Quirky Sleuths. Big Murders. Very Bad Alibis.
Lina Mercado notices what other adults dismiss: a shifted chair, a wrong shelf, a missing comfort object, a schedule changed too early. As a special-needs classroom aide, she knows routine is not decoration. It is safety. When district compliance director Graham Vossler is found dead in a sensory therapy room after a furious public meeting, Lina's friend Lila becomes the obvious suspect.
The official theory is reasonable. The room is not. A weighted blanket has been folded neatly, placed carefully, and left exactly where someone thought it should belong. The problem is that anyone who actually understands the room would know it does not belong there.
While administrators scramble to protect the district and everyone keeps insisting things were normal, Lina begins reconstructing the one thing a killer could not fake: the routine of a room built for people who depend on truth being predictable.
