Tem sat down gingerly on his seat, still deep in thought, absentmindedly feeling for the cushions. Nathan flopped down opposite of him, exhaling loudly in exasperation.

"Not going great, huh?" asked Gerald, grinning.

"Could be better, admittedly. There are some interesting clues, though," said Nathan.

Tem grabbed for some of his sweets without looking, seemingly not privy to their conversation. Before he could put a still wrapped candy in his mouth, he caught himself and unwrapped it first, but then forgot to eat it.

"So, who did it?" asked Gerald with an air of superiority, as if he knew the answer that had to come.

"We ... don't know. It seems impossible. Look at all the notes I took. They don't point to anybody. And the older students are no help, whatsoever," said Nathan, pouting.

"Ah, I'm such a moron. Of course. Caervey showed us one other possibility of how to get his watch. The summoning charm!" Tem jumped up as if struck by lightning. He paced down the compartment, still clenching his candy. "We should also ask second-year students. They might be more receptive to our questions."

"Wouldn't the watch just fly against the door? Didn't you say they teach this spell in fifth year? How are second-years supposed to help with that? And wouldn't ..." Tem cut Nathan off.

"Yes, sure it would hit the door, but we are certain the door was opened. Because of the trolley lady in the corridor, the culprit wouldn't have dared to dash into a compartment and be seen. But the door can easily be opened with a spell. Never mind the second-years. That's just to follow up on potential feuds between older students," said Tem, finally putting the candy in his mouth.

"How could he have known, when ..." Nathan started again.

"That's why I claim the thief must have been in the close-by compartments. A few moments earlier, he or she must have passed by and laid eyes on the watch. Seeing the eagle, potentially opening their window too, realisation dawned that Caervey must be distracted. Unwilling to enter the corridor, he or she used a spell to crack the door and then summoned the watch. It was pretty certain nobody would see the watch swoosh by," said Tem, talking himself into a deductive frenzy.

"Heh, yeah, sure. Your theory has more holes than cheese," said Gerald, snorting derisively.

"Why? It's all logical," said Tem, taken aback.

"Perhaps, but do you have evidence?"

"Well, not entirely. No. But with a respectable assumption, one can look more closely for proof. It's how a detective has to work."

"Ah, yes. Jumping to conclusions, you mean?" said Gerald, a nasty smirk on his face.

"Well ... well, one has to prevent that, of course." Tem became increasingly flustered.

"What do you think? Any theory you want to offer?" asked Nathan.

"Nope, simply trying to help with keeping you two grounded, is all. You're welcome," said Gerald, grinning.

"Anyway, I have to check on something," said Tem and darted out of the compartment. He went only a few paces, leaning against a wall, between two compartments. The boy breathed heavily, trying to calm himself. He needed to organise his thoughts and Gerald was not helping at all. Wasn't it enough that he was beginning to doubt himself? Why was nobody else interested in assisting him in finding the culprit and getting back the watch?

Somebody on this train was a thief, and he needed to find that person. This case felt like his test run, he couldn't start with a failed investigation. The pressure was on. Tem assumed that was how a real detective felt out in the field, compared with minor puzzles, staged exercises or little party tricks. This was great and how it was supposed to be. He had to power through. If other students dodged him, it only made them suspects; they all had something to hide, but he would expose them.

He pressed his teeth together, standing upright again. Tem would not let himself be consumed by doubt. Clenching his fists once, he strode purposefully onwards, looking into the two adjoining compartments on each side of the crime scene.

Tem crept up to the compartment to the left of Rowle's and Caervey's. He peered through the small windows in the doors and could see 3 boys and one girl, all in their Ravenclaw robes. The two boys opposite were talking excitedly to each other, while the girl seemed to be following their conversation. The last boy was sitting next to the window, reading, but peeked up from time to time.

They didn’t notice Tem, preoccupied by their chat. Tem tried to absorb as many details as he could, but no particularly helpful clue jumped out at him. He estimated these four to be third-years, which made it unlikely they could've used a summoning charm on Caervey's watch.

"Do you see anything interesting?" whispered a voice close to him, startling him. His head snapped around to look into a grinning face, which belonged to the brown-haired girl they had questioned earlier.

"Ashley ... uhm ... no, I don't. You startled me. Why would you do that?" asked Tem, breathing faster.

"Seemed fun." Ashley's smile widened. Nathan was standing in between their compartment doors but seemed unwilling to come closer.

"Ok. Did you come with new information, or just to pester me?" asked Tem.

"I was on my way to my friend to ask her a few questions, and I thought to tell you about a girl potentially missing something. Admittedly, it's probably nothing, but who knows." Ashley shrugged.

"I’m at a point where I'll take anything. Can't make it worse. Please, tell me." Tem focused fully on her.

"Okay, listen. She is unsure if, in fact, she forgot it at home. She thought she had a small silver casket in her bag in which she keeps mints. It's not that important to her, but it is relatively valuable. Again, might be nothing," said Ashley.

"No, no. That's fine. Thank you. Intriguing. Where exactly did that happen?" asked Tem, gears in motion.

"Back in my wagon, third compartment starting from here. Her name is Emma Birkels."

"Did you ask her what that casket looks like?"

"Indeed, I did." Ashley winked at him. "Figured you'd ask. It's a little two-piece casket with a lip to close it. On the lid an intricate relief is moulded into the silver. She said it hadn't been cleaned in a while, so it's rather dull by now. She was wondering why it was gone, as she rarely leaves it outside the bag."

"Alright. We ought to keep an eye out for it as well. Thanks again," said Tem.

"You're welcome. See you," said Ashley and continued towards the next wagon.

Tem remained standing in the corridor, once again kneading his chin. If that truly was another target of the thief, all potential motives some other student could have against Caervey were out of the window. If a thief was just looking to increase his score, this could mean more thefts were a possibility. Caervey claimed his watch wasn’t valuable. Maybe he had been mistaken in telling Ashley that her input couldn't make it worse.

"What did she want?" asked Nathan, coming closer, looking past Tem as if fearing she might come back.

"Another potential theft. But the evidence appears very thin. You can take a note. Emma Birkels, third compartment," said Tem. His voice was slow and distant, still trying to connect the dots in his head.

"Alright, will do." Nathan scribbled in his notepad. "What's next?"

"I'm going to look through the next window, but after that, I'm not sure. It's quite frustrating to read about all those wonderful spells the detectives used in the books, but being unable to cast them," said Tem with a sigh.

"Yet. We will only get better at this when we learn these spells. My maths teacher at school always said a good foundation is worth a lot. Sure, it might be hard, but worth it in the long run," said Nathan.

"Learning the spells ... Sure, your maths teacher is correct." At that, Tem turned around and strode to the door he wanted to look through.