Mystery Loves Company

Chapter 14 - File #3.6: The Come and Go

Avery

The car smelled like a spoiled food. I scrolled down the window and gasped as if the air just got restocked.

"Hey, the AC's running!" He complained.

"Then turn it off," I hissed while waving my hand in front of me. The smell of vinegar from the plastic bag on my lap made it even worse. Mr. Connor allowed four of us to use anything from the science lab. I took any random materials that I spotted because I couldn't spend any more minute with them. Even after Mr. Connor gave us the easiest way out of this problem, they still didn't accept it. They felt like they had dedicated half of their lives for that first draft, so they thought it was unfair for them to do a new project just because one of us had messed up.

I didn't mess up, by the way. Someone was messing with me.

Of course, Mr. Connor had to bring this to Mrs. Dench. She didn't believe it as well, but as far as we all knew, the plagiarism detector program was never wrong. The school never tolerated any forms of cheating. That was why they were never afraid to kick students out because of plagiarism.

And that was also why I got a seemingly good deal: if I could prove that I didn't cheat, there would be no suspension, and we could all get our A back.

I looked at the plastic bag containing all the experiment materials. There was actually no point of me doing another experiment if I couldn't prove that someone was trying to get me kicked out.

Agitated, I tried to move the plastic bag to the backseat of the car. But then, I found the source of the really bad smell and called off my intention. "Eww, are you collecting garbage in here?"

"You'll be surprised," he said after turning off the AC and opened the window on his side.

I shuddered in disgust. Even the air from outside couldn't make the smell go away. I wouldn't be sticking my head out like a dog, so I just had to bear it. The music he put on didn't help to make me more comfortable. I prefered silence, but of course, getting in the same car with me again was awkward enough.

Seven billions people on Earth, and God chose Rhett Carver to be the person I had to meet again, as if being a candidate of a suspension wasn't bad enough.

When I asked him where we were going, he exclaimed, "The first place that most likely holds many clues—the crime scene!" He even took his hands off of the steering wheel and clapped. "Isn't this exciting?"

There it was again, the stupid grin. God, what am I getting myself into? I didn't know why my presence was so important to him if he needed me for his notebook. Then again, this was the best way to get my mind off the plagiarism accusation, and the only way to actually free myself from suspension... if he could help me.

I checked my phone. Mom notified me that she would be at Alex's school all day to help them prepare for the school's anniversary. Alex's class would be performing a play, which he cited as 'boring and dull'. At least, Mom wouldn't be looking for me while I was escaping to the other part of the town.

Minutes later, we finally arrived at the 'crime scene'. It wasn't much of a crime scene—no yellow line, no police, no bodies, just an ordinary street with people walking around. The shops were lining up on one side, and Bensworth University fence on the other. Even so, this area seemed out of reach, as only a few of the retail shops were opened today.

"What kind of a crime scene is this?" I commented, shivering and was relieved at the same time, somehow grateful that it didn't look like the one I had seen before.

"It happened two nights ago, what do you expect?" He responded, and then got out of the car. I followed. "I know that there are not many people pass through this street at night. A perfect place for hit-and-run."