13

After laying down Judge Moseby in his bed, Zack and Cody discussed the situation at hand with Patrick and Maddie.

"So," sighed Cody, "what do we do now? The one person who had any sanity out of all of us is gone. So who do we have for guidance now? No one."

"Does that Travelocity gnome count?" asked Zack.

"Sadly, no," said Cody, shaking his head sadly.

"Know what I find fishy?" said Patrick.

"The ocean?" said Zack sarcastically.

"No," snapped Patrick. "What I find fishy is the fact that Judge Moseby was murdered while we were all scrambling upstairs to save Maddie. The timing couldn't be better."

Maddie's mouth fell open. "But surely you're not suggesting..."

"And yet I am," said Patrick with that stupid smirk on his face.

"You dare accuse Maddie of murder?" said Zack angrily as he stood up.

"She had the opportunity, so anything's possible," said Patrick. "And we don't know if she really is as innocent as she claims where her crime is concerned. How do we know she's not lying?"

"Oh yeah?" said Zack, rolling up his hands into fists. "Want to make something out of it?"

"How about not?" said Cody, stepping in between the two. "Look, the point is, the killer is coming closer to accomplishing his or her plan and the best we can do for now is stick together until the boat arrives, so let's all go to bed now."

"Not without Maddie answering one, simple question first," said Patrick, raising a finger. "Maddie, did you or did you not kill that little boy?"

"Don't answer that, darling," said Zack quickly.

"But I will," said Maddie, getting up. "I swear on my life that I did not do it."

"Good," said Patrick, nodding and smiling. "That's all I needed to know."

TSLTSLTSL

But when Maddie and Cody had gone into their rooms ten minutes later, Zack and Patrick were standing in the hall having a screaming match over her innocence or guilt.

"You SAID that was all you needed to know!" barked Zack.

"Well, I LIED!" shrieked Patrick. "For that matter, SHE may be lying, too!"

"She is NOT!" yelled Zack.

"And how do you KNOW!" screamed Patrick.

"Wait, why do you need to yell the world 'know'?" asked Zack in a calmer voice.

"Good point," said Patrick before snapping, "And how do YOU know?"

"I KNOW because she SAID so!" screamed Zack.

And then two voices from in their rooms joined in: "SHUT UP!"

Zack turned to Patrick and said, "We'll discuss in the morning. But I'll keep an eye on you."

"And I on you," said Patrick. He turned and smacked into a wall. He said sheepishly, "My bad," before going off to his room.

"Break time," announced Cody. "My hand is killing me."

"As if we needed an ironic metaphor," said Zack dryly.