Read the excerpt below.Although Mrs. Brown had a tomato stain on her dress, the empty pizza box in Mr. Poppy's closet and his spicy breath proved his guilt. Mr. Poppy’s claim that he is allergic to pizza was not given a second thought.

The empty pizza box and Mr. Poppy’s spicy breath directly support the conclusion that he ate pizza, so they are evidence. Mrs. Brown’s tomato stain is a distraction from the evidence against Mr. Poppy, making it a red herring. His claim that he is allergic to pizza is an attempted excuse for why he could not have eaten it, functioning as an alibi in this passage, though it is dismissed.

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