Alex Bishop and The Elusive Dorian Brown

                                                                                        Chapter 7

                                                                         An Unexpected Goodbye

     Even though Alex and his Junior detectives weren't working on Dorian's case anymore, at least temporarily, Annie and Amanda decided to go to the administration office and look in the files for Gina Cane, to see if she was the girl that Annie saw rushing out of Haley's dorm room; for Amanda had been at that slumber party where Gina was a guest and knew what she looked like.  The office girls were at lunch at that time of day and only a fellow student who worked there part time was manning the phones.

     Annie told the girl that she wanted to check a file that she thought she'd made a mistake on the week before.  The girl was reading a book when the two of them walked up to the desk.  After she heard what Annie had said, she looked up for a moment and uttered, "Oh hi Annie.  Go ahead," then she put her nose back in her book.  The girls hurried to the back office where Annie opened the correct file drawer and begin flipping through the enrollment cards.  Annie had only been at it for a few moments when Amanda almost shouted, "That's her!" 

     Annie shushed her and pulled out the card.  "That's the one I saw coming out of Haley's room.  The one that bumped into the plant and drop the photo," Annie said in triumph.  Then she took out her cell, quickly snapped a photo and put the card back in the file and then she and Amanda hurried out.  "Thanks," Annie told the girl manning the desk on the way out of the office.

     "Should we text Alex?"  Amanda asked.  "Well, we're not technically on the case anymore, but he might want to know," Annie told her.  "Curiosity?" Amanda said with a chuckle.  So Annie did, and Alex text her right back saying, "Meet me in the library in ten minutes."  Annie giggled, "That man just cannot resist anything that might have to do with solving a mystery."

     So the both of them rushed off to the campus library.  They beat Alex there.  But they only had about two minutes to wait until Alex came rushing in the door with Christian as his heels.  They were both panting, so it was obvious the boys had run all the way there from across the campus.

     "So you recognize this Gina as the girl that dropped the photo of Haley's dad?"  Alex asked Annie.  "No doubt in my mind," she said.  "Has anyone seen Dorian or Greg around the campus since Gina ran out of Haley's room with the photo?"  Christian asked of anyone.  "No," Alex, Amanda and Annie chimed.

     "I think when Gina couldn't steal that photo, Dorian and Greg split fearing that Gina would tell someone what they were up to."  "That, and maybe the two of them also thought they may have left some evidence behind when they set that fire," Amanda said wisely.  "I just thought of something else," Alex said, "Dorian and Greg may have thought that Gena wouldn't have told just someone, but that she would go to the police and tell them about  Dorian and Greg's  participation in the fire; all to save herself from prosecution if she was involved in the planning of it."

      "But of course, we don't know if she was involved with the arson or not," Amanda said,  "Maybe all she did was to try to steal the photo."  "True," Christian agreed.   Suddenly, Annie's cell phone rang.  She didn't say a word except hello, but just listened until she got off the phone and said, "It was Haley.  She wants us to meet her in the courtyard right away."  The four of them glanced at each other for a moment then Alex said, "Let's go!"  The librarian gave them dirty looks as they passed her at a run.

     Haley was waiting for them at the grove of fir trees where the gang had met after the ball.  "What's wrong?"  Alex panted out when he reached her.  But Haley was stopped from answering by Annie raising her hand and shaking her head.  She had suddenly heard running feet. Annie peeked through a bough of one of the trees, fearing that someone had discovered their hide out.  But it was just Anthony and Justin coming toward them from the lab on the bluff a few buildings away.  At the same time, Annie saw Josh coming from the cafeteria down the intersecting path.  The three boys came into the grove one right after the other.