"You said you'd be here in fifteen minutes," Adam's not-so-happy face greeted me as soon as I walked into the bookstore.
It was already half-past five, and the place was noticeably empty, my services were clearly not needed. However, I hadn't come to work or offered Adam my usual company. I was there to share the shocking discovery I had made about Mr. Benjamin Scott.
"I went looking for Penny," I explained as I joined him behind the cash register.
Adam handed me a maroon vest that said 'Welcome to Brown's'. I waved it off and gave him a frown.
"I told you I'm off on Mondays and Tuesdays."
He sighed loudly and mirrored my frown. "You look like you've seen a ghost," he told me without even a slight hint of worry. He was actually used to seeing me look like I had seen a ghost. But it didn't bother me much, as I had grown used to it.
"I haven't but I have heard about a possible murder." My palms began to sweat again as my heart raced.
He had told me so many times before about my tendency to exaggerate things. I kind of agreed with him as I started to reflect on my past judgment, but this thing about Mr. Scott couldn't be an exaggeration.
Adam's lopsided smile replaced my anxiety with annoyance.
"I heard it straight from Mr. Scott's mouth. He said, and I quote, 'What do you want me to do with her dead body?' That's definitely a murder right there. He killed someone. A woman!"
He straightened up and raised his brow. "And what else did you hear? And how did this even happen?"
"Melissa told me to go back to the room to ask Mr. Scott about the grading system for the play that I might be collaborating with her on. So off to the room I went, and that's when I heard him mention, clearly and specifically, about the dead body."
"Hmmm... what did you do after?"
"I left! Of course!"
"He didn't notice you leave?"
I shook my head. "No. He was still on his phone when I left. His back was on me. I left as soon as I heard him say he has a shovel."
Adam may not be smiling anymore, but his calm demeanor was undoubtedly telling me he still wasn't convinced; standing there and looking so collected when I just told to him that our teacher might have murdered someone.
"Adam, we have to inform the police," I urged him.
"Wendy, do you have any other evidence aside from what you've heard?"
I shook my head. "No. But does it matter? I heard him! What I heard straight from his mouth should be enough!" His indirect disbelief was starting to grate on my nerves.
He placed his hands on my shoulders, a feeble attempt to calm me down. "He could be talking about something else or who knows what? You just walked in and heard a bit of something. You didn't hear the entire conversation. You need to be sure he's talking about a dead human body."
"He said her. Her. If he meant something else, like an animal, he could have said the body."
"You need to be a hundred percent sure. You can't just go to the police with a small piece of the puzzle." Adam insisted. "You should already know that."
"And what would you have me do? Do you reckon I should have stayed a little longer and listened more?! I was shit-scared, Adam. When you walk in on someone talking about a dead body, the most rational thing you do is run the hell away."
He ran his hand through his dark mess of a hair. "You're right. But I'm telling you, if you go to the police now, they'd ask you more questions, and a few words won't even warrant filing a formal report."
As I gave it much thought, he was right. "And what do you think I should do? Go get more evidence?" I asked as if I was already considering it.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "You've been through this before. Remember Mrs. Gomez's nephew? Rico?" His easygoing smile was back. "Don't make the same mistake again."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I couldn't believe he would bring that up.
How could I forget about Rico? He swore he'd make me pay for nearly giving his old aunt a heart attack. But it wasn't my fault. When I saw bruises on his arms and legs, I genuinely thought she was abusing him. Despite being thirteen at the time, I did what seemed like the most adult thing and reported it.
In my defense, how the hell would I know that Rico was involved in some silly brotherhood that beat each other out. Talk about Fight Club.
Needless to say, I learned my lesson and got grounded for a month. I wasn't too bothered since Penny and Adam still visited, and they were pretty much the only people I hung around with. But my parents were furious.
I let out a heavy sigh and briefly closed my eyes. Adam was right, and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes now. "Okay, let's go and gather more evidence."
He chuckled and grabbed a box of freshly delivered books from the floor. "You don't need my help. And, I'm also busy." He glanced at the box in his arms.
I shot him a glare. He wasn't refusing because he was busy; he was refusing to go with me because he was convinced Mr. Scott was another Rico, another embarrassing mistake waiting to happen.
Well, too bad for him because I knew I was right this time. And if there's anything that would happen to me, it would be all on him.
Without wasting any more energy to convince him to go with me to get more evidence, I headed for the door.
"Good luck, detective."
"Whatever! You know where to dig in case I'd go missing!" I spat, slamming the door shut and taking off, growing angrier at him for letting me do this on my own.
Half an hour later...
After being redirected to her voicemail twice, I finally got hold of Penny, wasted no time, and told her exactly what I had told Adam as I anxiously paced back and forth in my room, hoping for a different reaction from her.
"Are you sure?" she asked, although at least she sounded more convinced. "And now you want to go over to his place to get more evidence?"
"Yes!" I almost yelled. I chewed on my lower lip since I was scared and restless at the same time. I wanted to prove Adam wrong so badly that I was willing to go over to Mr. Scott's all by myself and get a piece of freaking evidence to shove it up his ass.
"So, your plan is to look for the body, take a picture, and show it to the police?" Penny asked again.
"Yes! Yes!"
"Do you even know where he lives?"
Okay, maybe I should have researched that information first. "No."
I heard her sigh from the other line, followed by a yawn. "He lives on 34 Clover Drive."
"How did you know this?" I wondered. Penny was many things, but she was never a creepy stalker.
"I overheard it. I don't know who first got hold of that information, but everyone knows about it now."
Everyone except me. Apparently.
"Okay, you'll go with me, right?" I reluctantly asked. She knew about the Rico thing, but unlike Adam, she didn't dwell on it. She thought it was a rookie mistake, laughed it off, and we both moved on, never talking about it again.
"To snoop on a possible murder case? Are you kidding me? I'm absolutely in!"
I felt a sudden flush of relief. "Good. My mom's here, so I can borrow her car. Meet you there in fifteen minutes."
"Okay. I'll call you back," she said and then hung up.
I stared at my phone and with one of my best friends on board, I felt I could really do it—do the right thing and make Mr. Benjamin Scott pay for his crime. Mr. Benjamin Scott might be easy on the eyes, but I know he's too good to be true. It seemed no person that attractive was without a skeleton in their closets.
Poor woman. But whoever she was, I'd make sure to bring her murderer to justice. A monster like Mr. Scott shouldn't be free to walk on this planet. He had to be stopped. He had to pay for what he did.
With such courage and determination now, thanks to Penny's support, I pulled out a black hoodie from my drawer, left my room, and told my mom I had to run to Penny's to lend her my notes.
I hated lying to my parents, but there was no way they'd let me go if I told them the truth. They'd be proud of me once this was all over and Mr. Scott's was finally captured and kept behind bars.
"Be back. Dinner will be ready soon," Mom said to me as she handed me her keys.
I wasted zero time, and bolted out of the house and hit the road, shutting down any doubts or fears in my mind. My own demise at the hands of my teacher wasn't going to stop me from doing what's right. Nah, I couldn't be that selfish. I had to think about the woman Mr. Scott offed and the family she might've left behind.
After circling the neighborhood for nearly ten minutes, I finally found Mr. Scott's house. Two stories, all decked out in wheat-colored bricks with these square windows. A sweet garden wrapped around half the place, and perfectly trimmed bushes covered the front lawn. No one would ever suspect that a dead body could be hidden somewhere inside and a serial killer hiding in plain sight.
Parked at a good distance from Mr. Scott's house, I glanced at the rearview mirror for any signs of Penny.
After five minutes, nothing.
After ten minutes, still nothing.
I waited in the car for another ten minutes, growing more annoyed than scared. Still, nothing. I glanced at my watch and hissed when it was already seven in the evening.
Where the heck is that woman?
Dialed Penny's number, gritting my teeth at the thought of her flaking on me.
Penny here, and unlike you, I've got a life. So, drop your damn a message. No promises of calling you back right away, though. Bye.
I gritted my teeth more at her deadpan voice but left her a message anyway. "Penny, where the hell are you? You said you're in. You agreed to meet me here in fifteen minutes. I'm going now, and if I get killed, it's all on you and Adam too for not believing me!"
I shoved my phone into the pocket of my jeans and tied the shoelaces of my sneakers twice. I had to be very cautious. I took a deep breath and worked up the courage again when it slowly faded as soon as I realized that I was now on my own.
I told myself there was no way for me to back out now. I had to do this because if I didn't, no one else would.
As soon as I had persuaded myself again to proceed in seeking justice for the dead woman, I pulled the hood up over my head, left the safety of my mom's car, and headed to Mr. Scott's house.
Cautiously, I crossed the lawn like some ninja. Luckily, his porch lights were dimmed enough for me to creep stealthily around to look for a way to enter his house without being noticed or heard.
I snuck around the side and spotted an open window on the second floor. An opportunity. I smiled at the odds, seemingly in my favor. Maybe I was really destined to do this. Maybe it was my fate to be the sole key to Mr. Scott's capture.
I scanned the area for a ladder or something. Nothing. Looked again, and there it was – an old trellis.
I took another deep breath. This is it. I closed my eyes. I only needed one vital piece of evidence. Just one.
Real careful, I nudged the vines aside, set my foot on a low slat, and started the climb up the trellis. I stopped for a sec, took a deep, shaky breath. Everything around me was quiet as a graveyard, except for the beating of my heart.
Sweat beads trickled down my forehead as I kept going up. Right hand stretched out, left gripping a slat. Before I knew it, my fingertips touched the window sill. Still a stretch, though. My hands started to shake, my own weight pulling me down.
When I realized my arm could no longer stretch to cover the distance between me and the window, I thought of no other solution but to take an actual leap and grab on to the sill. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what I was about to do, but before I could even inhale some air, my foot slipped, and the only slat supporting me eventually gave up on my weight and broke.
A scream escaped my mouth, followed by this awful racket as I crashed down, hitting the ground with a thud. That stirred up some angry barks from neighborhood dogs. So much for those odds in my favor.
I immediately covered my mouth with my hands and shrieked in pain. What was I thinking? I was no ninja or had any experience pulling off this kind of heroic act. Or maybe I should have scouted the area first and come back with a ladder or something. Anything to aid my goal.
Poor dead woman. I failed her.
My breath hitched as soon as I heard a door open. I tried to move up to get the hell away from there, but the pain in my hip temporarily had me pinned down.
"Ms. Greene, are you okay?"
As soon as I heard Mr. Scott's voice, right then and there, I knew I would end up joining the poor dead woman soon.