My dear Holmes,
It is fortuitous of you to leave this God-forsaken corner; I must have disclosed the worst side of this archaic town, encountering unexpected events and a malignant storm. Thus please excuse my blurry handwriting due to the pain that I got when the rain soaked my leg. I managed to investigate the mysterious note, which led to a journey in Blair Academy, yet I'm afraid my observations will be mundane for your prudent mind. Several surprising events have occurred, which then led to a charming language teacher, Adaline Harke, who just started to work at Blair this year. But before everything, I should report the situations.
Yesterday, after your departure, I encountered Miss Harke, who recognized the short letter was written in Turkish and she took the letter with her to decipher it. As a benign lady, she was extremely supportive to my investigations. However, in her lustrous hair, I noticed something strange: gunpowder. It smote me, yet some transient instinct told me that she was not the perpetrator of the crime. The gunpowder could have been accidentally attached when someone was fondling her hair. To further prove my suspicion I decided to visit other language teachers in Blair Academy.
This morning, before I began my journey to Blair Academy, benevolent Isabella provided me with breakfast. Though I believe your insightful conclusion that Isabella didn't kill the young man, she is still quite suspicious considered to be so calm after a man died in front of her. Before I left, she warned me to be careful because she had heard weird things happening at Blair herself and the fog and the rain can make it hard for the investigation.
When I arrived at Blair, it was almost nine in the morning. Yet I stood on the hill, seeing only shades of grey mist and black shadows of crooked trees. Clouds creeped over the sky making this obscure place more depressing. I finally found Mr.Blair and asked for the schedule of Miss Harke, who was coincidentally absent and abandoned (?) two classes that she was suppose to teach today. Mr.Blair suggested I talk to other language teacher, Mr. Garcia, who teaches Geography and Spanish, and Mr.Bailey, who teaches French with Miss Harke and also teaches and music. There is also a teacher named Mr. Johnson who comes to Blair every week from Stillwater to teach Latin. He is not here that day although he is suppose to be there, which may be due to the bad weather.
I met those two gentlemen on the porch of Insley, the building next to Locke. Mr.Bailey was a timid creature. He seemed quite young and his tall and burly body seemed to be a joke compared to his timorous manners. When first he saw me, he began to scratch his curly red hair, his blue eyes confusingly glancing everywhere. The poor soul had just come to Blair this year and was terrified when heard of the recent murders. Yet when I asked of Miss Harke, his face turned even more puzzled.
"Mr.Bailey, have you noticed anything strange about Miss Harke recently?"
"Not really. Though we work together, we seldom talk besides discussing classes.Why? Is she involved in the murders?Is that why she is not here today? Something happened?"
"Do you know who she is close to?"
"She is not a convivial person. However, I did notice that..." He paused and looked around to make sure no one was watching, then continued in a low voice. "She is specially close to Mr.Garcia. I saw them intimately walking in Blairstown after school a few times."
I couldn't tell if his information was true or not, and after a few minutes one of his students, Malcolm, came in to get him to class. Then Mr.Garcia walked into the office. Unlike Mr.Bailey, he had a facial morphology of a genius, yet his eyes was veiled melancholic attitudes. His eyebrows were as thick as paintbrushes and his nose was long and pointy and was easy to recognize. It was hard to tell his age by looking at his face, though I assume he is about forty.
He was not surprised when I mentioned Miss Harke; I suspect he won't act surprised by even the most peculiar things. He told me Miss Harke didn't live on campus but on the second floor of a grocery store on the Main Street with some other women who work there. Then I asked him about his relationship with Miss Harke. He replied in a offended manner:
"That, Mr.Watson, is our personal thing."
"Okay...Okay..."
"I suppose that's all the useful questions you wanted to ask?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then pardon me Dr.Watson, I need to get to another building. My class starts in ten minutes."
Then he walked out of the office swiftly with his briefcase in his arm. After I finished collecting my thoughts, I walked out of Ivy, thinking to visit some other buildings before the storm gets bigger. So I started to walk toward the Old Academy. However, I realized my decision was erroneous when I stepped outside. The rain and the wind were so furious I couldn't even open my eyes. My leg got soaked by water and the pain started to writhe. Fortunately, before I lost my strength, an old man standing by the South Cottage, a dormitory, hollered at me to get inside.
In the Cottage it was warm and comfortable. My host was the literature teacher Mr.Murry. Before he left he suggested I stay until the storm passed. As I rested myself in that pleasant residence, I continued to gather the information I had about Miss Adaline. However, as I stared outside the window, trying to lead myself into the mind palace as you always do, I heard a horrifying scream. I stood up and looked outside the window and saw two shadows swifty running down the hill. Despite the pouring rain, I could tell it was a man and a women. The voice was familiar and reminded me of Miss Harke, yet the man I couldn't recognize, until I saw his weirdly long nose. By the time I realized that, the two shadows had swiftly disappeared into the mist.
So, now my dear Holmes, though I've discovered a great many surprises today, I still ended with more questions, which I present to your brilliant mind for solving. I can't help but wonder why Miss Harke was absent and why was she screaming. Could it be a sign that she was in danger? Maybe it involves Mr.Garcia? What exactly was their relationship? Were he and Mr.Bailey hiding something?
My dear friend, I have to admit that I'm confused by all the things that had happened. However, I do feel a dangerous future awaits us. I hope you are well.
