PIE HAS BEEN SERVED

Chapter 2

Location: Book Reading Club

"And with this I would like to end our review for today. Let's pick it up tomorrow again.", Samantha, the book club president concludes.
Everyone gets up and gathers their belongings.
"Phew! I thought it would never end!", Kenneth whispers to Marcella.
"We still have to clean up, remember?", Marcella points out.
Others leave one by one, bidding goodbyes.
Kenneth ruffles his hair in frustration. Marcella always stayed behind to help Kenneth. Later, they walk back home together. It was their daily routine.
Marcella starts picking up the empty tea cups, and Kenneth follows. "What would I do without you!?", he asks rhetorically.
Marcella smiles brightly.
.
"HELP!!!"
.

Kenneth and Marcella share frightened looks. Marcella stands there still, not knowing what to do, while Kenneth regains his senses and rushes out, looking for the source of the cry.

Location: Miss. Clarke's office

Kenneth reaches the teacher's lounge. Miss. Clarke's personal office was right by it. Most of the teachers had left. The door to the office is ajar. He finds Mr. Miller, their science teacher standing outside. Kenneth walks up to him and looks inside. Miss. Clarke is panting hard, reaching for her handbag and George is lying down on the ground, not moving.
Kenneth exclaims, "call an ambulance!", to Mr. Miller, who breaks out of stance and complies.
Kenneth steps inside.
Miss. Clarke is trying to reach for something inside her bag. She picks out her cellphone and fumbles. Her phone falls to the ground. She reaches for it, so does Kenneth.
Miss. Clarke tries to grab it but overshoots. She tries again and fails. Kenneth picks it up for her and hands it to her. She tries to stand up but falls over, face down.
"Miss. Clarke?", Kenneth kneels beside her, and shakes her shoulder.
"Miss. Clarke?", Kenneth shouts loudly. She does not respond.
Kenneth stands up and turns back to Mr. Miller who is still at the door, calling the ambulance, "call the police too.", he advises.
"What??", Marcella exclaims, as she hears the word 'police' first thing on arriving the spot.
Mr. Miller, on the other hand, feels hesitant about it. He asks, "what are you talking about? Why police?".
Marcella wants to know too. It is written all over her face.
Kenneth is busy examining the two unresponsive individuals on the floor. "They have clearly been poisoned.", he states confidently.
"What??", Marcella and Mr. Miller exclaim in unison.
"How do you know?", Mr. Miller is curious.
"Well, they are exhibiting the same symptoms. And they have been eating and drinking the same stuff.", Kenneth points at the work table, with their scattered cups and the box of pie.
Mr. Miller nods. "Okay.", he agrees. He steps aside to call the police.
Marcella walls to Kenneth, "Ken! I am scared.", she trembles.
"Marcie..", he gives her a side hug, "don't worry. Everything will be alright.", he pats her shoulder.

The ambulance arrives a few minutes before the police. The patients are swiftly transported to the hospital. The police finds the empty 'crime scene'.
The two detectives introduces themselves to the crowd which accumulated in no time.
"So who found the bodies?", Detective Smith asks.
"Umm..they are still alive.", Marcella speaks reluctantly.
"Barely.", he adds.
"And you are?", Detective Jones steps forward.
"I am Marcella and this is Kenneth. Mr. Miller found them first. We reached after.", she introduces the witnesses.
Mr. Miller is taken aside for some enquiries, while Marcella and Kenneth wait in apprehension.
"Mr. Kenneth Murray?", Detective Smith calls out.
Kenneth walk to the corner, as Mr. Miller leaves.
"We were told that you were second to arrive here.", Detective Smith presents.
"That's right.", Kenneth confirms.
"And you were the one who suggested to call the police?", Detective Smith continues questioning.
"Yes, I did.", Kenneth answers.
"Good job, boy.", Detective Smith applauds.
Kenneth has never received such honest compliment in his life. "Thanks.", he looks away in embarrassment.
The police questions the entire crowd one by one. The others had nothing much useful to say as they arrived later.

The detectives allow the civilians to return back home for the day and continue their investigation. After the forensic team cleared Miss. Clarke's office, the detectives step in to scout the crime scene.
"Do you smell that?", Detective Smith sniffs vigorously.
Detective Jones follows, "what?"
"It's faint but it's a sweet fragrance.", Detective Smith keeps sniffing.
Detective Jones takes a large breath and waits for a moment. "No, I smell nothing."
"Che!", Detective Smith smacks his tongue, "I thought I was onto something."
Detective Jones ignores him and steps further inside, "you think someone would try to kill them or either of them?", he looks around for clues.
"We shouldn't rule out accidental poisoning yet.", Smith is still sniffing around.
"Seems highly unlikely, isn't it?", Jones shifts around some documents on the table.
"We need to get to the bottom of this.", Smith rummages through the shelves.

Location: Marcella's home

"Ken! I am okay now. You can go. It's late.", Marcella insists.
"Are you sure? I can stay with you until your parents come back.", he offers.
"Really? You are the best!", she hugs him.
"Do you think someone poisoned them?", Kenneth asks in a serious tone.
Marcella pushes him away immediately. "Kenneth!", she looks in horror, she sighs, "maybe Miss. Olivia tried to poison George but ended up taking the poison herself too by mistake.", she entertains Kenneth's query.
Kenneth was not expecting that kind of reply. "What makes you think that?", he becomes curious.
Marcella shifts closer to him, "well the rumour is that they were secretly going out but George dumped her recently."
Kenneth's eyes widen in shock, "you serious?"
"It's just a rumour. I don't believe it. You shouldn't either.", she warns him, "forget I said anything!", she gets up from the bed. "You want tea?", she offers.
.
TEA
.
Something sparks in Kenneth. "Tea!", he exclaims, "tea!!", he repeats. He jumps out of the bed. "Marcie, you are brilliant!"
Marcella is dumbstruck.
"I gotta go!", Kenneth states loudly.
"What? Why? You said you were gonna stay!", Marcella follows his leaving figure out of the door.
"I have to call the detective!", Kenneth rushes out, leaving behind Marcella alone.

Location: Kenneth's home.

Kenneth searches his bag for the card the detective gave him with his contact details. He finds the piece of paper and proceeds to ring the number.
"Hello. Detective Smith speaking.", the other side answers.
"Hi. This is Kenneth. You questioned me this afternoon about.."
Before he could finish, "yes yes, I remember, smart kid, did you remember something?", he inquires.
"Um no, but I think the poison is in the tea."
Detective Smith does not immediately respond to the statement. So, Kenneth gets worried if he said something wrong.
"Can you come by the station tomorrow morning?", Detective Smith asks.
"Sure. No problem." and then the detective disconnects on the affirmative.
Kenneth starts wondering if Marcella's accusation could be true. It was indeed a far-fetched idea. The other possibilities were more tempting.

Day 1
Location: Swerhalt Police Station

Next morning, students find out that their school is closed for the next week. Some rejoice, others concentrate on self-study. Kenneth heads out to the police station without delay. He has never been there before.
Kenneth walks in and looks around. He feels lost.
The front desk officer calls out to him. "Hey boy! Where are you going?"
Kenneth approaches him. "I am looking for Detective Smith.", he pauses and continues, "he asked me to come in the morning."
"Hmm..", the officer makes an understanding face, "his office is beside that money plant by the window.", he points at the hideous foliage.
Kenneth thanks him and makes his way to the detective.

Detective Smith is attending a call as Kenneth approaches him. It takes a while for him to get noticed. Detective Smith signals him to take the seat in front of him and wait. Kenneth complies. He pulls the chair and sits down. Detective Smith hangs up the phone and looks at Kenneth. "You are a smart kid. You know that?", he smiles.
"Did they find anything in the tea?", Kenneth gets to the point.
"They did, lots of it indeed.", Detective Smith sighs, "I knew it! I knew that smell!"
"What smell? What is the poison?", Kenneth enquires.
"Devil's cherry, AKA belladonna. It has a distinctive sweet fragrance.", the detective states the facts.
Kenneth is shocked, "I smelled it too! I thought it's the room freshner or something!"
Detective Smith shakes his head in refusal.
"Kenneth!", Detective Jones comes up from behind, "what are you doing here?" He is clearly unsettled.
"What's going on?", Detective Smith stands up, followed by Kenneth.
"The hospital called. George is dead.", Detective Jones reveals.
"And the English teacher?", Smith asks.
Kenneth feels himself going blank, searching for something to say.
"Still holding on!", Jones nods, placing a reassuring hand on Kenneth's shoulder.
"You know what that means, Kenneth?", Smith presses his lips together. Without waiting for him to answer, he continues bluntly, "we have a murder on our hands!"