What He Heard

Chapter 25

            Willow stopped on the very edge grassy strip that lay beside the school’s parking lot and studied the “scene of the crime” as Rune called it. The red brick of the building  was darker in some patches, the water not yet completely dry from where the custodians had managed to scrub off the F. The remaining letters were two feet high and painted thickly on the wall with white spray paint. One of their custodians, Mr. Carver, was there, scrubbing at the U.

            Ahead of Willow was Rune. He paced back and forth, studying the letters. He paused and scribbled something down in his ever present notebook and then dug his camera out of the bag hanging from his wrist to snap a picture. He took several steps back, until he was level with Willow, well out of Mr. Carver’s earshot, and frowned, drumming his fingers against his arms. “What do you think?”

            She snorted. “Someone with too much time on their hands thinks they’re funny.”

            He shook his head. “No, look more closely. Look at each of the remaining letters.”

            Not sure why she was doing it, Willow studied the letters carefully. They were unevenly spaced, unevenly sized, and overall, just looked sloppy to her. “They could have done a better job,” she said. “It can’t be much harder to spray paint something evenly than it is to write it by hand.”

            Rune grinned at her. “Exactly! And if you notice, the U and K look similar while the C seems out of place. It’s by far the most legible of the three. I wish they hadn’t already gotten the F off. I’d have liked to compare that too. But, unless I’m completely crazy, and I well could be, we have not one culprit but two.”

            “That doesn’t really change much, does it?”

            “I want to know who it is. At least to satisfy my curiosity. You couldn’t sniff whoever it is out, could you?”

            Willow rolled her eyes. “No. Not like this. I’d have to change to even be able to get any kind of scent from someone or something they’ve touched. And even then, with the smells of the spray paint and cleaning chemicals, any slim chance I’d have had of picking up the culprits’ unique scent is gone. And I’m not really good at tracking down people that way. I’m not part dog.”

            He flashed her a smile. “Not with that attitude you’re not.”

            “One day your mouth is going to get you into trouble even I can’t get you out of.”

            “It already has. It’s how I got stuck with you for a friend.”

            “I’m going to remember that during our next lesson,” she replied, grinning savagely. “Did you want me to ask my cousins to see if they know who did it? I can’t imagine whoever it was hasn’t told someone.”

            “Yeah, that’d be great. I’m having the winds keep a lookout. I’d really like to know. Depending who it is, I probably won’t even turn them in. It is kind of funny. Though, with two of them, I’d have expected something more creative, so they points for that. Also minus points for lack of conformity of their letters and proper presentation. They must have been hurrying to get this done.”

            “It is more than a little public,” Willow said, nodding at the street clearly visible through the fence around the parking lot. Across from them was the tiny shopping centre, mostly filled with dentist and chiropractors’ clinics, with only a few scattered fast food places and the lone diner.

            “Hmmm,” Rune said, rubbing his chin. “That may be useful. If we find whoever it is today, they might still have bits of paint on them. I get the feeling that neither of our culprits are terribly familiar with spray paint.”

            “Which probably means it’s not the normal people who would do this,” she replied, chuckling. “Mr. Marsden’s never going to be able to find out who did it.”

            “I wonder if he doesn’t already know that,” Rune mused, leading the way back towards the school and their lunches. “He was pretty quick to call us in. Unless he’s been thinking of trying to make us into his snitches before now, which wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t think he really knows what to do with us.”

            “Yeah, we’re neither openly defiant nor enthusiastic about school, and I think those are the only two types of students he tends to come into contact with. Though you might fall into the former category.”

            Rune sniffed as he held the door open for her. “I’ll have you know that I’m merely a person confident in myself and my opinions who doesn’t buckle under pressure from authorities. I stand by my words and my beliefs. If that makes me defiant, then I welcome the title with open arms!”

            Willow shook her head but smiled at his wide armed stance. Her hand darted forward to jab one finger into his stomach, making him jerk and yelp. When he glared at her, she grinned. “You left yourself wide open for that one, o defiant one.”

            “Such mockery, such disdain!” Rune cried, the back of his hand pressed against his forehead. “Why, it makes me feel faint just to think about.”

            “C’mon Fleur,” Willow said, grabbing Rune’s arm and dragging him behind her. “I’m hungry, and the last thing you want to do is come between one of my family and food.”

            Laughing, he fell into step beside her as they headed for the cafeteria.