Vol 5 Chapter 5 (1/2)
Chapter 5: Wristwatches
After school
The clouds gave way to rain U doors, and students in athletic clubs looked up resentfully at the sky
Jenny entered the newspaper club office Seron and Larry were already inside They were engaged in serious discussion, without even drinking tea
“What’s going on?” Jenny asked Seron responded
“Stella’s grandfather called Larry last night”
“What?” Jenny gasped, “to ask you to take good care of his granddaughter, Larry?”
“Yeah”
Jenny frowned Seron gave her a quick summary of what Larry had told him earlier
“Oh, I forgot to add so to that,” Larry said, “I didn’t tell Stella about the phone call today It was kinda aard to bring up, and I couldn’t just ask her why she told her folks about us”
Jenny, who had been listening to the end, spoke
“She’s beating her family to the punch”
“What do you mean?”
“I’randfather are so people in the world They probably keep tabs on everything their precious little princess does”
“So the opposite of your folks, Jenny?” Larry joked
“I guess,” Jenny adot the juuy she’s dating is the son of a prestigious family”
“But her grandfather said he was happy to let her date whoever”
“That’s what he says, but you can never know for sure with adults HeStella see whoever she wants, but it ht not be true froht have said, ‘stay away froh, so he probably approves You better be grateful to your ancestors”
“Er…you ht Thank you, ancestors…”
“Suppose it was ,” Seron speculated, “the son of a nouveau riche single mother from the countryside, heir to a foodstuffs company Mr Whitfield probably wouldn’t have approved”
“Don’t put yourself down like that, Seron! Your mother’s an incredible person!”
“One ,” Jenny said, “I looked into why those ru so fast”
“Hm?” “Yeah?”
“It’s because Stella said so herself during an afternoon class It wasn’t just a bunch of gossiping girls blowing things out of proportion”
Seron fell into thought
“Why would she do that? I never said anything re idea?” Larry wondered He did not sound happy at all, but so seemed to have occurred to him
“Maybe Maybe Stella didn’t want people to think it wasn’t a wholesome relationshi+p The fastest way to find out would be to ask her in person”
“I’ll do that,” Larry said with a nod, “and we also have to solve the mystery of her wristwatch”
“So she’s flaunting her relationshi+p and wearing a wristwatch she shouldn’t actually have, huh,” Jennyout her notepad, “Linus Francis, 18 years old A sixth-year at our school,” she continued without warning
Seron and Larry listened intently, nota word
“His parents own the Capital Departh-end department stores next to all three of the Capital District train stations SC Linus’s grandfather founded the business, and the couy He has an older sister, but I don’t have details on her His grades are average-to-below, and the only thing notable about him is his build He’s shy and doesn’t have a lot of friends, and he’s turned down all the sports club offers he got and goes hoht after class And you wouldn’t know it froood with his hands Last year he apparently pulled off a really intricate ornamented sculpture on his own for the school festival Also, he’s alearing a wristwatch That’s all I’ve got”
“Thanks,” Larry replied
“And about those rumors about Stella from yesterday…”
“Yeah?”
“It’s pretty likely that the rumors are true The eyewitness accounts add up, unless all the second-year girls are collectively conspiring against us”
“So she’s spreading false rumors on purpose,” Seron muttered
“The witness I spoke to today said she spotted Stella and SC Linus by the library last ter”
Larry lowered his gaze He was silent
“You’re still looking into SC Linus, right?” Asked Seron
“Oh? Why do you think I am?”
“Just a hunch”
“Too lazy to answerinto him”
“How?” Asked Larry
“When I heard that he leaves straight after class, I called up Mr Kurtz and had hi Stella off-campus,” Jenny replied nonchalantly
“You’re really so on you”
“Mr Kurtz’ll call the office if he sees anything noteworthy We’ll wait here until sundown, but don’t expect anything Investigations aren’t as easy as they ht look,” Jenny warned sternly At that
“Oh” “Whoa”
Seron and Larry gasped
“Ugh” Jenny cringed and picked up the receiver “It’s ht I’ll have Litner pick me up Yeah Thanks See you soon”
Jenny hung up Seron and Larry waited
“We’ve tracked down Linus Francis Litner’s going to coet me by car You in?”
“Obviously” “Yeah”
“All right I’ll brief you on the details on the way”
After leaving the office, Jenny, Seron, and Larry went to the gates with their u
The after-school rush was over, leaving the intersection clear The club members entered a suard Litner was a black-haired woman in her late twenties who had escorted the club on their summer camp, so Seron and Larry were already acquainted with her
Seron sat in the front next to Litner, and Larry and Jenny in the back Soon they were off
“Your things are in the back, Miss Jenny”
“Thanks”
Jenny turned and took out a long bag froe single-lens reflex cah to use as a club
“Wow…” Larry breathed, his eyes wide
“It looks expensive”
“It is”
The rain had let up sohfare
“So, where are we headed?” Asked Larry
“Balfour Technical School Have you heard of it?”
“Yeah What about you, Seron?”
“No Could you tell me more?”
“It’s a school for continuing education It’s actually an offshoot of Balfour Vocational School, and the classes start after the vocational school students go home for the day The Technical School students can use the Vocational School’s equipht orking to building car engines It’s et technical education for a different career path Tuition is on the expensive end”
“Thanks, Larry,” said Seron
“I’m impressed Even I didn’t know all that,” Jenny added She and Seron quickly realized why
“Aha I get it now”
“Did you read , Jenny?” Larry asked defensively
“You weren’t sure if you could get into our school with your grades, right? So you were thinking about vocational school too, just in case And you decided on Balfour Vocational School because it’s the ineers in the Capital District A?”
“…You’re too sone to Balfour?”
“Waltzed right in, according to Kurtz But—”
“But?” “But?”
“He changed out of his uniform at the department store bathroom on the way”
“Hm” “I see”
“Balfour Technical School’s for working people, but there’s no age lier can attend But—”
“Larry continued where Jenny left off
“He’ll stick out like a sore thu a secondary school unifore out of it And it makes sense he’d hide it from his classmates, too”
“I’ to cover this story since it’s real”
“What’s the point of publishi+ng a newspaper, then? Anyhy is SC Linus going to this school? Is he actually taking classes there?”
“Probably, unless he’s going to hang out with a friend who studies there”
“But that doesn’t add up He goes to secondary school and technical school every day?” Larry furrowed his brow Seron agreed
“It’s hard to i both at once It would have been a lot easier for SC Linus if he’d just gone to vocational school instead of secondary school to begin with Maybe he’s planning to go to university and learning so at Balfour as a hobby?”
“Or rades slipped so much he decided to try Balfour instead But in that case, it would have been easier to drop out of secondary school I don’t get it,” Jenny said
By then, they were in front of Balfour Vocational School It looked like a factory, with loalls around the cas with few floors
Jenny instructed Litner to pass the school slowly As they passed the gate, Jenny peered into the school and snapped photographs with her rangefinder
“What’re we gonna do? I’et a tour of the place, but we’ll stand out in our uniforms,” Larry said
“I’ in there, actually Litner, take us to Kurtz,” Jenny ordered The car ca in the block next to the school
The rain had almost completely let up
“Hold this, Larry,” Jenny said as she handed over her long bag and stepped out of the car At the sa in his usual black suit
“Good afternoon, Miss Jenny And it’s good to see you again, Mr Maxwell Mr Hepburn”
Kurtz led the group into the apart over his shoulder and asked, “are we allowed to go inside?”
“Yes This apartment has units for rent Put on your best confident s”
They took the elevator up to the fifth floor and ran into aShe see resident
“Hi! We’re here to look at so’s very nice, isn’t it?” Jenny said with a smile The woman smiled back
“It certainly is Take your ti around!”
“Are you going shopping nearby now that the rain’s stopped?”
“That’s right There’s a shopping district just two blocks away”
“That sounds very convenient”