evidence to the murder?" reasoned Cody. "If there is, this is tampering with crime scene evidence, which we could go to jail for!"
"First of all," said Zack, looking up long enough to make a few points, "What kind of evidence would be found from this paper--a badly written script for a kid's TV show that had a crummy premise to begin with? And second, we? You're just standing there."
"They could still hold me responsible," said Cody nervously, looking back and forth as though someone would come around the corner any minute. "After all, I could've stopped you and didn't."
"Then why aren't you stopping me now?" asked Zack as he bent down.
Cody was about to counter-argue, but then realized Zack had a point, so he said, "Good question." And then he tackled Zack to the ground.
"Let go of me!" groaned Zack.
"Fat chance," groaned Cody. His grip on Zack loosened up when he noticed some deep, imprinted letters on the backside of the paper.
Seizing the opportunity, Zack pushed Cody off of him, laughed triumphantly, and grabbed the paper, flipping it over.
Zack began to read as he and Cody stood up. Their eyes briefly skimmed over a few, crucial words: Darling...did what I had to do...love...Johnny...drowned...chocolate-coated fish ("Yum," said Zack)...accident...swimming...pool...watching...
Zack and Cody were suddenly struck by the dreaded feeling of being watched. They both slowly turned around...and saw Maddie, with an expressionless look on her face.
Zack tried to make light of the situation. He smiled and said, "Maddie! What a surprise!"
Maddie took the paper out of Zack's hands and said in a cold voice, "I think you should leave."
Zack and Cody could only stand there, frozen with shame and fear.
Maddie said in a louder, sharper voice, "Go!"
Zack and Cody finally came to their senses and began running in the other direction. Zack briefly stopped for a moment and saw Maddie with her head in her hands and sobbing, but then ran to catch up with Cody.