My hand clenched hard. Gail Lambert.
The girl who always kept her head down, who spoke so softly you had to lean in to hear her.
"Does he have evidence?" My voice was ice.
Ernest nodded.
"He produced a photocopy of a diary Gail supposedly kept before she died."
"One entry reads: 'Laurel Fox is a monster. She forces me to drink. I'm so scared of her.'"
A cold laugh left my throat.
"Public opinion online has completely spiraled." Ernest pressed his fingers against his brow.
"They've tagged you 'the deadliest beauty in the class.' They're demanding the death penalty."
I looked at him, my tone flat.
"Ernest, I need you to do two things."
"Name them."
I spoke slowly, making every word land.
"Submit that photo Nelson filed, the one of me holding the knife, for forensic authentication."
Ernest wrote fast.
"Then go to the bakery in the alley behind the college district. Ask the owner for the custom cake receipt from October 12th, ten years ago."
"That knife in the photo was the plastic cake knife that came free with a three-layer Black Forest cake."
Ernest frowned.
"What about the Gail Lambert accusation? That diary is devastating."
"Don't respond to the Gail Lambert claim. Not yet."