I give Aster my phone number. I know this doesn’t mean I have friends, but it’s at least something. “Okay. Thanks for helping me.”
“No problem! Bye!” Aster and Gracie leave the student center together.
I smile as I slip my notebook into my backpack. Apparently, I found myself a little mystery-solving gang.
TEN
Igo back to the dining hall near East House for dinner. I’m honestly not sure why I’ve never actually eaten in here before today. They have the same grain bowls I used to get from West Hall, and it’s a lot quieter. No one talks to me during the whole meal, which is fine because I have work to do. While I eat, I put my headphones in and transcribe the interview with Emma on my laptop.
It’s seven thirty when I get back to my room after dinner. It’s just enough time for a shower before my date with Jay. Well, not a date. A texting date. Sort of.
I get a buzz on my phone before I’ve even plugged in my laptop to charge.
Jay:There you are!
Aleeza:I just came from dinner. We’re talking at eight, aren’t we?
Jay:Yeah, I was excited to tell you something. I did some sleuthing all by myself!
I unwrap my scarf from my neck. The room is drafty, as usual, so I pull my wearable blanket over my head.
Jay:I saw a campus security guard in the building so I asked him some questions. I was all casual. You would have been so impressed. The perfect undercover investigator.
It’s kind of adorable how excited he is about this.
Aleeza:What did you find out?
Jay:First of all, there are two cameras in the building. The stairwell one, and one in the lobby pointing at the front door. He even showed it to me. It’s pretty hidden.
Aleeza:I assume that’s the one that saw you come in, but not out again that night.
Jay: Yeah, but here’s the weird thing. The stairwell camera is between the first and second floor. Cheap school doesn’t have a camera on every floor. So, I realize, I could have taken the stairs to the second floor and the camera wouldn’t see me.
The second floor has only professor offices.
Aleeza:Is there a way out of the building from the second floor?
Jay:Not that I know of. My Civil Engineering prof’s office is there. I can ask her next time I see her.
I make a note to check the outside of the building to see if there’s a door that could come from a second set of stairs.
Aleeza:If there is another way out of the building, the police would have checked that, wouldn’t they have?
Jay:Yeah, I assume. I haven’t exactly solved the case.
Aleeza:It’s still excellent information. I had an eventful day too.
I text him a brief description of my meeting with Gracie, and then with Gracie, Aster, and Emma. I tell him I’ll send him the transcript of the conversation when I’m done with it.
Jay:Holy crap. Your detective work today was better than mine. By the way, Emma is lying. She picked me up in the Wolfe—not the other way around.
Aleeza:Can’t say I’m surprised about that.
Jay:Is there really an Instagram account specifically for people to complain about me?
Aleeza:Apparently. We couldn’t find it, though. Emma said it’s been taken down.
It’s a lead that goes nowhere, just like most of the leads we’d found.
