The rest of the morning passes slowly as you can't wait for lunch to arrive. You're hot to start on the trail of the 'model masher', as you've fancifully named the unknown culprit.
Finally class lets out. You meet your new friends at Mr. Pettus' class.
"Now remember," Lizzie reminds you all, "be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary."
You all go back into the little room where Larry's project had been kept.
"Let's get our timeline straight first." Gordo says. "We all saw Larry with his project before class started, right?"
You all agree. You remember him trying to get it out of his locker.
"Okay then. So we know it was okay before class started. So the 'crime' occurred sometime after he stored the model here but before he came to get it again. Now how long was that?"
"About 20 minutes." Miranda says. "I know because the battery in my watch has been slowing down, so I checked it against the school clock. We were about 20 minutes into class when Tudgeman went to get his thing."
"So, somewhere in those 20 minutes person or persons unknown snuck in here, wreaked Tudgeman's model, then snuck back out."
Miranda raises an eyebrow. "Person or persons unknown?"
"It's what they say on all those cop shows…"
Lizzie starts looking around. "Now that we've narrowed down 'when', let's see if we can't find any clues to 'who'."
"Or 'why'." Miranda puts in.
Following their lead, you start combing the room, on the lookout for anything that sticks out. The room itself is small, probably no more than 12 feet by 12 feet. There are two doors to the room. One opens into Mr. Pettus' classroom, and another on the opposite side opens into another classroom. It seems to be used as a storage room for the two. Books, tests tubes, and all manner of school supplies are stacked around.
"Ugh. This place is a mess." Miranda complains.
"It's still better than the janitor's closet…" Lizzie shudders at a remembered memory.
As you're moving aside a test tube rack, you notice that one of the tubes has fallen out and broken. Not only that, but it seems that it was done recently, because whatever was in it a trace amount remains, dripping slowly from the jagged glass. Is this a clue? You bring attention to your find.
"Good work!" Lizzie proclaims, looking over the 'evidence'. Your first day as a 'detective' and you've already found a vital clue!
"What's it mean?" Gordo asks, looking over your shoulder.
"I don't know." Lizzie answers. "But it's something for us to find out. Let's see if we can find anything else."
But while you all search for the rest of the lunch period, nothing else is found. As you leave, Lizzie summarizes what's known thus far.
"Okay, so we know that whoever destroyed Larry's project did it between the start of class and Larry's discovering it."
"Which would be about 20 minutes." Miranda chips in.
"Right. And we also know that whoever did it knocked over a test tube while in the act." Gordo adds helpfully.
"Now that we have a timeframe," Lizzie takes back up, "we need to find out who could've had access to the storage room during that time."
You wonder how that can be found out.
"Well, anyone in class could've just walked right on in." Miranda says. "Not to mention everyone in Mr. Coppersmith's class next door—remember, his room opens into it just like Mr. Pettus'.
That's a lot of suspects!
Lizzie continues. "So, we know that everybody in those two classes had opportunity, but what about motive? Who in Mr. Coppersmith's class would want to wreak Larry's model?"
"Who has it in for Tudgeman?" Miranda asks.
"I don't know. But that's what we're going to find out."
You ask what the next move is.
"First, we're going to find out who's in Mr. Coppersmith's first period class." Lizzie responds, as the bell rings, signifying that lunch is over.
You get an idea. Your next class is working in the Principal's office as a student helper. You could look that info up!
Gordo grins. "You've gotten the hang of things pretty fast."
"Great! You do that," Lizzie says to you, "while we put our heads together and draw up a list of known suspects. We can all meet up after school at the Digital Bean to compare notes.
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As luck would have it, finding out who's in Mr. Coppersmith's first period class was even easier than you thought it'd be—because Mr. Coppersmith doesn't have a first period class.
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After asking around, you finally find your way to the Digital Bean café after school. Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda wave to you from a corner booth. You go join them.
"I'm glad you made it." Lizzie says. "I totally spaced—I forgot you're new here. Sorry."
You let her know that's okay.
"So, whatda find out?" Miranda asks eagerly.
You relay what you learned.
"Well, at least that makes things simpler."
"Now we're back to our original question: who has a grudge against Tudgeman?" Gordo asks.
As you all sit there and think, you notice the girl you bumped into this morning, Kate, coming into the café, talking with a friend.
"—so then I said, 'you are not wearing those shoes with that skirt are you?" She passes by without even noticing you.
Lizzie takes a sip of her soda. "Maybe we're coming at this from the wrong end. Who knew about Larry's project in the first place?"
Gordo takes up the thread. "We all saw it before class, and so did anyone else who was in the hallway at the time."
"But," Lizzie says, "We only need to focus on those people who saw Tudgeman's model and were in our class when it was smashed." She smiles, having at last made some progress. But Gordo's quick to shoot her down.
"How do we find out who was in the hallway when Tudgeman took out his model?"
It's Miranda who comes up with an answer.
"The security cameras!"
You all look at her.
"The school's security cameras. All we have to do is look at the tape for that place and that time and we'll be able to see who all was there."
You can't help but think how great it is to have brilliant friends!
"After we're done here, let's get back to school and look at those tapes." Lizzie says.