The police van smelled like stale coffee. Or maybe it was just Detective Hordish.

The ogre police officer scowled at the three of us from the back door. We huddled together inside the van on a narrow bench, wrapped in itchy blankets. Mom was there too. From the way she chewed her fangs, I knew I was in trouble.

“I thought you were with Tank’s family, doing homework,” she said. “But it turns out you three were running around the mayor’s mansion, disguised as waiters. I’m upset, Fizz.”

“The mayor is very upset too,” Hordish said.

“He’s upset?” Aleetha jumped to her feet. “He nearly killed us with that security bot!”

Hordish scowled. “The mayor tells a different story. He thinks you are the Codex.”

“What?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Mom said. “Just because the kids crashed his party doesn’t mean they are the Codex.”

“Just like how the kids crashed the mayor’s press conference?” Hordish said. “When you little monsters show up, the Codex is never far behind. The mayor thinks that is suspicious. And I agree with him.”

“It’s a coincidence!” I said.

“Police officers don’t believe in coincidences,” Hordish said. “The mayor sent us here to watch out for the Codex. And then you three land right in our laps.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Aleetha said.

“Go on,” Hordish said.

Aleetha’s eyes met mine. I knew what she was thinking. She took a deep breath and started talking.

“It all started with this book we found in the library,” she said.

Aleetha told my mom and Detective Hordish about the guardian in the book and about Az, the demon. She explained how the hacker known as the Codex was using the demon’s face to scare the mayor. I added the bit about the ancient goblin map with the weird oval shape right where Slurp Stadium was built. And Tank told them about the security bot we’d chased along the rooftops.

Mom was silent while she digested the fact that her only son had nearly been eaten by a demon and a security bot in one night.

“And that troll Sanzin is the one controlling the battle bot!” Tank said. “He sent the bot to spy on us at the library.”

“Slow down there, young troll,” Detective Hordish said. “Sanzin Balazar runs the biggest company in Rockfall Mountain. Without SlurpCo Industries, there would be no jobs in Slick City. Sanzin is a leader. Watch what you say about him.”

“He’s a sneak and he’s up to something.” Tank crossed her arms and scowled at the floor of the van.

Detective Hordish tugged on the collar of his shirt. “There’s a lot you’re not thinking about. The mayor also claims you somehow opened the balcony doors after the whole mansion was in lockdown.”

“We didn’t do that!” Tank said. “They just unlocked themselves.”

“Or you had help.” Hordish smiled. “From a mysterious computer hacker terrorizing our city. If you aren’t the Codex, then you are friends with the Codex. That makes you suspects.”

My tail went into twitch overload. We came out here to solve the mystery of the Codex. Now, we were all suspects. The police thought we were the Codex. Detective Hordish was definitely wrong about that. But he raised a good point. Who had unlocked the doors to the balcony? Did the Codex help us escape?

My thoughts were shattered by a blinding flash of light coming from the mayor’s house.