Walking down the hallway, lockers on both sides, late February in New York. Students everywhere, got my eye out for trouble. In Polk’s Middle School, trouble is right around the corner. That’s where I come in. My name is James Adams. I’m 14, with brown medium cut, messy hair, blue eyes and in my school uniform. My school uniform is a light blue shirt covered by a black blazer with navy blue pants for boys and skirts for girls. I am the school’s detective.
My assistant, Simon Nelson Cook, in short Cookie, and I, have always had a thing for solving crime. We have been friends since Grade 2 and still are very close. Cookie is Dark, while I’m fair, he is much of a computer geek he wears glasses and is extremely smart.
In our school, crime can be anything between misplaced items, bullying or even plagiarism. But today I was about to face my toughest case yet, vandalism.
Over the past couple of days; there have been many complaints made by teachers due to vandalism of school property. Our teachers couldn’t solve the crime, and therefore, the case was handed over to me.
Over the past few days, someone has been breaking school property. There have been three cases yet. First, the TV, then the projector and most recent being, the Gym Basketballs.
The principal of the school, Mr. David Impey, wants a stop to this behavior and wants me to solve the crime as soon as possible. Mr. David Impey has to pay for the damaged materials and does not want to waste schools fund. Time to get in action.
First I investigate the crime scene. I go to the basketballs in the Gym. The basketballs are totally flat and are cut in half. This could have been done using really sharp scissors, something like a vegetable knife. I check the Basketballs for finger prints, it's a long process and then BANG! I find a print. I immediately call my assistance, Cookie, and tell him to get the camera, a blue light, powder and a brush.
He comes in no time. I first go through the damaged ball with the blue light, searching for finger prints. I find tons of them! I get excited; I then cover the ball with powder and brush the extra powder away. That left the fingerprints clearly. I then took pictures with the camera. Cookie had his laptop, so he uploaded the pictures.
We then went to Mr. Impey to inform him about what we found. But when we got there, we saw Billy Lumor, the schools bully, being dragged into Mr. Impey’s office. Lumor was shouting, “I didn't do it!! I swear on GOD!!"
I instantly knew this was about my case. I think Mr. Impey is accusing Lumor of vandalizing school property because Lumor has a bad image for bullying and so on.
Cookie and I, enter Mr. Impey’s office after Lumor. As I enter, I see Mr. Impey shouting at Lumor, accusing him of vandalism while Lumor is trying to defend himself.
“Lumor I know you have done this!” said Mr. Impey
“I swear to GOD sir I did not do it!” replied Lumor
“Tell me one good reason for me to believe you!"
That’s where I said “Sir, I have found fingerprints on the scene of crime, all we have to do now is match the finger prints and we will know who did the crime."
“Very well James, let us start with Billy Lumor." Mr. Impey said.
Cookie had already uploaded the picture and had enlarged it on the laptop. As I was approaching Lumor, I remembered that I forgot the finger print stamp and had to ask Mr. Impey for one. Mr. Impey gave me one from his desk and he also gave me an empty sheet of paper.
I took a hold of Lumor’s index finger and pressed it firmly in the black inked stamp. I then pressed Lumor’s finger on the blank sheet of paper. That was that, and now it was the moment of truth.
