I heard fast footsteps in the hallway.
Then, Kayla appeared in my doorway, holding the open container.
“What the hell is this?”
I looked at the container in her hand, then at her.
“What is what?”
“This.”
She held it up.
“This stupid note. These receipts. What is wrong with you?”
A door opened across the hall.
Mara stepped out, half asleep.
“What’s going on?”
Kayla turned toward her.
“Marga put some psycho note in one of her food containers.”
Mara looked at the container.
Then at me.
Then back at Kayla.
I didn’t raise my voice.
I didn’t need to.
I asked one question.
“Kayla, how do you know what was inside my container?”
Nobody said anything.
For the first time since my food started disappearing, Kayla had absolutely nowhere to hide.
Her face changed.
Anger first.
Then confusion.
Then came the realization that she’d walked straight into it.
Mara looked at the open container in Kayla’s hand.
“Wait,” she said. “Why did you open Marga’s food?”
Kayla recovered quickly.
“I was just looking.”
“At 1:40 A.M.?” I asked.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“So you opened my container?”
“I thought it was mine.”
I almost laughed.
“You’ve been telling me for weeks that you don’t touch my stuff.”
