Welcome to the Academy

III

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Blackened Papers

*****

Detective Bell looks through the bagged up papers the arson investigation crew dug up in the ashes and rubble of the fire and squints down at them. The papers were taken to the lab to be examined in hopes of slight salvaging-they were what started the fire after all-and later came back to the leading detective of the Thrive Academy library case. "Hm." She grunts, placing the papers on her desk before taking a seat in front of her computer, pulling the keyboard in front of her, and looking up the lab results.

The detective grabs her eye glasses and slips them on over her eyes as she looks at the scanned and hourglassed versions of the paper, slowly being able to make out words from the less burnt parts, the parts of which were protected by other pieces of paper, or in this case, garbage, since someone threw a lighter into the rubbish bin.

"You find something Bell?" Her partner Rickson asks, coming to look over her shoulder.

"There's faint writing on here. Help me see if I can write it down." Bell tells her partner and he rolls his chair over to her desk to sit next him.

The two detectives spend hours, trying to crack what the writing on the papers reads.

All the papers have gone through full examination already, so the two detectives peal and brush away some pieces, having permission from their superior to break down the sheets. Using miniature tweezers and big fluffy brushes, they unravel all of the bold names on almost thirty sheets of papers, before eventually calling it quits and looking over to what they've gathered.

"It's names." Rickson tells Bell and she nods, taking a close look at the names they've recovered from the stack of burnt papers.

"Look, these names appear on all of these papers...the question is; what are they?" The female detective asks her partner and they sit in silence while pondering those thoughts.

"Could they be our first suspects?" Rickson finally asks and Bell nods, chewing on the pad of her thumb while staring at the list of names.

"We'll have to go back to the Academy tomorrow and find out if these names mean anything there." Bell says, setting the papers aside while writing down a reminder on a stickey note page. "We leave first thing in the morning. We don't know how long we'll be there. The day could possibly be spent under interrogation so let's make it safe and be early."

"Alright, you heading home?" Rickson asks Bell and she nods. He waits for her as she takes out her phone and snaps pictures of what they've recovered. They walk outside together, and then split up to their seperate car. Bell walks to her car at the late hour of nigh, the small heels of her boots clicking against the graveled road of the parking lot. She stuffs her hand in her pocket, ignoring the receipts and useless papers and pulls out her favourite box of cigarettes.

She brings one to her lips, and holds it there while digging around the pocket of her smart trousers for her lighter. When she heard there'd be an investigation at the school of Thrive, she knew she'd be perfect, because she wouldn't let herself get manipulated by all the gold and jewels.

When dealing with cases associated with people of wealth, the best people to hire are probably the hardheaded, ungreedy ones, the people who won't close the whole thing down at the drop of a bill.

Bell climbs into her car, opening the window a crack as she taps the build off the back of her cigarette before placing it back in her mouth.

Athena Bell pulls her seatbelt on and starts her car, backing out of the parking space and driving home, to her decently sized apartment. The breeze of the night fills her vehicle as she enjoys her smoke, driving abiding the speed limit which, when being honest, not a lot of law enforcement will stick to.