es Jess mad because she is the head of the committee and it was all her idea. She does not understand why they are both getting so involved. Mark does not even seem to like kids and is only interested in volunteering so he can establish a good reputation.When Jessica leaves the hospital, she is eager to begin her research on Scott. First she goes to his apartment building. Jess talks to his next door neighbor who knows Scott, but has never seen his aunt. Next, she visits his aunt’s place of employment, but the people there have never heard of or seen her. At this point, Jess becomes very suspicious and remembers that when she looked in Scott’s apartment, the only things in there were a telephone and a bed. Jess realizes that Scott was lying about living with his aunt. She wonders what else he has lied about.That night, before Jess goes to bed, she sees a figure standing behind the tree in the Malik’s yard. She is tempted to go outside and see who it is, but she goes to bed instead.The next morning, the Donnally’s elderly neighbor’s cat is missing. Jess immediately thinks of the figure by the tree and goes over to check it out. All she finds is a full can of tuna inside the Malik’s garbage bag. Jess thinks that the figure may have used it to attract the cat. Jessica and her mom help their neighbor search for the cat all day with no luck.At school, Jess asks her computer-genius friend, Eric, to look up the name Scott Alexandar on the internet and see if he has a criminal record. Eric, who Jess used to have a crush on, changed drastically after he discovered computers. Although Eric is extremely smart and well liked, he spends every spare moment on a computer.The next night, Jess lets her cat, Pepper, go outside while she is doing her homework. After a while, Jess realizes that Pepper has not come back inside yet, and she begins calling for him. When Pepper does not come, Jess grabs a fl...
