“Officer... Settle,” (the teacher was addressing the man in the suit, Chris supposed), “this is Miss Hawks.”

Chris cringed.

Palms starting to sweat, he said, “Hello.”

“Ah, so this is Christina!” A smile lit up Settle’s face as he stood up and gave Chris a short, slippery handshake. He sat back down again. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Adrian Settle, from the local police authorities. I need to have a chat with you; I hope you are not in a hurry. Please, sit.”

Somewhat frazzled by the amount of words Settle had managed to utter in such a short time, Chris did.

“Please call me Chris.”

“Alright, Chris.” Adrian Settle added, “Come to think of it, I’d like to speak with her--"

"Him," Chris corrected a bit stiffly.

"--Him in private. Would you mind…?”

Framely’s eyes narrowed. “I would. Hawks an underage student and it’s out of the question that you would question… him without my being present.”

Settle raised his eyebrows. “Out of the question to question him?”

Framley's face took on a pink tint. “Yes.”

Adrian Settle gave the teacher a long, measuring look, and said:

“Very well. But please, stand by the door over there.”

After a minute under Settle’s unwavering eyes, Framely gave him a stiff nod and complied.

Mr. Settle looked Chris in the eye.

“So, Chris. I hope you’re doing well enough to answer some questions.” Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “The matter is as follows: we periodically double-check all documents stored in the city’s files, copy them, you know how it is… and yours gave us quite a bit of a headache, Chris.”

“I don’t… understand.” He didn’t like the direction of this conversation or the way this man talked down to him as if he was five year old.

Adrian Settle opened the folder in front of him, picked out a piece of paper and slid it across the small table over to Chris. He didn’t pick it up, but did examine it. Whatever it was, his name was on it.

“I suppose you recognize this. It’s the long form, but I do not believe you haven’t seen at least a copy of a birth certificate before.”

Chris frowned. Now he was more confused than ever.

“Uh, I guess?”

Settle looked at Framely standing by the door and lowered his voice. “I do not wish more people than necessary to hear my following words; I will not beat around the bush: we have reason to believe that the original of yours is a fake. Of all your documents, really.”

Chris didn’t think that strange; he was born in Northland and not, as the documentation he generally used stated, in one of the eastern regions of the North Central continent.

He decided not to answer Mr. Settle for now.

“I need to know if you remember anything from your childhood.” Settle pulled out a small notepad from his inner pocket, equipped with a matching little silver pen. It had a tiny smooth ball at its rear end.

Chris’ reply was short. “No, sorry.”

Settle leaned back. “May I see your ID, please?”

“Um…” The request took him by surprise. “My wallet isn’t on me…”

Settle clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Where is it?”

“In-in my bag, I left it with a friend of mine, he’s probably outside--”

“Mr. Framely!” Adrian Settle summoned the teacher with a wave of his hand. “Would you be so kind as to go and fetch the boy’s belongings from his friend, undoubtedly someone who is waiting for him by the door?”

Mr. Framely growled, but apparently didn’t want to disobey a man of Adrian Settle’s position. After he shuffled out, Chris was rewarded with a bright smile.

“That’s better. We can talk more freely now. …Help us out.” After getting silence as an answer, Settle’s smile wore off and he sighed. “Look, your mother is on her way to getting into trouble. So far it seems that someone’s been closing their eyes to all the documents she’s been using,” Settle motioned at the folder, “moreover, they are skillfully forged so we have no real proof, however…well, you understand, do you not?”

The man paused and waited for a response.

“I had a normal childhood, officer,” Chris said after a moment. “We moved from another state and I started school, then I came here to finish my education. Who… who remembers much from before they were ten?” The boy tried to put on the best polite expression he could. “I don't think anything's forged.”

“Would that mean you’ve lived at your current home for… thirteen years? Not more?” Adrian Settle narrowed his eyes, his smile returning with a hint of smugness.

Chris froze. He knew, Adrian Settle knew.

He tried not to let his expression betray his thoughts.

A detail that Chris didn’t usually mention was that he was a Hach – half Witch - and another detail he regarded as unimportant was that he was actually twenty-three. Because of the Hacches’ and Witches’ slow aging, they would all start school at a later age than humans and by looks and mentality, he was seventeen bordering on eighteen all over. Until now, no one had been able to tell.

“I don’t understand--”

“I know you are a Hach, Chris. Obviously, your documentation says you’re human and lies about your age; let’s just say I have a sixth sense. The problem here isn’t what you are – the government couldn’t possibly care less even if you were a gnome– but we need the documentation to be genuine, don’t we?”

At this moment, Mr. Framely returned with heavy, echoing steps.

“Ah, you’re back… took a little too long, we've straightened things out here.” After receiving a dirty glare from the other man, Adrian Settle added, “But thank you, Mr. Framely.”

Chris stood up, at this point not even trying to be polite. He recovered his bag from the dorm master and turned to Adrian Settle.

“Officer, uh, Settle, I’m sorry. I don’t think I can help you. I have a lot of homework to work on, and I’m already behind, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Settle stood up with grace and pulled out a business card from an inner pocket of his jacket. “You have to stay focused on your studies… do contact me if you, hm, remember anything?”

“Of course.” Chris took the card and another slippery handshake later, he was out.