The next day at school Billie waits until the afternoon to talk to Lola when her class has sport. She hasn’t stopped thinking about the mystery and the new clues she has uncovered, but it is like her friends have forgotten all about it!

This week Billie’s class is playing dodgeball. Billie knows that Lola is good at ballet, but she is terrible at dodgeball.

Just as Billie expected, Lola is the first person to get hit by the ball and has to sit out. Billie is quick to make her move. She sees the ball coming her way and jumps in front of it so it hits her in the legs.

‘Billie’s out!’ someone shouts.

Jack looks over at her in disbelief.

Billie has never gone out so quickly in dodgeball before!

Billie shrugs and jogs over to sit next to Lola in the shade. She knows she only has a short time before someone else goes out.

‘So, you know how Benny put leaves in Rebecca’s sandwich?’ Billie begins.

Lola rolls her eyes. ‘I know! Poor Rebecca. That was so not funny!’

‘But they were only mulberry leaves, weren’t they?’ Billie says. ‘It’s not like they were poisonous, like gum leaves. She could have still eaten her sandwich if she picked them out.’

‘No, they were gum leaves!’ Lola says, frowning. ‘Poor Rebecca had to throw her sandwich out and she had nothing for lunch that day. I had to give her some of my sandwich—or she would have starved!’

Lola talks very quickly and doesn’t quite look at Billie as she is talking. Suddenly Billie has a thought. She needs to be very careful, though.

‘But didn’t Benny have mulberry leaves in his pocket?’ she says. ‘He said he was taking them home to feed his silkworms.’

Billie watches Lola’s cheeks turn red.

‘Maybe they were mulberry leaves then!’ Lola says quickly.

‘How should I know? It’s not like I saw them close up. I only saw him from a distance when I was on my way to get a drink.’

‘Putting the leaves into Rebecca’s sandwich?’ Billie asks calmly.

‘Yes!’ says Lola.

‘But you said you didn’t actually see him put them in,’ Billie says. ‘You said you just saw him in the corridor.’

‘That’s what I meant!’ says Lola.

She looks flustered and angry. ‘But he obviously did it, even if I didn’t see him. I mean that’s exactly the kind of silly thing Benny would do.’

‘It is the kind of silly thing Benny would do, that’s true,’ Billie says, looking over at the dodgeball court where Benny and Sam are jumping around pretending to be monkeys. ‘But I don’t think Benny did it.’

‘Of course he did!’ says Lola. ‘Who else could have done it?’

Billie looks back at Lola, straight into her eyes. ‘I think you did it, Lola,’ Billie says.

She knows that if she is wrong this is a terrible thing for her to say. But she has a very strong hunch she might be right.

Lola stares at Billie with her mouth open. Then her eyes fill with tears.

‘It was only a game,’ she sobs. ‘It was supposed to be funny. I didn’t know gum leaves were poisonous!

Rebecca put them down the back of my T-shirt when we were in the playground so I put them in her sandwich as a joke. I thought she’d think it was funny. I couldn’t believe it when she got so cross!’

Lola looks desperately at Billie. ‘I was scared I’d get into trouble, Billie. I’ve never been sent to Mrs Singh’s office before.’ Lola’s eyes drop to the ground. ‘Benny gets sent there all the time. I didn’t think he’d get so upset about it.’

‘Well, he got into trouble for something he didn’t do, Lola,’ Billie says frowning. ‘I know Benny can be silly and annoying, but that’s no reason for him to be punished when he’s not to blame!’

Lola hangs her head. ‘I guess so,’ she says quietly. ‘It’s just that I feel like I’ve made such a mess now. I don’t know how to fix it.’

‘Yes, you do,’ says Billie, folding her arms across her chest.

Lola looks up at Billie with terror in her eyes. ‘You mean go and tell Mrs Singh?’ she says. ‘I can’t do that! She’ll be so cross with me for lying. I’ve never got in trouble with Mrs Singh before.’

Billie feels her heart soften a little when she sees how scared Lola looks.

‘I’ll come with you if you like,’ she says kindly. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve been before. It’s not that bad.’

‘And believe me, you’ll feel better after telling the truth,’ Billie adds.

‘Really? You’ll come with me?’ says Lola, grabbing Billie’s hand. ‘Thank you!’

Billie nods. ‘On one condition,’ she says. ‘There’s someone else you need to talk to first.’

Lola sighs. She look over to where Benny is loping around the dodgeball court like a gorilla and giggles. ‘I guess he is kind of funny sometimes, isn’t he?’ she says.