Sophia Brandt and the Brooch of Isolt Sayre

Detectives Brandt and Black

This week I have a special thank you for @DrSchnaz, who has been an absolutely amazing and supportive follower. Thank you for all of your encouraging comments--you inspire me to keep writing!

Callum Black was the best partner-in-crime that Sophia could have asked for. 

He'd already agreed to investigate the missing brooch with her that morning at breakfast, and had then proposed they meet in the afternoon to come up with a plan. Although Noah and Rosie weren't as on board with their sleuthing, they'd agreed to help Callum and Sophia with anything they needed. 

Callum was waiting for Sophia in the Wampus common room early at a table. He had a piece of paper and pen in front of him, which was highly unusual. 

"Hey," Sophia said, sitting down across from him. The Wampus common room, unlike the others, was open on one side to a large grassy courtyard. She and Callum sat at a table looking out onto the grass where a group of students were passing around a ball.

"Did you finish your essay?" Callum asked. 

"Mmhhmm," Sophia said, a small grin on her face. She'd been happy with how her essay had eventually turned out. "So what should we do first?" 

"First of all, we need to figure out who knows anything about the brooch. Rosie's mom was trying to keep this a secret, but students are already starting to figure it out." 

Sophia's eyes widened. "Really? Like who?" 

"The upperclassmen, for now. My brother asked me about it, since he knows Rosie and I are friends, but I said I didn't know anything." 

Callum, instead of looking guilty, seemed quite proud of himself. Sophia was equally as impressed. 

"Okay, so people know. And you think there's a chance someone knows even more than we do at this point." Sophia looked at Callum, who nodded. "Alright then. That'll be our first step." 

A group of students walked by their table, chatting loudly about the events of the ball. Sophia and Callum immediately quieted, still scared that they might be caught talking about the brooch by someone. 

"This is good news," Sophia told Callum. 

"How?"

"Rosie was so worried her mom would be mad at her for telling us about this, but everyone's probably going to know about it by Monday. I wonder how they found out in the first place, though," Sophia mused to herself. 

Callum, meanwhile, scrabbled down "See who knows anything" on his piece of paper with a number 1 before it. 

"That's right," he agreed. 

"I think my second step would be asking her what she knows about the brooch," Sophia said. "She probably knows a lot about it." 

He nodded, and wrote it down underneath the first. 

"That seems like a good list for now," Sophia concluded. 

"Agreed." Callum crumpled up the list and put it into his pocket. "With any luck, the two of us can figure out who took the brooch by the end of the week."

Sophia and Callum sat down in unison at the dinner table. 

Rosie paused, a quizzical look on her face. "What was that all about?" 

Beside her, Callum had already begun to scoop food onto his plate. Sophia was a little more focused on the task ahead. She smiled at Rosie.