Chapter 2
The Missing Notes
Carson arrived home at precisely the same time as his mother was alighting from her car. She had just arrived home and appeared to be quite in sync with her promise to take an early afternoon. This was not the norm for usually when she said she was taking an early afternoon, something would crop up that would require her presence at the office. She worked with an organization that sought to help persons in the community who had fallen on hard times. She had given up a very lucrative job because she felt the need to work with persons who were experiencing such challenges. She was well loved throughout her community and had received a number of national honours for her tremendous contribution. It must still be added that neither she nor her family lacked anything. In spite of her sacrifice and all she had given up, she appeared to have been even more blessed. She was known for her enormous giving and her hospitality.
“Hi my favourite person in the whole world!” she said in her most mischievous tone.
“Awhhh, come off it Mum, Dad is still very much alive, and by the way, he has gone to his favourite place in the whole world.
“He may have been but you stole my heart almost eighteen years ago when I saw you for the first time. A real case of love at first sight; that wasn’t the case with your father.”
“But you say the same thing about your daughter and your younger son,” he struck back with a twinkle in his eye.
“Boy, haven’t you come to realize that a person can have more than one favourite person in one’s life?”
“Okay, Mummy, as usual, you win,” Carson said in resignation. “The first time I win a battle with you I am going to scream at the top of my voice.”
“Why?” she asked with a quizzical expression on her face.
“Because, Mummy, I will want the entire world to know,” he responded. With that he helped her carry her bags inside and then returned to the patio to ponder the new development.
“This is strange,” he thought, “How could someone outside of the group know what we are planning? I know what you are planning is what he said and he said it as if he knows every detail.”
Carson knew that it was no secret that for the last three years every summer holiday found them at Idyllic Garden. The three friends had taken a special liking to the place. It had made them feel like explorers as well as provided a great escape from the grind of studying and city life. What really baffled him was the way the caller had indicated that he was privy to their every plan. He began to think of his two friends and it suddenly struck him. “Could Dirk and/or Ralph be in cahoots with some unsavoury character? What would they have to gain from such a relationship?”
He quickly dismissed this thought. He had known them for far too long. He mentally reprimanded himself for even thinking such thoughts. Instead he thought of all the experiences they had had together, the times they had stood up for one another and even on that one occasion where they stood with their backs against the wall. That was a time when one of them was accused of an act and they ended up standing alone.
It appeared that even their parents found it difficult to believe them. Eventually, however, developments proved that they were in the right and the world was wrong. Such developments had revealed that Dirk had been framed. Concerning the time of the incident he had indicated that he was home alone but since there was no one to corroborate his alibi, he was unable to convince the police. He really regretted being at home on that occasion since he had turned down an offer to go along with his friends. All of them had been invited to a gig at Lily’s home but Dirk had determined to sit out that event. At the time the friends didn’t really push him since they understood what he was experiencing since his falling out with Lily. After all that had happened, he had thought that anything would have been better than the experience he had gone through, even if meant that he had to spend a night at Lily’s home at that particular time.
Carson, Dirk and Ralph were loyal friends and stood by one another through thick and thin. After that experience, the Principal of Blades Academy read a letter of apology to the boys. He indicated that he had had his doubts but there was little he could do at the time without causing some to believe that he was demonstrating favouritism to Dirk and by extension, to the boys. This letter was read at morning assembly. That experience served to strengthen their friendship even more. Dirk was vindicated and exonerated and the story soon died a natural death.
After thinking through a myriad of troubles they had experienced together, Carson’s thoughts returned to the latest experience, the phone call. He thought of calling Dirk and Ralph to find out if they had also received a call. He thought better of this since he felt that if they had received such a call they would have telephoned him. It didn’t dawn on him that ordinarily they would have thought just like he was thinking. That night he did not sleep very well.
The following day, Thursday, was the final day of school. He was so anxious to probe this recent development that in his eagerness he was hurrying out the door at 7:15 a.m. Bye all! He shouted for all in the household to hear.”
“What is your hurry, Carson?” his mother called out to him. “I thought today was the last day.”
Looking at his watch, he responded, “I didn’t realize it was so early but in any case, since I am already dressed, I might as well go on.
“Okay, Son, do be careful.”
“But what is he going to school to do so early?” she asked herself. “At this time the school is likely to be closed up. This is not like him.”
“Hi Honey, running your plans for the day through your mind? You look particularly pensive!” Benjamin Marshall was alert to most of the idiosyncrasies of his helpmeet and she had several. Most of them were bodily and facial like when something is happening that she did not like but did not want to come out and say. Or, like the current situation, when she felt uncomfortable with something the children or he was doing. He would pick it up and often he would ask, “Which of the four children? The three you carried or the one you married?”
This time, he called it incorrectly. He figured it was her work plans but in fact it was Carson. Hence the second one applied. “That boy has never left this house at 7:15 in the morning to go to school. What has gotten into him? You had better go to that school and see what is going on.” Now he had become one of her helpers in her work programme. “You had better…” she had instructed him.
“Let’s not crowd him. So far he has always demonstrated a good head in whatever he does. We have learnt to trust him and I do not believe there is any need to change that now.”
“Okay Ben, but I still believe that something has come up and it is not the ordinary.” While she had conceded to her husband openly, in her mind she was not settled. She thought, “I wonder if Carolyn or Carlisle would know anything about this. They attend the same school. They should know something.” She decided that she would consult them discreetly before they left for school.
Carolyn was the second of the three children and fell exactly between the oldest and the youngest. There were three years on either side. She was now fifteen going on twenty, simply because she was an authority on every matter under the sun. “Yes,” Mrs. Marshall thought, “If anybody knows anything, that anybody would be Carolyn.”
Just at that time Carolyn came out of a bedroom. “Good Morning, did you have a good night? Did you sleep well? Are you looking forward to a good day? You know it is the last day of the school term and that is the best day for most children.”
“Okay, Mummy, what is it that you want to know? Is it about Carson?”
“How did you guess that so easily? Am I so easy to read? Yes my dear. Is there something going on at the school that would warrant his leaving home at quarter past seven this morning?”
“All I know is what is making the rounds at school,” Carolyn replied.
“And what might that be?” she enquired.
“Well I am not in the habit of bringing tales out of school but…look Mummy, you had better ask Carson. Let him tell you himself.”
“Come on child, I am your mother. You need to tell me now. If you do, we might be able to save him from some trouble towards which he is heading.”
“Well the only trouble I can see him heading to is a telling-off from June.” And with that Carolyn politely begged for an excuse to finish getting ready for school.
“You have got time and besides, today is the last day. Tell me, what is this trouble with June?”
Look, Mummy, I have told you too much already. You know what I mean, these lovers’ quarrels.”
“Lovers’ quarrels? What would a little child like you know about lovers’ quarrels?”
“I am fifteen years old, Mummy, just in case you have lost count. I am not a little child.” She said in her most resolute tone.
That brought laughter from her mother who visibly appeared to have relaxed a little when she learnt that it was no more than a lovers’ quarrel. However, her fear of something sinister gave way to an eager curiosity. “Who is the rumoured rival, if I may ask?”
“No, you may not ask and even if you do, I am not telling.” In any case it’s only a rumour.”
“What is only a rumour?” Mrs. Marshall continued to probe ever intently.
“It appears that I need to remind you of something both you and Dad taught us.”
“What is that honey?” Mrs. Marshall responded in her attempt to butter up Carolyn.
“That is… that… we should never…,” said Carolyn with her mother hanging on every word.
“Come on child! The suspense is killing me.”
“That we should never be late for any event, even the last day of school,” Carolyn spelt out with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. When she behaved like this, she was so much like her mother. That meant the end of the conversation.
“Okay, you win this round but the battle is not yet over.”
"As usual, Mum, I always win." Carolyn always had the last word. There was no exception on this occasion.
Today Carlisle would complete his first year at Blades Academy. So far he has been running on the fame of his older sister and brother. Any respect he received from his peers especially those a year ahead of him was as a result of his brother and his three friends. He deemed it a privilege to be Dirk's friend. After all, Dirk was perhaps the most popular student in the whole school. Carlisle had not taken off like the other two siblings had but he had done reasonably well in his first year even though he was not in the top ten of his form like his brother and sister. He was ready and eager to be off to school to enjoy the many games they played on the last day of the school term. It was now 8:15 a.m. and in a minute or so he would be out the door and on his way.
He called out to the rest in the house to alert them that he was off. He too had been given the freedom to express himself and to develop assertiveness. They were encouraged to be trendsetters rather than trend-followers. Of their leadership skills there was no doubt.
Meanwhile Carson had long arrived at school but he did not have to wait long to get into his classroom. On his way to school he had been picking his brain for a clue to the identity of the caller. Somehow he felt it was not a student but he wondered if there might not, however, be a connection. And if there were a connection, how he would go about trying to bring this link into the open. So far he had come up with nothing.
He decided to check his desk pocket to review the notes he had written about their expedition. It was a fairly prevalent practice to leave books and other materials in the desk pocket, particularly if those items were not needed to complete some homework assignment. This practice was considered relatively safe since the desks carried the facility for locking. The students purchased their own locks and kept the keys on their person. Carson and his friends had invested in very good locks since they kept some very important information in their desk pockets. Carson had left his notes under lock and key and just as a matter of automation he reached into his desk pocket and withdrew the notebook in which he had written the notes. He leafed through it after it had opened almost of its own accord to the centre pages. He turned a number of pages and kept turning. He could not believe his eyes. The pages were missing. He figured that they were quickly removed since the person did not take the time to use the perforations to make a clean cut. The culprit had more or less yanked them out.
There could be a number of reasons for this: perhaps he felt he had little time; maybe he heard someone walking along the corridor outside of the classroom or maybe some other reason like trying to give the impression that it was the work of a Form 1 student.
Carson dismissed the last of these. Only a few of these students would be found on the third floor and these were siblings of fifth and sixth form students. Even in such cases, there was a strict rule that first and second form students were not to be seen at anytime on the third floor. In most cases fifth and sixth formers did not like being seen with their first and second form relatives so that they themselves were the enforcers of this rule.
Carson decided it must be one of the first two reasons. This gave rise to another mystery. If so, how did the person get into the desk? There were only two keys to the lock one was always on him and the other was kept at home. He mentally decided to check to see if the other was in its usual place at home. He had no doubt that it was. He had just used the one he kept to open the desk pocket. Interestingly enough, only the pages detailing the expedition had been removed and they must have been removed sometime between when the dismissal bell rang and when the school porter made his rounds. During this time he would lock all of the rooms starting with the third floor.
He decided that an urgent meeting was needed and it had to be as soon as possible. He did not have long to call one for as he was thinking it he heard the voices of his two buddies. Normally they would pass and connect with one another and make their way to school together. Carson had altered that by his action this morning. Reaching the first window of the classroom, Ralph looked in and remarked, “Oh, that’s where you are!” He continued as he entered the door, “Your mother said you left very early but she did not know the reason why.”
Dirk chimed in, “And interestingly enough, I am not seeing the reason. I thought the reason would have been obvious but alas, the fair damsel is no where to be found.”
“Your reasoning is way off the mark as usual,” replied Carson.
“Don’t blame us if your plan did not work out, Mr. Grumpy,” emphasized Dirk. “All we know is that you moved away from the routine and you did not inform either of us.”
In a moment of contrition, Carson responded, “Yes, you’re right, Dirk. I left home quite early this morning because I needed to check out something and I did not want to trouble you guys at that time.”
“No problem, whatever is going on between Anna and you, ouch, sorry, I mean June and you is really none of our business, so moving on.”
“Hold up my friend, you are still way off the mark. My coming here early this morning had nothing to do with either Anna or June. As a matter of fact they are the least of my problems. I do not have any problem for that matter. Our expedition has been jeopardized. Our trip to Idyllic Gardens is being hampered.”
What are you talking about, Carson?” Ralph usually spoke the least among the friends, so that when he did, the others usually gave him their undivided attention. Dirk usually took this to mean time to be serious. “How do you mean jeopardized?”
Carson detailed the events of yesterday afternoon regarding the phone call and this morning regarding the missing pages. For a while neither Ralph nor Dirk said anything. After what was clearly more than a minute’s silence Ralph, the military man, began to drill Carson. He was good at this and when he had finished, Carson had retraced all of his movements between the time the bell had rung and the time he had returned from walking June to her home.
However, in all of this, they were no wiser concerning the identity of the caller or the reason why they should not continue with their expedition to Idyllic Gardens. “So what are we going to do?” asked Dirk.
Ralph responded, “We will proceed as planned. I have recordings of our meetings and so the details concerning the trip are still available.”
“You what?” Carson asked.
“I didn’t stutter. You heard me correctly. It shows that my iPhone is good for more than just making calls. Occasionally too, I video recorded the activity around us when we were planning. A little later we could check those to see if we can learn anything concerning the link to our mysterious caller.”
The other two had the utmost respect for Ralph but this new development caused them to respect him even more if that were possible. As Dirk reflected on this new information, he just looked at Carson and Carson at him. They just could not believe what they had just heard from Ralph.
Ralph took out the device and played back the latter end of their conversation. “See what I mean?” he said. “The notes might be missing but the information is still with us.”
Dirk found an opportunity to be his mischievous self again. “Well, you don’t say! This man probably has enough information on the two of us to put us behind bars for a lifetime.”
Carson enjoined, “Now I see why he doesn’t say much.” They all had a great laugh. While the challenge was still before them, they felt easier now since they could plan to lay their own trap at least to catch the culprit who stole the notes. In addition they were now aware of how he could have gotten into the desk pocket.
Ralph finally charged the other two that nothing, absolutely nothing of the recent developments was to be shared with anybody and emphasized the ‘anybody’. Dirk in his usual wit said, “Carson, that means that you will now have to sleep with your earmuffs over your mouth.”
“If I had any I would likely stuff them in your mouth.” Again that brought laughter from the trio.
“I wonder what you guys could find at this time to laugh so heartily about? Must be the end of term.” This came from Anna who was looking through one of the classroom windows. Dirk was the first to respond. “How long have you been at that window prying into our business?”
“I was not prying. I just heard enough to advise Carson that if he wants to find a pair of earmuffs large enough to adequately fill your mouth, he would have to make them himself.”
“While the boys had a huge laugh at Dirk’s expense, they were all glad that Anna was not privy to any more of their conversation. They mentally determined to be a lot more careful in the future.
“Hi Carson,” Anna said in a most endearing tone. “And Good Morning to the rest of you.”
“Good Morning, Queen Anna!” they both blurted out simultaneously.
Dirk continued, “How may we be of assistance to the gracious queen of Blades Academy?”
“If ever I come up with a way in which you can be of service to me I will let you know, Jerk, sorry I mean Dirk.” She said this in her most condescending manner but as soon as she saw his continence drop, she rushed over to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Carson and Ralph were absolutely taken back with her behavior, especially in relation to Dirk. Dirk was so shocked that for a moment he could find nothing to say. Needless to say, however, his face lit up. This was a gift that as far as he knew no other male at Blades’ Academy had ever received, well, perhaps only one other person, and he was not even too sure about that. Nobody could get even close to Anna and many had tried.
The truth be told, perhaps the only ones who had not tried were Ralph and Carson. Ralph, not because he did not admire her but more because he did not think he could compete with the likes of Carson and Dirk. In addition, they were some other fellows far ahead of him and he did not intend to stand in such a long line waiting for someone whom he knew could never be his. Carson did not venture because he considered himself to be in another relationship. However, sometimes he wondered about the choice he had made.
The ringing of the bell alerted them that it was time for the final assembly for the school year. As a result they all made their way down to the school hall. This was one of the times they were separated since as prefects they all had responsibility for a form. That is all with the exception of Ralph who as the Head Prefect was not responsible for any one form.
Assembly was short as usual. It usually was like this except there was some new information that the teacher in charge wanted to pass on to the students. It must be noted also that the trio had decided to keep the vandalizing of Carson’s desk as a secret. For the time being only the three friends were in the know as well as the culprit who carried out the misdemenour. The students filed out of the hall with their form prefects in attendance. As Ralph surveyed them, he mused to himself, “In that group is a thief and that thief is an informer.” Given the orderly way in which they now exited the hall, it was difficult to convince oneself that such a miscreant was among them.
There were in excess of a thousand students at Blades Academy. There were seven first forms as well as seven sixth forms. However the sixth forms were not as large as forms one through five. The school was more like a college campus in size than the usual secondary institution. Many supposed it was like this because of the several primary schools that were in its catchment zone. As a result it was not difficult to see why so many parents opted for Blades Academy as their first choice of secondary school. In addition, the curricular opportunities offered were many and varied. There was even a curriculum for students who were interested in becoming entrepreneurs as well as those who had an innovative mind. The result of all this is that the school now had its own energy grid, some of which was passed back in to the city grid. In this way the school was able to generate much income. This was supplemented by the produce from the school farm as well as products from other economic ventures in which the students participated. All in all, Blades Academy was managed like a business institution in which its populace was not seen only as students but as partners in the several business ventures.
The boys returned to their sixth form room to finalise plans for their trip. They were aware that not much more could be gained from the confines of the form room since in another hour or so school would be dismissed. However, this would provide the same disadvantage for whoever would use the school to gather more information about their expedition. Secretly, though, Ralph wish he had more time to plan a trap for this culprit but that could not happen now. However, they would be on the look out for anything that might materialize between now and the dismissal.
By a unanimous vote they decided to put off the final planning until the next day. That would be the official close of the school year. The practice was that on the penultimate day of any school term, the students would be given vacation while the teachers and other staff would come back for the last day. After this the school would be closed with only a skeletal staff doing administrative and maintenance duties.
Like the friends, a number of students were now assembled in the form room wishing one another all the best for the holidays. Among them were Anna, Sheila and Lily. These three were standing around with some other girls discussing how they intend to spend their vacation. Apart from these were other groups of girls as well as boys doing likewise. All together there could have been about eighteen or nineteen students in the form room. This meant that there would have been three students who did not belong to that form. In relation to sixth forms the school authorities were careful not to make sixth forms too big. Consequently at Blades’ Academy there were no more than fifteen students in any of the sixth forms.
While the others were busy conveying best wishes, Ralph was taking note. He had observed that there were three students who did not belong. Of course he had also taken into consideration that the possibility existed that the offender could be from this very form. Whatever the case, even such small matters did not escape his attention. He had learnt much from his father who was a Superintendent of Police. “Try as much as possible to be outside of the gathering looking in and looking around. In that way you are likely to observe more.” He also advised him that when he was in the company of his friends to talk less and listen more. “In the event of any difficulty, you are likely to be able to contribute more towards the solution.”
Ralph decided not to accompany the others as they left for home. He was the last to leave the form room. That would not have been thought of as strange since he was the Head Prefect. He sat at his desk and just looked around the room. He knew that there would have been no other chance for picking up a clue there for another nine weeks. He also took the time to listen to the conversations they had had concerning their trip. Thirdly, he reviewed the videos that he had taken of the room at those times. He observed at least two important things about the videos. He decided for the time being to keep them to himself.
He arose from his desk, closed the form room door behind him and slowly made his way along the corridor. On his way down the stairs he thought he saw someone duck back but on closer investigation he found no one. As he passed by the canteen he saw a smattering of students there. He quickly made a scan of them but did not find any of the students he was looking for among them. He went to the school gate and there he stood for about five minutes after which he retraced his steps to the form room again. Moving stealthily along the corridor, he had hoped that he might catch someone inside the room. However it was just as he had left about ten minutes ago. He turned and left the room but this time he hurried down the stairs, headed towards the gate and made his way home. Ralph reached home in less than five minutes.
