The Unsolved Mystery

Chapter 2

        Julia walked down the lowly lit hallway alone and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the dark environment around her. Candles were stuck to walls in an unusual way. On the candles were strange phrases from the past. The past. The past. The past. She wished that her past were like any other teenagers, but it wasn't and she had to deal with that. Coping with a past like hers isn't easy, but if she survived with it for so long, why can't she go on surviving? 

         She felt like she has walked for a few hours, and had a feeling that told her she might go on forever, however she was soon proved wrong -- coming to a dead end. Well, not really a dead end, as there was a giant door in front of her. The handles of the door were coated in scintillating gold and it was very smooth. She knocked on the door softly, not wanting to startle Professor. 

        "Julia? Is that you? Come in!" Professor shouted from inside, not bothering to open the door himself. 

          Julia grinned before walking in briskly. Professor always knew when she was here. She found it rather mysterious and fascinating, but she had no time to investigate things like these, as she has much more important cases to investigate. 

           "Let me guess. You don't think I lost the file with my new invention. You think that someone somehow got hold of it, well, stole it, and you are here for investigation." Professor grinned to himself and shook his head. This girl was very determined and stubborn. There's nothing that she can't do. 

           "Of course, Professor. Why else would I be here?"

           "Come in now and make yourself comfortable. I see that you have a lot to tell me."

           "You're quite wrong, sir, I don't have much to say, but I would like to spend a while here to have a look around, in case the thief left any clues."

            "Please know that you're welcome here anytime, Julia," Professor said warmly,"But how are you so sure someone stole my work?"

             "Oh! What a funny question. I know you haven't lost it. That is for sure. You're a man with good memories. You won't lose something as important as this. Why, you won't even lose a small sheet of paper with a meaningless letter on it, so why on earth would you lose something like this? It's a new invention, for goodness sake." Julia replied, incredulously. 

            "You're a smart one, young lady. Anyway, I have to go out to the pharmacy to buy a chemical that I would like to try use in one of my experiments. I won't be back for a while, so don't wait for me. Do whatever you like, and make yourself at home."

             "Alright, I'll do that. Now you go and do your things."

             Once Professor left, Julia darted into action. There was no time to waste. She rolled down the blinds to make sure no one outside could see what was happening, and bolted the door tightly. She swept across the floor to the cupboard next to an antique wooden desk and took out some special colored paint. A paint brush was then fished out and Julia used it to gently paint the cupboard from one corner to another. Waiting for it to dry, she took out a bigger brush and swiped it across the paint that was almost dry. Tick, tock, tick, tock. It should be alright now. Holding a magnifying glass in a hand, she looked through it carefully. Slowly, Julia could see clear fingerprints forming. She checked every single one of them, hoping to find the fingerprint of the thief, but to her disappointment, none of them were from the thief. They were all Professor's ones. For a split second, Julia wondered if someone actually stole Professor's documents. Perhaps, Professor wasn't careful enough with it. Perhaps, the files disappeared by itself.