The Cookienapper

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Cloud slammed his armchair in distaste.
"What the hell are you saying?! I'm the one who's helping you solve this case!" he blurted out.
Hans stood by his assertion despite Cloud's argument.
"First, you said that the cookie had the same texture. It was found in the trash can. Which means that one of our classmates hadn't eaten a cookie yet! That classmate must've known that the cookies were rotten and ate this supposedly 'rotten' cookie. And to further my assertion, everyone has either gotten diarrhea or vomited except you!"
Cloud didn't know what to say so he attempted to divert the attention to someone else.
"How about Czarino?!" Cloud blurted, hoping to lose the heat.
However, Hans was smart enough to see through this spineless attempt.
"But we used milk as an ingredient and we all know Czarino's allergic to milk! The poor guy couldn't possibly have eaten a cookie at all!"
Defeat was obviously upon Cloud, but he was stubborn enough to continue on with this pointless debate for his innocence.
"So how can you be sure that cookie was mine?" He thought he still had time to dodge the bullet.
"So we've cleared out the fact that Czarino is allergic to milk, and that should have left you as the culprit, yet you still try to hold up your innocence. However, I still have something to point out."
"Yeah? What could that be?" Cloud challenged.
"You haven't had any abnormal reactions up 'till now! And..."
Hans took a look at a clock on the wall.
"Oh! Would you look at that! It's pretty convenient that it's 4:45 right now."
"So what if it's 4:45?"
"Remember that assignment Mr. Gamoro gave us? It asked us how long it would take to get sick from food poisoning."
"How does this relate to the problem at hand?"
Hans laughed.
"More than you think."
Hans continued, "Anyways, Sir didn't get to check any of our assignments because we thought that it was impossible to answer. Luckily, I've been doing research of my own."
"I still don't get your drift."
"According to reliable sources from the net, I learned that food poisoning from bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, can occur when you eat food that's been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours. This applies to the cookie which you said was misplaced by the person assigned to make the cookie go bad. Since the cookies that were supposed to be good were interchanged with the single one that was supposed to go stale, bacteria grew on the cookies left on the plate but didn't grow on the one in the jar. Food poisoning is usually caused by foods that require considerable handling during preparation. Cookies are no exception to this. Cookies are bakery products and we all know that these require such handling."
Cloud noticed, "But we reheated them! The bacteria would have died!"
Hans quickly responded, "Correct. If you reheat the food, the bacteria will die but the toxins will still be there and they will still make you sick. With this type of food poisoning, you usually vomit anytime within seven hours immediately after eating. Some people also get diarrhea." Hans said as he pointed at Cloud. "Our class ate the cookies at 7:45 am, as I observed. And somehow, all of our classmates have met these conditions within seven hours except YOU."
Cloud glared at Hans' finger. He had the urge to snap it off. If he didn't shut up, Cloud felt like he would have to smash something to prevent himself from smashing Hans' face. But Hans continued.
"Also, since you have a past with the canteen staff, they must've been familiar with you. That is why before I caught with you when you ran out of the canteen, I asked them if you bought milk between the hours of the brownout! Of course they said yes! You just had to reserve a box for yourself and take it during the brownout! The CCTV didn't catch you because there was no electricity!"
Czarino jumped up and down, creating little thudding noises. "Yes, you're right! It's him!" he pointed a skinny finger at Cloud.
Cloud just simply laughed at Czarino.
"What?!" Czarino shrieked.
"Czarino, my friend, don't you think it's time to reveal your secret? Cloud smirked at Czarino.
"What secret?" Czarino clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. If Cloud said one word that involved Czarino, he was prepared to attack.
Cloud turned to Hans. "Czarino, before I start let me tell you that fighting is futile. I have been learning self-defense for eight years and you wouldn't want to mess with me." Czarino was shocked about how Cloud could read his thoughts so well. He had no choice but to sit his anger out and wait for the best time to attack.
"Lima, you never uncovered if the cookie was eaten or not. Let me tell you now, it was eaten. And Czarino also ate a part of it."
Hans' eyes widened, but nonetheless, he let Cloud continue.
"I'm going to give you my share of evidence about why Czarino was part of the mystery." Cloud held out three fingers. "And I have three."
"One, Czarino is suicidal and wants his parents to notice him so he ate the cookie which had milk inside which would cause him, a lactose intolerant person, to have either nausea, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea usually 30 minutes to two hours after eating. He went home fifteen minutes right after eating the cookie and didn't seem to have any of the said reactions yet. This probably disappointed Czarino. Luckily for him, the symptoms showed when he was with his parents. Which of course, made them concerned. " Czarino slammed his armchair, "That is not true! You don't have evidence!"
"Shut up, or I'll tape your mouth." Hans said. Cloud glared at Czarino, who looked away. The intensity in Cloud's eyes and Hans' tone was just too much. Czarino had no choice but to keep quiet.
"Two, Czarino lock-picked Davidia's locker by using the technique Elijah had demonstrated when they were in the lab in groups. Czarino used it to pick Davidia's locker to run back to Manang Prixy to get permission to get something really personal and really important. Since Czarino has a high-pitched voice, ManangPrixy thought Czarino was a girl. When Czarino came back, he decided to muddy the shoes even more so that it would leave a track, making it seem like Davidia committed the crime. A red herring was then created."

Hans looked back at Czarino, making sure he wouldn't do anything rash.
"And three-"
"Shut up!" Czarino lunged at Hans. "Don't listen to him! He doesn't even have proof if it's true."
Hans quickly grabbed Czarino's arms and wrapped it with tape he was secretly holding behind him.

"Oh, the third reason answers why I know." Cloud giggled. "Third, I'm the one who instructed him to do so. He teamed up with me because he thought I wanted my parents to care about me when I get kicked out of school for causing trouble when I'm caught eating the cookie."
Cloud laughed."Stupid isn't he?!"
"You may call me that but I'm strong!" Czarino ripped the tape by putting pressure on it.
Hans got up to report to the principal of what he had learned but was stopped by Czarino.
"I'm not letting you pass nor am I letting you do anything to taint Cloud's name!" Czarino pushed Hans back inside.
"Why?! He revealed your secret!" Hans said.
"Because if something bad is done to Cloud, who else is smart enough to make an alibi for me?! And it wasn't like you weren't going to report the bad I've done." Czarino glared at Hans.
"No-"Hans vomits on Czarino.
"I NEED TO SPIT!!!!" Czarino shrieked.
Hans knelt on the floor, wiping his mouth and clenching his stomach. As he coughed, Cloud laughed at his pitiable state.
"You've finally uncovered it, huh?" Cloud claps as he approaches the vomiting boy." Congratulations."
"Now then, I shall now uncover the one responsible for misplacing the cookies and making our classmates suffer." Cloud smirks as he walked around Hans, who was still on the floor. "And my dear friend, I blame YOU."