The Green Girl and the Good Girl

The Case of Doctor Darel

Trigger warning. Surprisingly not bullying this tim. The warning is only for the first half or less.

Micaela POV
The next day, Alyssa and I walked to biology.
"Do you think it will awkward being in class with Doctor Darel?" Alyssa wondered. I knew she was referring to the fact that Doctor Darel had told us that we were actual characters in Wicked.
"I don't know. I don't want this to effect my schoolwork, though," I answered.
The two of us were, as always, the first to arrive. Doctor Darel has a storage closet in her room that is always closed, even if someone is in there. It could be bad if students go in.
Today, though, it was halfway open, and glass covered the floor next to it. It appeared to be a broken beaker.
"Do you think we should check to make sure everything is alright?" I whispered due to the eerily silence that filled the room.
"I don't know. We were specifically told we shouldn't, but what if something happened?" Alyssa responded just as quietly.
"Doctor Darel?" I called, taking a step closer. "Doctor Darel?" I reached the doorway.
When I looked in, I screamed.
Inside was Doctor Darel lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. Her eyes stared forward at nothing.
She was dead.
Alyssa came over and screamed, too. I quickly walked out of the room and to the phone on Doctor Darel's desk.
"Hello 911. I am a student at Zhis University. I showed up for class and my teacher...she has been murdered," I was crying as I spoke.
"Calm down, Miss. What building are you in?"
"The science building. It is Doctor Darel's biology room. Please come quickly."
I put the phone down after giving more directions.
"Micaela?" Alyssa called, walking out of the room. In her hand she held a folded piece of paper with my name on it.
I opened it. Inside was a short note from Doctor Darel herself.
Dear Micaela,
Just because something from the book happens, doesn't mean it can't end like the musical.
I knew what it meant.
You see, in the book Wicked, both Doctor Dillamond and Elphaba end up dying, but in the musical, Doctor Dillamond is turned from a talking, human-like Goat to a regular goat, and Elphaba fakes her death.
Doctor Darel, my Doctor Dillamond was telling me that just because she died, doesn't mean I will.
I started crying. Doctor Dillamond was dead. My favorite teacher had been murdered in her own classroom, and she knew what was going to happen. How else would she have had time to write me the note?
The principal rushed to the classroom followed by Madame Mawful. I shoved the note into my pocket.
"Girls, are you okay?" The principal asked in a concerned voice.
I nodded, tears running down my cheeks. Alyssa didn't seem in much better shape.
"You should go to the nurse. You are probably experiencing shock. The police may have to question you, but for now, put Doctor Darel out of your mind," The principal advised.
Put her out of my mind? How in the world could I put my favorite teacher who I found murdered out of my mind?
"Thank you, sir," I whispered and rushed out of the room.
Alyssa and I didn't say anything on the way to the nurse's room. I don't think we needed to. We were checked out, and when the nurse deemed us "mentally stable" or whatever, we were allowed to leave.
We arrived at our dorm room and sat down on the couch. All we had to do was look at one another before we started crying and hugging each other.
We stayed like that for twenty minutes until we heard voices in the hallway.
"Did you hear? Classes are canceled for the rest of the week!" A voice announced.
"Why?" Another voice asked.
"I don't know, but the police were down by the science building. Maybe there was an explosion." The first voice suggested.
"I heard that one of the teachers committed suicide." A third voice whispered.
I clenched my fist and rose to stand. Alyssa gently put her hand on my arm to stop me.
"You'll only make things worse," She whispered.
I looked at her, letting my last tear roll down my cheek. Soon, the voices died down. I stood up and headed for the door.
"Micaela, where are you going? You aren't going to do something stupid, are you?" Alyssa questioned.
I glanced at her before pulling the door open and leaving the room.
When I was walking down the path outside, I heard Alyssa calling after me.
"Micaela? Micaela, what are you doing?"
"I'm going for a walk!" I yelled.
Alyssa caught up to me and grabbed my arm, turning me around.
"A walk in the direction of the science building? Please tell me you aren't going to try and catch the killer," Alyssa pleaded.
I stared at her in the eyes.
"Micaela Pine, do NOT go after them. They are obviously dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt," Alyssa begged.
"I am going, and you won't change my mind," I huffed. I started walking again.
"Then let me come with you."
"No, I don't want you getting hurt," I murmured.
"That is exactly what I said to you. If you want to be stubborn, I'll be stubborn to. I am going, and you won't change my mind."
Then, Alyssa gave me the look. The look that I had just given her. It was the look of stubbornness.
"Come on then. We don't have all day," I said.
We arrived at the crime scene and sneaked into the building. We were at the doorway when Madame Mawful came over.
"Girls, what are you doing here? This area is strictly off limits," Madame Mawful chastised.
"We just thought that the police may want our story. After all, we were the ones who found Doctor Darel," I told. It was only half true.
A man came over. "You are the girls that found Miss Darel?"
"Yes sir, we found Doctor Darel this morning," I answered.
"I am the detective on this case. Would you mind if I took you back separately to tell me what happened?" The man wondered.
"We would rather be together..." Alyssa began.
"Don't worry, Alyssa. It's fine if we are separate, detective. Alyssa, you go first. I'll wait here," I said.
Alyssa looked at me curiously before following the man into a different classroom. Madame Mawful left me on my own.
When no one was looking, I glanced around the outside of the classroom.
The door handle had been cleaned recently, probably the previous night, and I already saw someone fingerprinting it. If the only finger prints they got were Doctor Darel's that means the murder wore gloves. He or she would have had to have been quick about it, so they most likely knew where she was. The only sign of struggle was when they reached the closet doorway, so Doctor Darel probably knew her murderer. Maybe she knew was about to be murdered, but not by whom. It could have been a staff member, or even a student.
Too soon, Alyssa came back, so I went with the detective.
"What is your name?"
"Micaela Pine. M-I-C-A-E-L-A."
"I know this is hard for you, but can you please tell me exactly what you saw when you got here? Anything can be helpful."
"Well, we were just coming to another school day. We are always the first ones there. Doctor Darel, she never leaves that door open, so it was strange that it was open. I hesitated before going over and looking in. We really aren't supposed to be in the room. Classroom rules. Anyway, I screamed, and Alyssa came over and screamed, too. It was so scary, seeing her like that. I ran over and called the police. I'm not exactly sure what happened next. It could have been anywhere from five seconds to five minutes. My mind was too focused on what had happened. The principal and Madame Mawful rushed in and told us to leave. You know, go to the nurse and make sure we were okay. It was all so scary," I explained, trying to be as dramatic as possible.
"Thank you, Micaela."
"Please, sir, how did she die?" I asked, starting to cry.
"Now, I can't give you that information.."
"Please, sir, it will put me at peace," I begged, tears flooding my eyes. Little did he know those were fake tears.
"Alright. The murderer-he hit her over the head with the beaker with enough force to kill her. You should get back to your dorm. It isn't safe here."
I nodded and left. On my way out, I noticed a peculiar thing. The door handle was not cleaned. In fact, the only handle that had been cleaned was Doctor Darel's. Surely a janitor wouldn't just do one. Unless...the killer did it.
I ran out, grabbed Alyssa's arm, and pulled her outside. I didn't say anything until we were in an empty part of the park.
"The killer was a male. When the detective was talking about the murderer, he said he. Plus, it seems like you have to be pretty strong to kill someone by hitting them with a beaker. A man could do that easier. Doctor Darel most likely knew the killer because the struggle wasn't until the closet doorway. Doctor Darel's door handle was the only one that was cleaned. I was originally thinking that the murder wore gloves, but since hers was the only one that was cleaned, I doubt that," I explained quietly.
"You got all that from the few minutes we were there?" Alyssa asked, amazed.
"Hey, I'm very observant," I shrugged.
"Geez. This is so creepy," Alyssa whispered, shivering and looking around the park. "Let's go back to our dorm."
"You go ahead. I'm going to walk around and clear my head," I told.
"Micaela, please don't try to do anything stupid," Alyssa murmured, then quickly walked towards our dorm room.
I sighed and looked around. It was so quiet it didn't seem right. I wonder if anyone knew why. Those girls in Carter Hall thought a teacher committed suicide, and I couldn't imagine what other rumors were going around.
I thought more students were whispering about psychopathic teachers and no classes when I turned a corner, but instead I saw Madame Mawful talking to a man. The man, who was slightly smaller than the performing arts teacher, looked a little bit intimidated. I couldn't hear what the two of them were saying, and moving closer only caused them to spot me.
"Oh, Miss Pine. What are you doing?" Madame Mawful asked.
"I was just taking a walk to clear my head," I blurted, wanting to turn around and walk away.
"You should not be out here. There is a dangerous man on the loose," Madame Mawful told. Ah, so it is a man.
"There are tons of kids outside. Why can't I be?" I challenged.
Madame Mawful looked taken aback at someone challenging her. No students ever stood up to Madame Mawful. Ever. Madame Mawful opened her mouth, but the man stepped in.
"Hello, Miss Pine, I am a policeman. I will be watching over the school until we catch the murder," The man informed me. He sure didn't seem like a policeman. He wasn't even in uniform.
"What is your name?" I wondered.
"My name? M-Marcus...Crumly," He stumbled. It sounded like he was making it up.
"Nice to meet you, Officer Crumly," I greeted, putting out my hand for him to shake. After her did, I turned back to Madame Mawful.
"I really should get going, though. Today has worn me out," I sighed.
Before I even heard a goodbye, I turned around and walked away. When I was hidden by trees, I smelled the hand that this "Officer Crumly" had shaken.
It smelled like cleaning products. The cleaning products one might use on a door handle to get rid of fingerprints.