Jessa got to Winsbury early enough to grab a bagel from the cafeteria, then ate it in the foyer while waiting for Maggie and Flynn to arrive. She paced up and down the hallway, still in her coat, scarf and woolly hat.

“Jessa?” said Flynn. “What’s going on?”

“I need to talk to you,” she said urgently.

“Okay, shall we go to the cafeteria?”

“No, let’s go into the garden.”

“But it’s freezing outside!” Maggie exclaimed.

“I know, but I need to tell you something and I can’t risk anyone else hearing. Come on—we have to hurry!” she turned quickly, zipped through the students loitering in the foyer and went out through the back door into the frosty Winsbury garden.

“I was right about Mr Fletcher. He’s hiding something.”

“Oh, Jessa, not this again!” Maggie whined.

“Shh! Just listen!” Jessa continued. “Something happened with him and Audrey. I overheard her on the phone last night. I think they broke up. Apparently, he told her some big secret.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear much. But Audrey was crying, saying things about being in danger, and ‘going out on a job’.”

“Are you sure that’s what she said?”

“Definitely. What do you think that means? What kind of danger could there be as a teacher?”

“Well, he can’t be talking about teaching,” Flynn said. “So he must have another job, right? Maybe it’s related to that school inspector thing he told you about.”

“There’s no way being an inspector would be dangerous. I think he was lying about that. There was something funny about that explanation. I just don’t believe it.” She paused, unsure how her friends might react to her next idea. “Do you remember when Emmeline disappeared? Mr Fletcher was absent for a couple of days. And he was acting really weird.”

“You don’t think…” Maggie spoke slowly. “You don’t think he had something to do with that, do you?”

“I don’t know what I think, Mags. But something’s going on, and I have a feeling it’s connected somehow.”

“He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“I’m not saying he abducted Emmeline or anything. But think; could there be a connection?”

“Maybe he’s a police officer,” Flynn suggested. “Like a detective, you know? He could have been investigating that case. And that would fit with Audrey saying something about dangerous jobs.”

“That sounds plausible,” said Maggie.

Jessa nodded her head thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she muttered. “But then why would he be here?”

Flynn shrugged. “He could be a detective who’s undercover as a teacher.”

The sound of the morning bell put an end to their speculation. They ran back through the garden, up the stairs and along the corridor to Mr Fletcher’s room. Their classmates looked up as the three of them entered, pink-faced and breathless.

“Sorry we’re late,” Maggie announced softly.

“Hurry up please, sit down,” Mr Fletcher replied, barely acknowledging them. His demeanour was noticeably less cheerful than normal, and his dirty blond hair was unstyled, lacking its usual slick of gel.

He quickly took attendance, and read out the few announcements distractedly. “The, uh, Valentine’s Day party is tomorrow night at 6 pm—no, wait—7 pm, in the main hall. If you haven’t returned your parental permission slip, please do so tomorrow morning, or you can get your parents to send an email confirming you’re allowed to be there and who will pick you up. That’s all. Off you go.”

He waved his hand to dismiss them, and his other hand pinched the bridge of his nose. Jessa deliberately hung back in the class, picking up her bag extra slowly to see if he spoke to her or made any acknowledgement of what had transpired between him and her sister.

He didn’t.

#

“I was thinking about it all morning, and I think you must be right, Flynn,” Jessa said at break time. “He has to be a police officer. It’s the only explanation, isn’t it?”

“I can’t think of anything else,” said Maggie.

“So if that’s the truth, then what is he here for? Does that mean he’s not really a teacher at all? Do you think the other teachers know?” Jessa rattled off all the questions that poured from her mind.

“If his own girlfriend didn’t know, I doubt the other teachers know. Except Dr Mortlock, maybe, because she knows everything,” Flynn reasoned.

“My guess is that he isn’t really a teacher,” Maggie said. “But isn’t that illegal? I mean, surely you can’t be a teacher without all the qualifications. In fact, my parents would be very unhappy to know that there’s a teacher here who isn’t qualified. But on the other hand, I suppose a police officer is as good a person as any to protect us,” her forehead wrinkled in apprehension. “But in that case, what is he here to protect us from?”

“Don’t start getting scared,” Jessa said sternly. “If we stay calm and be logical about everything, we can figure out what’s going on.”

The three of them sat quietly for a moment. It was Maggie who spoke up. “Wait, why do we have to figure out what’s going on?”

“Mags, we just uncovered a huge secret. Don’t you want to know more?” Jessa whispered.

“Well, yes, I suppose,” she replied sheepishly. “What do you think, Flynn?”

“I think you’re right to be a little worried. But I’m with Jessa; this is worth investigating.”

Maggie sighed. “All right. But I have one rule.”

Jessa rolled her eyes. Maggie saw but ignored it. “My rule is that there’re no secrets from each other. If you have an idea about something, you share it with us.”

“Deal,” Jessa and Flynn both said. Maggie put her hand forward into the middle of the table, prompting Jessa and Flynn to do the same, sealing the pact.

“Did we miss something?” Tonia approached the table.

“Oh, hi, Tonia! Hi, Annora!” Jessa said, fake and cheerful.

“Jessa, I know you were just talking about something important. Why can’t we be in on it too?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry!”

“Jessa…” Flynn said quietly, “we can trust them. I think we should tell them everything.”

Tonia reacted to the seriousness in Flynn’s voice and pulled out the chair next to him. “What’s going on? Did you find about something about Silas Lynch?”

“No, this is something else,” said Maggie.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” Jessa said. “But you have to swear—and I mean you really have to swear—to keep this a secret.”

“I swear,” Annora said instantly.

“Me too. Pinky swear,” Tonia added seriously.

“All right. Where shall I start?”

It took the rest of break time and most of lunch time to do so, especially considering that every turn of the story prompted Jessa to launch into another round of what-ifs and wild speculations, but eventually, Jessa, Maggie and Flynn managed to fill in Tonia and Annora on every detail they could. The five students sat in the faraway corner of the garden, huddling in their winter coats, all clutching large paper cups of tea or hot chocolate that they sipped intermittently.

“So the big question is, what is he investigating? What’s the crime?” Tonia stressed the last word with intensity. “Could it be one of the other teachers? I know you think it has something to do with what happened to Emmeline Victor, but we don’t really know what happened to her, do we? Do you think one of the other teachers kidnapped her?”

They all gasped.

“No, that can’t be it,” said Flynn. “If the police suspected a teacher for that, I’m sure we would have heard about it. Let’s think: has anything suspicious happened at all? Even something small?”

They sat quietly, deep in thought while the thick of bare bushes and trees rustled around them. Then, the sound of voices arising from the quiet pulled them all alert. The blustery wind carried cackling laughter closer, then footsteps became audible. From around the corner appeared Cecily Graves, flanked by Amelia Waters and Devi Kapoor.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Cecily wailed emphatically. “I had no idea the daily Geek Squad meeting was happening out here.”

Amelia and Devi laughed.

“Yep, this is it,” Jessa said defiantly. “Did you want to join? We always have room for a few more members!”

“As if!” Devi spluttered. Cecily’s mouth just turned up at the sides into a disgusted sneer.

“What do you want?” Annora demanded.

“I want nothing from you, geek,” Cecily spat her words with disdain.

“Come on, Cecily. Don’t call her that,” Flynn replied.

“What would you call her then? Freak? Loser?” Cecily paused. “Orphan?”

“That’s enough, Cecily!” Jessa stood up, her fists clenched, ready.

“Ugh, you’re such a bruiser,” Cecily scorned. “I’m not going to fight you, Jessamine. I could, but I won’t. This is a designer coat, and I wouldn’t want to ruin it with the blood of a lateral.”

“What are you even talking about? I’m a parapsych, stupid. This is a parapsych school!”

“Oh, please. I know all about your family of desperate laterals. You just got lucky.”

“I think you should leave,” Flynn said clearly and calmly, and Cecily moved toward him. He stood up to meet her, face-to-face. Ringlets of her dark hair spiralled down from underneath a black Russian fur hat that quivered in the breeze.

She brought her face close to his, while Devi and Amelia stared down the others.

When Cecily spoke again, it was almost a whisper, barely audible over the crackle of the twigs and the February wind in the air. “I will never, ever, care what you think, hobo. So why don’t you go back to your box under the bridge and die.”

“Bitch!” Jessa rushed toward Cecily angrily, but Flynn held her back.

“Oh look, girls! The beast has awoken!” Cecily called out to Devi and Amelia, who both quacked with laughter.

“Hey, this reminds me of a joke. It goes: ‘A lateral, a hobo, and an orphan walk into a bar…”

“Ha,” Amelia snorted. “Good joke.”

“Good one, Cecily!” Devi whinnied.

“Yeah, really great,” Tonia stepped up. “It would be even better with a punchline, genius.”

Cecily’s arms folded across her chest. “Nobody asked you, you filthy mutt. What are you supposed to be, anyway? Are you black? Are you white? Are you some kind of mixed breed? I bet your parents say you’re a precious cultural blend, right? You’re the most revolting thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Don’t you dare talk to her like that!” Flynn said. “You can mock me all day long for not being rich like you, but insulting someone’s race is unaccepta—”

Cecily slapped the back of her hand against Flynn’s face.

Jessa couldn’t help herself, and rushed forward before anyone had a chance to grab her.

“Hey!” Mr Fletcher’s voice cut through the tension, startling them all. Dr Mortlock stood next to him.

“Cecily Graves. Over here, right now.” Her voice was low and sincere.

“I don’t know what happened, Dr Mortlock! She just tried to attack me! It was so frightening!”

“Drop the act, Miss Graves. It’s in your best interest to join me in a visit to my office.”

“But Dr Mortlock, you didn’t see!”

“I see everything!” Dr Mortlock bellowed.

The students had never heard Dr Mortlock raise her voice before, and it was terrifying.

Even Cecily cowered.

“Come with me, Miss Graves. You two as well.”

Cecily, Devi and Amelia bowed their heads and walked away with the headteacher.

“You kids all right?” Mr Fletcher asked the five students who remained in the garden.

“Yes, thanks,” Annora replied.

“Jessa, you good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. How did you know we were out here?”

“I was in the library with Dr Mortlock, and I saw you guys come out. When I noticed Cecily following, I figured something would go down.”

“You were right about that,” Tonia said.

“Bullies can be quite predictable.”

“Yeah, we’ve noticed,” Maggie sighed.

“Come on, lunch is almost over. Let’s go back in,” he waved them all back into the building. Annora, Maggie and Jessa followed quickly, while Flynn hung back a few paces and Tonia re-timed her pace to walk with him alone.

“Are you okay, Annora?” Jessa asked softly.

“Oh, I’m fine,” her reply sounded sad and thoughtful. “Nobody’s ever called me that before.”

“That was out of order, she had no right,” Maggie said reassuringly.

“She’s not wrong, though. I am an orphan.” Annora’s gaze stayed on the ground.

“No you’re not.” Jessa stopped and looked at Annora intensely. “Your adoptive parents love you. That’s what matters. You don’t need to be directly related to someone for them to be your family.”

“Thanks,” Annora smiled.

Behind them, Flynn and Tonia remained in a gawky silence for the walk back to the main school building. The others went inside ahead of them, but Tonia stopped, letting the door close before her, sealing herself and Flynn outside in the stillness of the wintery garden.

“I just wanted to tell you, thanks for sticking up for me. It was really cool of you to stand up to her like that.”

“Oh,” he looked down at the patio, scuffing his shoe on the ground. “Thanks. I hope she apologises to you.”

“You think she’d apologise?” Tonia asked.

“Probably not, but I can’t forgive her unless she says sorry,” he shrugged.

“Would you really forgive her if she apologised to you?” Tonia asked back.

“Of course,” he looked up. “Forgiving someone is the kindest thing you can do.”

Her gentle lips smiled at him. “Well, all right. If she says sorry, I’ll forgive her, too. Eventually. Shall we go back inside?”

“Yes please, it’s freezing!” he paused with his hand on the door. “But, um. Hey. Please don’t listen to what Cecily said about the way you look. Because, um…” he grazed the sole of his shoe against the edge of the step. “I think you’re really pretty, actually, so, um, yeah. That’s it, really.”

When he looked up again, Tonia was beaming at him.

“Are you going to the Valentine’s party tomorrow night?” she said.

“Yeah. Are you?”

“Definitely,” she smiled back and he breathed a sigh of relief.

#

“We just need to look for clues,” Jessa said to Flynn on their shared walk home. “We should all pay attention to what Mr Fletcher says and does, and see if we can gather any hints.”

“Are you worried about all this?” he replied.

“No. Are you?”

“No. But I get the feeling that I should be.”

“Why?” she enquired.

“Because it’s all so unknown.”

“Yeah. But I’ve always felt like…” she drifted off, unsure how to place her words next.

“Like what?”

“Promise you won’t make fun?”

“Cross my heart,” he smiled his goofy smile.

“Honestly, I feel like we’re on the verge of something. It’s like when you’re trying to think of a particular word, and you know it’s in your mind but you can’t quite get there.”

“When it’s on the tip of your tongue.”

“Exactly. But I feel that inside my head. All these things are connected somehow. And I feel like I’m the one who has to connect them. Like we have to connect them.”

“Why do you think we’re responsible for it?”

“Because nobody else sees it. They will, eventually. But right now, it’s us. We can do this. There’s a mystery in here somewhere,” she hung her head low and yanked on the straps of her backpack, pulling the weight of it close to her spine. “Do you think I’m weird?”

“Yes,” he joked. “But I also think you might be right.”

They reached the corner where they had to diverge toward their respective homes.

“Hey Flynn, before you go, can I ask you one thing?”

He nodded.

“When are you going to ask Tonia out?”

“Oh,” he exclaimed softly, suddenly looking very awkward. “I don’t know. Umm. I don’t really know her well. Why, do you think, umm…” he scratched his head through his mousy brown hair. “Do you think she likes me?”

“Duh! Obviously.” Jessa secretly enjoyed making him uncomfortable sometimes.

“Oh right, okay,” his face blossomed into rosy pink, burning with bashfulness. “I don’t know. She’s going to the party tomorrow night.”

“Perfect. As long as I have Maggie and Annora to hang out with, you can go off into a corner and get all smoochy with Tonia.”

Flynn looked mortified.

“Sorry, sorry!” she laughed. “But seriously, she’s really nice and super pretty, and I can tell she likes you. So if you want to ask her out, you should. And now I have to go because it’s getting late and I don’t want to miss dinner. It’s spaghetti night.”

“See you tomorrow,” he said, offering her their daily goodbye high-five.