CHAPTER 9
Conference Room B
Megan's cellphone vibrated on her nightstand. She groaned and rolled over, trying to avoid the day's responsibilities. Her phone vibrated again, then again, then again. On the fifth vibration, Megan picked up her phone and read her messages.
Megan I need a favor
-SH
Megan I have a suspect list I need for you to gather
-SH
Megan
-SH
You're ignoring my messages aren't you
-SH
WAKE UP
-SH
Megan sighed and sat up in her bed. She looked around her empty dorm. Three years at this school and she's never had a roommate, or a friend. She opened up her message app and replied to her sister.
What do you mean suspects?
-M
While Megan waited for Sherlock's reply she headed down to the Diogenes Lounge.
The Diogenes Lounge was an incentive for members of the student council and other important students. A few girls sat in the lounge, in large leather armchairs.
Most of them were reading but a few were tapping away on iPads. Megan sat down by the fireplace and opened up one of her favorite novels, "The Great Gatsby". Megan enjoyed her book in silence for almost an hour before getting a reply from Sherlock.
Mira's new segment is a gossip report. Jess and I are going to interview everyone mentioned in the report.
-SH
Ok. Who are they?
-M
Jenny Foxxe, Harriet Colbie, Wanda Siter, and Joan Marlboro
-SH
I'll have them gather in conference room B
-M
Megan was able to pull a few strings and all four girls showed up in the corridor outside of conference room B.
Jess and Sherlock met each girl individually to figure out who would want to kill Mira.
Jess poked her head out of the conference room and looked at the nervous girls in the hall. "Wanda Siter, we'll see you now."
Wanda got up and sat opposite Sherlock at the table in the conference room. Jess stood behind Sherlock and took notes on a clipboard. She leaned over and whispered to Sherlock. "Please try to act like a normal human being Sherlock, these girls are freaked out." Sherlock waved Jess away and looked at Wanda intently. "Did you attack Mira?" She asked.
Wanda opened her mouth to speak but before any sound came out, Sherlock spoke: "Leave."
Wanda looked stunned. "Are you deaf? I said leave. Oh and call your boyfriend and apologize, he isn't cheating on you."
Wanda got up and scurried out of the room.
"You didn't even let her speak Sherlock!" cried Jess. Sherlock took the clipboard from Jess and crossed off Wanda's name. "Did you see the angle at which she folded her collar? It's quite obvious that the night of the attack she was arguing with her boyfriend." Jess snatched her clipboard back. "Right then. Who do you want next?"
Sherlock thought for a moment. "Get Harriet."
Jess went out into the hall and brought Harriet inside. Harriet put one foot in the room and Sherlock spoke. "Get out."
Harriet paused then turned around and left. Jess was furious. "Sherlock it's 9:30 a.m. and these girls got out of bed to come be interviewed by you and you haven't let a single one speak so far!"
"Did you see her left shoe, she obviously-"
"You know what," Jess interrupted. "I don't care how you figured it out. I'll get Jenny."
Jess went into the hall.
"I want to see Joan not Jenny!" Sherlock yelled.
"Too bad!" called Jess from the hall.
After only five minutes, Sherlock had dismissed both Jenny and Joan. Jess didn't know what to do. Sherlock sat in the conference room and called to Jess in the hallway. "Send the next one in!"
Jess swung the door open and stomped over to Sherlock. She slapped the clipboard onto the table. "There aren't anymore Sherlock. Not a single one." Sherlock got up and began pacing with her eyes shut. "No. This doesn't makes sense." Sherlock spun around and slammed her fists on the table. Her eyes blazed like blue fire. "I've missed something! I NEVER miss ANYTHING!" Jess backed up a little, surprised by Sherlock's outburst.
Sherlock stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
When Jess returned to 221B, Sherlock had changed back into her pajamas and robe. She was lying on the couch curled up in a ball. Jess tapped Sherlock on her side. "I'm leaving to get some breakfast then I'm off to class, alright?"
Sherlock didn't answer, instead she just curled up tighter. Once Jess left Sherlock jumped off the couch and went to her closet. She grabbed the nurse's scrubs she kept in case of emergency, and put them on.
Sherlock walked into the infirmary and looked for Mira. Once she found Mira's bed, she pulled the curtain shut. Mira's head was bandaged and her legs and arms were covered in band-aids and stitches. Sherlock grabbed the clipboard hanging from the foot of Mira's hospital bed.
She began to read it.
PATIENT INFORMATION
NAME: Mira Howard
Age: 15
Treatment Info: Currently unconscious, head staples, stitches on arms and legs, glass removed from wounds
Wound Description: Blunt force trauma on back of head appears to be caused by a long smooth instrument. Bruises on chest area from hitting the ground. Scrapes and scratches with minor to major bleeding. Prominent blood loss.
Sherlock took her phone out and photographed the medical information, then she squatted down and pulled a plastic bin out from under the hospital bed.
A label on the bin read "Patient's Belongings". A student-nurse opened the curtain and looked at Sherlock. "Nurse, Katie needs pain relievers." She said.
Sherlock stood up and brushed off her scrubs. "Of course." She said.
"Are the items in that bin what the patient had with her during the attack?" Sherlock asked, pointing at the bin. The nurse looked suspicious but she replied anyway. "Yes I believe so. Don't forget those pills."
When the nurse finished speaking, she left. Sherlock turned back to the bin and dug around it for awhile. She finally found what she was looking for, a yellow notebook.
She grabbed it and left the infirmary.
When Sherlock opened the door to 221B she called Jess's name but there was no response. Sherlock reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out the crumpled up paper she found on the catwalk. She opened Mira's notebook and flipped through it until she found where the missing page went.
When Sherlock laid the paper where it used to go the most important piece of the puzzle was revealed.
It wasn't what Mira was going to say in her segment that caused a problem, it's what she decided not to say.
