"Mrs. Wrath." Betty answered the door. "Do come in."
"Thanks." I pushed past her with my duffel bag. "You're not surprised to see me?"
The kid shrugged. "Not really. I figured you needed a place to hide out. That's why I engineered Bart's college visit."
"You did that?" I shouldn't have been surprised. The girl had just hacked into the Bladdersly PD.
The kid smiled. "It was easy. I just pretended to be an admissions counselor and sent Bart an email inviting him to visit. Then I emailed the admissions counselor and told them Bart and my parents wanted to visit."
I wasn't sure how I felt about the ten-year-old manipulating her family like that for a suspected murderer on the run. But it was nice that she wanted to help, and maybe Bart would get an education out of it with the added bonus of escaping his little sister.
I looked around. "Do you have a guest room?"
"Nope. But you can have the top bunk in my bedroom." She turned to walk down the hall.
"Hey. Are you over the noir slang?" I asked.
The girl shrugged. "I'm just taking a break. The other girls asked me to stop."
"And that worked?" Of course! Peer pressure. I'd have to remember that the next time Betty tried to do something like boss the girls into doing something, hack into the school records, or in one case, attempt to overthrow city council.
"Here's my room." Betty opened the door, and I followed her in.
Betty's house was about average for the Midwest—simple but comfy furniture, endless beige walls and carpet. Her room, however, was a different matter.
"Wow" was all I could think to say.
Betty was my black sheep. The girl in the troop voted most likely to master the dark arts or become a CIA black ops agent specializing in wet work. I expected the walls to be filled with photos and news articles connected with different colored yarns to one conspiracy theory after another. At the very least, I expected posters featuring the Basque regions.
I didn't expect this.
It was as if the girliest girls in the universe gathered together to decorate a room that they, themselves, would consider too girly. Everything was pink and had ruffles. Stuffed unicorns covered every surface of the white dresser, nightstand, and bunk beds. The carpet was a color I could only call "sparkly." The walls were pale pink with white lacy curtains. And the room smelled like roses.
I gave her a look. "Who are you, and what did you do with Betty?"
"What?" she asked as she stood on a ladder on tiptoe to clear the stuffed unicorns off of the top bunk.
"This!" I waved my arms around. "This just doesn't seem like you."
"What do you mean?" She came down from the ladder. "Why not?"
"Because…because…" I stammered. "You are…well, you know…"
The child put her hands on her hips and frowned at me.
"You have ninja suits and know all about weapons, and you speak in noir gangster…"
She shrugged. "I'm complicated. Now put your stuff wherever. I'm gonna go make snacks. Okay?"
I nodded, still dazzled by her room.
She paused in the doorway. "And whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances, open the closet." And then she was gone.
Oh, I was so opening that closet.