Chapter 7 (2/2)

Seron shook as he reached for his teacup

Jenny was still sitting in a precarious position “Anyway,” she said with a bite out of her cookie, “what gets uess that doesn’t have anything to do with our case”

“You’re sounding more uninterested than usual,” Larry said “Maybe we shouldwith the temp lockers after all We’ll write an article about it, like there’s so mystery there We could say there’s aserious stuff so far, so o back to its roots this time”

Jenny, who had once approved of any article with a title that ended in a question mark—

“No”

—Rejected Larry’s suggestion

“Why not?”

“Because…”

Everyone but Nick—who already knew the answer—turned to Jenny

“Because I wrote that one early last year ‘Two-headed talking snake spotted on campus?’”

Yet again thebut teacups and cookie crumbs to show for it

After everyone’s enthused or incredulous reactions to Jenny’s revelation, no one brought up their next article again

The topic hadtalked about the talented new recruits at the chorus club, and Larry and Seron discussed their training regimen As for Nick—

“I suppose no one here is interested in the thrill of adventure and discovery Perhaps I should join the history research club,” he sighed loudly No such club existed at the school

The sky began to grow red—

“Wow, look at the tiht, people That’s it for our little tea party,” Jenny declared, rising as she clapped her hands Everyone began packing up

“Can’t wait to get horub…” Natalia muttered as she put away the day’s empty cookie tin

“How do you not get fat eating like that?” Asked Larry

“Probably a sign from the heavens to eat more,” Natalia replied

After cleaning up the office, the newspaper club walked to the gates together and said goodbye Seron alone remained on campus and went to the dorms The others headed home

Several reen-and-crea shoes

He left the building again and did war around the near-deserted campus

After one lap around the large school preimen Larry had set for him

He sprinted across a stretch of the grounds, hung frorass, and more Seron usually repeated the exercises once a day; twice a day if he had ti

After working up a good sweat, he drank water frorounds and headed back to the dorms

He hung up his sweats in his rooer than the other rooed into a T-shi+rt and shorts to head to the baths

The dormitory baths were massive

The facility could give even a hotel bathhouse a run for its money with the variety of baths—each filled ater of different temperatures—and the number of showers Students loved the baths as well A little-known fact was that even non-dormitory students were allowed to use these facilities

Seron rinsed off the sweat at a shower booth and washed himself Then he slipped into a warm bath away from anyone else

As he sat in a daze, deter froht was open and stea the room

The boy had short black hair and a toned build, about as defined as Larry—who never —or un to work out, was no match

“Hey there, Seron,” the boy said, taking a seat next to him

Seron could finally see his face, though the voice had given it away a little earlier It was Treize Bain, whoate

“Hi Don’t think I’ve seen you at the baths before”

Treize nodded “Yeah I only just found out that this is when it’s least crowded,” he said, leaning back Treize sighed with his gaze on the ceiling before turning to Seron “Thanks”

Seron was not expecting to hear such a thing “Huh? For what?”

“For going out of your way to betray your club by warning ation,” Treize replied nonchalantly Seron furrowed his brow

“I don’t knohat you’re talking about Why are you so sure I did so like that?”

“A few reasons,” said Treize, “first, I heard about the investigation from Lillia She didn’t say who she heard it from, but from the level of detail and from the fact that it’s recent information, I can only conclude it must have been her friend, Strauski Lillia introduced me to her once, and she’s much quieter than Lillia Struck me as the type to waver between the newspaper club and her best friend,over the problem on her own”

“And?”

“Then soiven her the push she needed to tell Lillia They did this for the sole purpose ofStrauski feel better Then who could it be but her boyfriend and fellospaper club member, Seron Maxwell?”

“You got me Nice detective work”

“So that’s why I have a reason to be grateful Thank you”

“You’re welcome”

For some time, Seron and Treize sat dazed in the bath without a word

But Seron looked up at the ceiling and finally broke the silence

“Actually, it turned out that we didn’t et any information on you No one has anyafter this”

“That’s good to hear,” Treize chuckled

Seron cast Treize a glance “Yeah Everyone has things they want to hide”

“Oh? What makes you so sure I have secrets?” Treize asked, surprised

“Most people would get upset if they found out they were being suspected of soroundless But you didn’t seeht relieved”

“Well, this tiot me Nice detective work”

“I can’t iht have, but I won’t pry But…”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe you and Schultz should come visit the newspaper club sometime”

“Hm”

“That’ll put Meg at ease, and you’ll also be able to clear up any confusion and suspicion with Nicholas Browning, the resident history buff who got us started on this investigation in the first place”

“Hah hah! I’ll talk to Lillia about it,” Treize chuckled, and added quietly, “school really is a fun place”

“I gather you didn’t attend secondary school back in Iks?”

“Huh? Oh, no I lived in a tiny valley in the countryside I was homeschooled by the old people there”

“I have to ad to keep up with our curriculum,” Seron said

“Thanks,” Treize nodded,to mention the kind of people ere responsible for his education “But I still have a long way to go, as a student I didn’t even kno to use a locker until Lillia told me the other day She was appalled when she saw me carry my stuff around in a suitcase”

Seron recalled seeing Treize with a suitcase before Treize continued

“But when I went to the student support office, they didn’t know my locker number I looked into it, and it turned out they’d actually con me one! One of the teachers made a mistake”

“That sounds terrible”

“So I finally an, but Seron finished his sentence “But the school store was out of locks?”

“How’d you know?”

“One of the few results of our investigation Meg says that Schultz told her about it”

Then Seron briefly went over the testiathered

He explained that the temp lockers had nearly all been occupied for the past two s difficult for the clubs that used them in secret That this was probably the reason for the store being sold out of locks And that there was a pleasant fragrance around the temp locker area

Beads of sweat formed on Treize’s face as he listened on He finally spoke

“You think that’s…uess not It’s kind of a stretch, but…”

“Hm?” This time, it was Seron’s turn to be confused “Does the situation ring a bell?”

“I…guess you could say that”

“Please tell me, if you don’t mind”

“H with the lockers did re, but it’s not a pleasant story Are you all right with that?”

“Sure”

“This was in Ikstova, two years ago There was…an incident”

“What happened?”

“Someone found a dead baby in a coin locker in the busiest district of Kunst, our capital city”

“Wh-what happened?”

“A young woiven birth in secret, but she didn’t knohat to do with the baby and ended up killing it”

“…And?” Seron urged, looking a little sad Treize continued plainly

“The woht about how to dispose of the body, and in the end she wrapped it up, put it in a bag, and put the bag in a coin locker”

“But the sive it away soon, wouldn’t it?”

Treize shook his head “This was in thearcade, but it gets very cold in Ikstova The locker was practically a freezer”

“But don’t coin lockers have a li there too long, the er opens it up with a master key to clear it out The limit is three days here in the Capital District”

“Yeah,” Treize replied with a nod, “back in Ikstova it’s five days”

“So the er found the dead baby?”

“No”

“…I get it!”

“Did you figure it out, Seron?”

“She ular intervals and moved it to a different locker”

“Exactly The woo to the locker on her way to work and er that she was actually doing soe of clothes in the lockers, and ed to convince him The baby’s body co, even su to switch lockers”

“So hoas she found out?”

“It was kinda ironic, actually,” Treize said with a shrug “We get a lot of tourists in Ikstova, but a few of them are criminals who’re out to make money Some of those people decided to break into the coin lockers in the bustling shopping arcade Swiped theand swept the lockers clean Can you i the ot arrested afterwards and the dead baby case caht”

“I’ve never heard about any of this”

“Probably cause Ikstova is so far out in the boonies It was a big deal there The queen personally gave a state debates about distributing contraception and even about abortion—but that’s kind of going off-track What I want to say is that people have used lockers to commit crimes”

Seron wiped the sweat off his face with a towel Then he got out of the bath and sat on the edge so he wouldn’t get dizzy Treize followed suit

The baths were getting crowded, but no one had yet gotten to their area

Seron understood what Treize was driving at “In other words, you’re saying that so shady”

“Yeah,” Treize replied, not looking as grim as Seron, “but maybe not It’s just a possibility”

But Seron remained as serious as ever “The teo”

“Then it can’t be a coincidence, you mean Someone—or some people—are behind it”

Seron nodded “Yeah It’s hard to believe that there was a sudden spike in temp locker demand for no reason at all”

“Then we’ll call our culprits ‘the in the lockers, and et a bunch of them to do just that Just like the woman I told you about”

“Yeah And whatever it is they’re trying to hide, it’s sosDo they really have that much of whatever it is?” Seron speculated

“No, I don’t think so,” Treize replied “It probably fits into one locker But if they keep going back to the same locker every time, someone’s bound to notice”

“I see! The fact thatso”

“Exactly They probably keep their items in one or two of the lockers The rest are just decoys or spares”

“So they snapped up all those lockers so they could use any of theiven time That explains why the temp lockers always seem to be occupied,” said Seron

“Yeah It definitely reduces the risk of discovery And it’ll help the on with the lockers I don’t knoho they are, but they’ve really put soht into this That makes it even more shady”

“Right You’re saying that the a this even more suspicious”

“Exactly,” Treize nodded “Suppose the ite raphy or liquor Would they really need to go to such pains to hide the stuff? The locks ht, at worst you’d just get a scolding from the teachers”

“Yeah”

“Mhm”

Then Seron spoke “Then the only thing that justifies so et them arrested”

“I agree,” said Treize, “s”

“Why?” Seron asked, eyes wide

“D’you er?” Treize asked, and sank back into the water “Man, that feels nice Baths really are the best!” he cheered in a daze

Seron also sat back in the water, closer to Treize than before

It e for two boys to sit ale bath, but Seron did not have tis

“What s?”

“I don’t have any proof, but,” Treize said, “you said one of the girls noticed a fragrant sht?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Women have a keener sense of sirl said she did, thereperfume in the lockers”

“So someone—no, the culprits—”

“Yeah ‘The perfuives off an odor Soal that smells…”

“Drugs, definitely” Seron said, and came to a realization “Hey, I think I know! The Blue Rose, the Roxchean drug! Apparently it has a really distinctive scent”

Treize nodded “Exactly So they call it ‘Blue Rose’ here In the south people call it the Capital Drug as a jab”

Seron exhaled loudly “If those drugs are being hidden in the temp lockers—”

“Yeah If”

“Then our culprits have to be students here at the 4th Capital Secondary School”

“Yeah Secondary schools are bubbles, in a way Lots of security that keeps everyone but faculty and students out of the premises And soularly using the temp lockers”

“Then it’s pretty clear what the students are doing,” said Seron

“Yeah They’re runners They’re probably not producing the stuff on campus—it’s not impossible, but unlikely Because if they were the producers, they’d want to get the drugs out of their hands as soon as possible They wouldn’t stash it on cas on the school premises So the only possibility left is that they’re transporting the drugs for so cartel, so whoever these people are are probably just cronies They ”

“So they’re runners and custodians at the sas somehow outside ca them in the temp lockers at school And they—or sos from the lockers on demand and hand them over to someone else”

“Yeah But I think we’re dealing with an individual here The runner doesn’t have anyone else working with them,” Treize said

“Why? It would be less conspicuous to have multiple people be part of the transportation process”

“It’s because having more than one person opens up the chance of conflict What if one person gets scared and decides to sell the others down the river? What if one person starts suspecting the others of being sell-outs? And having just one person on the jobhappens You could write it off as an unfortunate accident”

“I see Then this case probably isn’t limited to just our school”

“No The sa in other secondary schools in the city too It’s a clever plot, abusing the security of secondary schools for criminal enterprises”

Seron went silent So did Treize

Soon they both clie roouzzled water like no tomorrow

Then they collapsed on a bench

“I feel dizzy…” “I feel dizzy…”

The other students stared, astonished, as Seron and Treize continued their conversation with flushed faces

“That was a nice chat, Seron Kinda stupid, though”

“Sure was, Treize So e talking about again?”

“What e talking about?”

“What was it again?”