Evergreen Academy and the Golden Club
Chapter 12
The investigation
Daniel went to look for Jared on that Saturday. He found him in the animal house with his unicorn. The unicorn was snow white and had a noble look and posture.
"I'd like to have a look at your dorm room if it's possible," said Daniel. He couldn't help admiring the beauty of the unicorn, but knew to keep a safe distance. He could still remember his first encounter with Fireball.
"Sure," Jared answered, combing the mane of the unicorn. "You can come closer. Wind won't bite or kick."
"This is Wind and Wind this is our detective Daniel," Jared said to Daniel and the unicorn.
The unicorn seemed to understand what Jared said. He gave Daniel a nod. >From his posture, however, Daniel could tell he would not enjoy being petted by a stranger.
"Just so you know, I went down to the ocean to apologize to the merpeople," said Jared with his voice lowered.
"You don't have to report to me," said Daniel; he was glad to hear it nonetheless.
"I just thought you'd like to know," said Jared. "Come around at three this afternoon."
Jared's dorm room had the same layout as Daniel's except that there was more stuff. There were more books on the shelves. All his roommates had posters of famous immortal athletes and singers on the wall by their beds except Jared. On the wall above his bed was a painting of himself with his nose high in the air.
"He must really love himself," Daniel could not help thinking.
"Where did you put the Golden Club?" he asked.
"Under my pillow," answered Jared.
"May I?"
"Go ahead," said Jared with a shrug.
Daniel looked under his pillow. There were some money, a gold pocket watch and a mirror underneath.
"It's not what you think," said Jared, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's a magical mirror. You can see ghosts with it."
"Does anyone else know what the mirror's for?" Daniel asked.
"No," said Jared
Daniel could tell that Jared was about to say something else but changed his mind. He thought about the dilemma people had about their magical treasures. The best way to keep them safe was to be quiet about them but it also took the fun out. He wondered why Jared didn't show everyone the power of the mirror like he had with the Golden Club-maybe he couldn't find a ghost here on the island.
"Do many people know that you hide your treasures under the pillow?" asked Daniel.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, right?" said Jared dismissively. "There are only a couple of places to look: the drawer and the bed."
"I don't think those are the only places though," said Daniel, putting the pillow back. "If the thief had kept the Golden Club in either place, you would have found it yourself long ago."
He was referring to the search Jared had done himself, presumably with the help of his friends.
For a moment, Jared looked embarrassed, which Daniel thought he was incapable of.
"Why didn't you want to accept my offer?" asked Jared after a while. "I thought you needed the money."
Daniel believed that Jared had searched through his stuff and saw nothing valuable.
"Yes, I did, but I wasn't that desperate."
It had been more than one month and Daniel didn't think there were any clues left in the room. Then something at a corner of the floor caught his eye. It was a small short hair. Daniel picked it up and looked at it closely. It was unlike a human hair. The hair was thinner and grayish.
"It's probably from Tim, my roommate," said Jared. The sarcastic tone had disappeared. "He has a talkie dog."
Daniel went back to the dorm, thinking about the hair. He knew it would be a waste of time to investigate the source of the hair. It could come from any other animal, even if it didn't belong to Tim's dog. Most students had pets and they visited each other in their dorm rooms all the time. It could also have been blown into the room by wind or attached to the robes of anyone who visited the animal house.
On their way to the dinning hall the next morning, the monkey, as usual, threw nuts at them. Daniel had noticed that the monkey's hair was very different from the one he picked up the previous day. It was brown and longer. It, however, struck Daniel as strange that although he threw nuts or pebbles at people, he never really attacked anyone except Owen and it happened to be the night of Moon festival. It wasn't like he was a werewolf and could not control himself on the full moon.
"Do you have any idea why the monkey attacked you the other night?" Daniel asked Owen.
"No. Why? I told you before."
Owen still seemed uncomfortable talking about the incident. Daniel could tell that he wasn't keen on helping Jared out either.
"Do you think it's possible that someone had put a charm on him?" In that case, the monkey was more like a victim than the accomplice. It also explained why the monkey came back-he was innocent.
"Yes," Owen seemed to like the theory too. "There is this Rabies charm. The person that got hit will start attacking anyone close by."
"Do you know how to do the charm?"
"Hell no." exclaimed Owen. "It's a really nasty charm. It's illegal too."
"I wish I could talk to animals," said Daniel. A talk with the monkey would clear a lot of things up. "I don't think those birds will be any help-they were fast asleep-even if they were awake, they are blind at night."
"If you really think it has anything to do with the theft, we can ask Mike for help," Owen suggested.
"He might think that we think he owes us a favor because we helped him once," said Daniel.
"What?" Owen asked, looking confused.
"He may not want to help us, but feel obligated," said Daniel.
"I don't think he's allergic to monkeys," said Owen. "It's not like it's a big favor to ask, and I don't mind knowing why the monkey attacked me either."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Daniel. He knew that the main reason Owen was willing to do this was to help him out.
"Yes," said Owen.
They caught Mike after school. It was not hard to find him alone. Tom, Mike's only friend, was an active member in the student government and spent a lot of time there.
It was Daniel's idea to talk to him alone. He didn't want other people to know that he was playing a private detective and he knew that Owen didn't want other people to know that the monkey attacked him.
"Could you do me a favor?" asked Owen.
There was a moment of joy in Mike's eyes, but it was soon replaced by defiance.
"No, I don't want to," he said.
Daniel saw panic on his face when Owen took a step closer.
"I said no," he turned around and ran away quickly.
"What's the matter with him?" said Daniel, looking at the small figure. "You didn't offend him before or anything, did you?"
"No," said Owen. He looked like he was offended himself. "He's just a rat. That's all."
All of a sudden, everyone in the school seemed to be a suspect. When Daniel looked at Kerri, he thought that she had the perfect chance. She was alone when everyone else was at the party; but he dismissed the idea quickly, mainly because it made him feel cold-hearted. It was hard to imagine she could steal something and then cry her heart out for a couple of abusive parents. From what Daniel had learned, he didn't think that Kerri had double personalities. When he looked at Michelle, he thought that she had the motive. She and Jared were cousins. She could be jealous of him. Some students acted completely normal, but Daniel thought that they were just acting. If they acted a little out of character, he would think that they must have been feeling guilty. And he thought that maybe Jared suspected him. Asking him to find the Golden Club was just a way to test him.
A week passed without any progress. Daniel woke up on Friday night. He lay on his bed, listening to the sounds of the night. The breaths of the sleeping students were like gentle tides. The late autumn night was quiet compared to a summer night. Leaves were waving gently in the late night breeze. Water in the creek ran languidly through the garden. Then he heard some movement on Owen's bed. He heard him get up and walk out of the dorm without making any noise.
The book is available at www.bn.com and www.amazon.com Search by the title. Author's blog: 360.yahoo.com/gcgustopher