Erudition of Doyle: Volume One

CHAPTER 29: CASE VI - THE HORRIFYING ADMIRERS

Case 6: The Horrifying
Admirers (The Continuation
of Investigation With Who?
Chapter, Part Four)

ROSALINDA

I glance at the cards stuck to the wall. They’re all the same. Each shows a sleeping boy smiling softly, with "sweet dreams" written beneath. The dreamy, pastel background feels like space, mostly blue and lilac. The cards look like tarot cards.

I glanced back at Ajax, now gripping one card tightly. His gaze is sharp and serious. Suddenly, he crumples the card and tosses it to the floor. His teeth gritting as he storms toward the table, slamming his clenched hands down. His mouth flickers with a fiery edge. This is the second time I’ve seen him like this, so furious.

I wonder why.

“What’s wrong?” I break the silence.

He said nothing, staring into emptiness as if his thoughts were swallowing him whole, his anger blazing beneath the surface. I didn’t push him to answer and left the room. I hurried down the silent corridor, grabbing my phone.

I called Clark, and he finally picked it up. “Hm, Rosalinda. Is something wrong? Did they call you?” he asked.

“About the letter, you said you found it on the table, right?” I kept my voice steady but low.

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.

“I heard from Mr. Ivaldez that you’re the one in charge of opening and closing the clubroom, so the key’s with you,” I said. “You just saw the letter this morning, right?”

“Yeah, just this morning. I was surprised. How did the letter get on the table? I locked the door when I left yesterday; I’m sure of it. There’s no way she got in. The letter wasn’t there before; I checked everything carefully. Nothing’s been moved or missing these past weeks, except for that letter,” he explained at length. Voices speaking authoritatively came from the background.

“Is this the first time it happened?”

“No, it’s happened at least four times. I still can’t figure out how she got in just to leave the letters,” he said. “It’s unlikely she picked the lock. There’d be scratches or marks on the doorknob or keyhole. The knob is tough, hard to turn even with the right key. Pins won’t work. A duplicate key? No chance; the lock has extra security to stop that. Kicking the door isn’t possible either. The door’s thick, heavy, with a metal doorjamb, not wood.”

“What if...” I paused. “The person is already inside? Did you check all the rooms where the suspect could be hiding?”

“No,” he said. “But I checked the places where no one could really hide.”

“But, what if...” I hesitated. “One of us.” I laughed at the thought. “Never mind, that’s impossible. I don’t think anyone in our club could do that.”

He stayed silent.

“You said the door has security features. What are they?” I asked. He listed them one by one, and I held my thoughts for now. I need to research more before drawing conclusions. “Maybe the person’s already inside, waiting for you to close the door before leaving the letter."

I couldn’t hold back and shared my suspicion. I didn’t want to believe any club member could do this, but if we never talked about it, we will never know.