Any opportunity to contradict. “The question is, why would someone want to drug the Shaun-bot?”
Persey leveled her eyes at him. “To ensure he never made it out of that room.”
Wes pointed at his temple with his index finger and whistled while rotating his wrist, implying she was nuts.
“I don’t think Persey’s suggestion warrants that type of derision,” Neela said. “In fact, her theory makes a great deal of sense if you consider the strange series of coincidences in our personal overlaps plus the fact that three people have…have…” She swallowed. “Have died already. Whatever is going on, those deaths are real.”
“I had nothing to do with the Brownes,” Mackenzie said haughtily, though she hadn’t been asked. “And anyone who says otherwise is a filthy, dirty liar.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Riot said, sounding anything but sincere. “And your ‘confession’ up there about cheating on a competition…that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Prison Break escape room, I’m sure.”
“It’s a lie!” Mackenzie squealed, actually squealed like she was in pain. A pig recently branded.
“I didn’t accuse you of anything.” A sly grin danced about the corners of Riot’s mouth. “But your reaction sure the fuck told me everything.”
“Whether you’re innocent or not doesn’t mean shit,” Kevin said. “Persey and I had nothing to do with Prison Break, and yet we’re stuck here, in the line of fire like everyone else.”
Mackenzie didn’t miss his insinuation. “I am innocent. I never even met the Brownes.”
“Come off it, Mack,” Wes said. He was scratching his right arm above the elbow. Repeatedly, obsessively, like he was having some kind of skin reaction. “Everyone knows you’re full of shit.”
Her mood flipped in an instant from aloof to attack mode. “I don’t see you volunteering information.”
“That’s right!” Neela cried. “I never heard your confession.” Her eyes were bright with excitement, as if hearing other people confess their deep, dark sins was the highlight of any given day.
“None of your business,” Wes said.
“If our lives are on the line,” Neela countered, “I believe that makes it everyone’s business.”
Wes sneered at her. “Maybe I didn’t confess anything, huh? Ever think of that?”
“He said he stole something,” Kevin said, staring Wes down.
Wes rolled his eyes. “Yeah, a candy bar. Everyone heard that.”
But while Wes assiduously avoided Kevin, shifting his gaze from the ceiling to the floor to the slightly deflated air cushion, Kevin hardly moved, his face deadpan. “No, your second confession was also about stealing. But this time, you bribed someone to get what you needed.”
Neela held up her index finger. “Um, technically, bribing isn’t stealing. I just wanted to—”
“You’re a fucking liar,” Wes said. The tremor in his voice and the deep shade of fuchsia flooding his cheeks said otherwise.
Kevin shrugged. “I’m just repeating what you said, dude.”
“Bullshit!” Wes exploded. He charged Kevin and tried to grab the collar of his shirt. “You were too far away. You couldn’t have heard me.”
Kevin shrugged. “If you say so.” Then he turned to Persey. “He’s full of shit, you know.”
“He doesn’t need to tell us,” Persey said, attempting (failing) to suppress her nerves and excitement. Kevin had shared the puzzle piece she needed to explain this tangled web to everyone. “I know why he’s here.”
“Oh yeah?” Wes arched an eyebrow.
“Monsieur Poirot,” Kevin said, bowing at the waist as he swept his arm across his body, ushering Persey forward. She hadn’t pegged him as an Agatha Christie fan. “The floor is yours.”
Persey took a deep breath. Fine. They wanted to hear the truth about this “competition” out loud? She’d give it to them.
“Room number one,” she began. “The Office. Neela noticed that one of the cubicles had last year’s calendar on the wall with May twenty-second circled in red ink.” She waited, letting the date sink in.
Kevin’s brow wrinkled up in confusion. “I don’t get it.”
“That’s the day the Brownes died,” Neela said quietly.
“Oh.”
“Their bodies were found right here in this building,” she continued, lower lip quivering as he spoke. “After the secret of the Prison Break escape room went public.”
Persey reached out and squeezed her hand. “Shared on Daring-Debunker, right?”
Neela nodded.
“Which, like Geektacle where you had a power user account, happened to be owned and operated by Arlo.”
Neela’s face remained unchanged: no gasp, no raised eyebrows, no sign that this information was a surprise to her in any way, shape, or form. If she hadn’t been 100 percent sure that Arlo was the gossipmonger behind DaringDebunker, she’d at least speculated about it.
Riot, on the other hand, looked genuinely shocked. “Arlo