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Who Done It
"I mean that's a little scary. If the human population was reduced so low that we turned advanced humanoids to emulate our thoughts and emotions," Dawson said and Scarlett shrugged. They were sitting on the stairs in the hallway waiting for school to start. They had went to go see Artificial Intelligence the night before.
"Yeah I guess. But I really liked the movie. Just that thought of human feelings being inseminated into a robotic structure so well that even the creators almost embrace it," she mused.
"Then I got to thinking about all the other aspects of just love or affection but violence and hate. Even the thought of sin. What place is there for sin with robots?"
"Let he who is without sim cast the first stone," Scarlett quoted giving him a wink when he laughed.
"Everyone come look! Look what they did to the pool!" someone yelled and the two looked at each other before rising and heading to the pool.
When they came in everyone was around the incident.
"Holy," Scarlett breathed out looking at what was before her.
Directly in the middle of the pool sat a full sized boat with a barking dog in it.
"You don't see this every day," Joey said and Jack smiled at her in agreement.
Mitch came in the swinging doors at that moment, "What the hell is this?"
"That's my boat... And my dog," Principle Green piped out shaking in shock.
"Who could have possibly?" Jack asked in disbelief.
Dawson laughed, "I should have thought of this."
Joey gave him a look. "Dawson, while we do recognize your talent as a witty practical joker, I think that this is even out of your league."
A couple of the members of the swim team dove into the pool and pulled the boat to shore.
Principal beckoned his dog, "Chester. Come here."
The dog hopped off the boat and went straight up to Jack and sat down. Jack looked nervous all of a sudden and everyone gazed at him, murmuring whispers to one another.
Principal Green looked at Jack with narrowed eyes.
"Do you know that dog, Mr. Mcphee?"
Jack shook his head after a moment. "Nnno."
The bell went off.
"Alright everyone get to class," Mitch called out and everyone filtered out.
"Props to whoever pulled that off," Scarlett said still smiling.
"Hopefully they're long gone by now. Green looked peeved," Dawson said laughing.
They walked into class and took their spots. It was only about 20 minutes into class before the p.a. system went off.
"Will the following students please report to Principal Peskin's office immediately. Jack Mcphee, Zack Estrin, Dawson Leery, Dave Bussan, Pacey Witter, and Scarlett Hamara."
Dawson and Scarlett looked at each other before rising and heading to the office.
"I'm not sure if I'm honored or offended that I'm being called in for this,"Scarlett said walking into the office. She took the seat next to Dawson.
"Be honored Hamara, honored. You're one of the chosen few," Pacey offered giving her a smirk making Dawson shoot him with his eyes a bit but Scarlett smiled.
Mitch came out.
"Pacey you're up," he said going back into the room. Pacey rose.
"Wish me luck," he said winking at Scarlett and she jokingly shook her head in protest.
"I need all the luck I can get," she responded shrugging her shoulders.
"Selfish just selfish," he said giving his best scolding face as he entered seemingly unphased.
She looked over at a silent Dawson.
"It's fine," he said and her eyebrow rose.
"Is it…"
"Yeah...I just have to get used to you two being so….friendly. I'm not ready to give him another chance but I won't make you feel bad for being nice to him either."
She smiled at him even though he still had a frown on his face.
"Careful your face will get stuck like that," she said making him finally crack a smile.
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I sat down trying to resist the urge to laugh at this interrogation setup they had going on. Mr. Leery was on my right and Principal Green was on my left.
"Process of elimination has made you one of the lucky 3 that I still consider to be a suspect in this crime. Now ,there's an easy way to do this, Mr. Witter, and there is a hard way," Green said challenging my ability not to break into hysterics.
"Well, seeing as I have absolutely no idea what crime you're referring to, I'll probably take the easy way," I replied evenly.
They both crossed their arms and I laughed.
"You think I had something to do with your boat."
"Mr. Witter, everyone in Capeside is aware of the rather sad fate of the late vessel true love, which, I believe, gave you access to the marine storage facility in the yacht club where my boat resided at the time of its boat napping, if you will," Principal Green stated pointedly.
"Everyone one is also aware that I am nowhere near crazy enough to lay a hand on your boat Principal Green," I countered giving them my best innocent look.
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Dawson laughed at the display before him.
"Are you guys accusing me of something?" he asked with such amusement.
Mitch hesitated and looked at his son, what he presumed as, evenly.
"You know that you're the last person I would suspect of being responsible for a stunt like this, but you can also understand why we would have no choice but to bring you in. Under the circumstances."
"What circumstances would those be?"
"Well, given that you're my son, it follows that you would have access to my master keys to the school, thereby placing you on a rather short list."
Dawson sighed and dropped his head.
"Why on earth would I ever think to participate when I know I'm on a short list," Dawson suggested.
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"So let me get this straight. I'm here because I happen to enjoy the occasional ride on my boat?" Scarlett questioned with raised eyebrows.
Mr. Leery and Principal Green stared her down.
"You're here because you are one of the few students with boat access," Green clarified.
"And you happen to have quite a bit of access to my master key as well. You spent a portion of your time at my house yesterday," Leery added and Scarlett laughed.
"Mr. Leery I always spend time at your house. You know my home situation so it's nice to have Dawson and your family around. You don't really think I had anything to do with this boat do you?"
Both authority figures glanced at each other and then back at the teen.
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Dawson shifted in his seat. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
Mitch narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "When I got up yesterday morning, you weren't at the house."
"Which proves that I kidnapped Chester? Aren't you guys working this whole, like, NYPD Blue angle a little hard? All right, um, in the morning, mom gave me a ride.I had some work to do at Brook's. I remember mom asked me about your keys but I honestly have no idea where I put them. I just wanted to find them before you noticed I'd lost them again. She took me to Brook's and that's it. I spent the rest of the morning alone in the study until Scarlett came by closer to lunch," Dawson said finishing up his explanation of where he had been all morning.
Mitch looked at Dawson.
"Dawson, I think it's time we discussed your infamous ninth-grade senior pact for a minute," he said and Dawson sat back in disbelief.
"Dad, that was four years ago."
Principal Green looked intrigued. "Wait, what pact?"
Dawson offered up the story with a thought.
"When I was in ninth grade, um, the seniors pulled a particularly lame prank. I think they graffitied the lockers and trashed the parking lot or something. It was embarrassing. And, uh, Pacey and I made a pact that when our time came, we would do it right- the prank to end all pranks. We talked about it for years."
Principal Green pointed his finger. "So it was you!"
Dawson denied, "No, it wasn't me. In case you haven't noticed, Pacey and I aren't exactly Butch and Sundance these days. I didn't remember the pact until you—"
Dawson looked off for a moment confusing Green and Mitch.
"Well? What is it?" Green asked.
"I can tell you I didn't do it. I can't speak for Pacey."
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"Where were you all of yesterday?" Mitch questioned Jack.
"I went over to Jen's to tell her about her spot helping me coach in the kid's soccer league at around 12:45. We coached for a good portion of the day. I was doing a project for chem. with Drue valentine. You know him. We had to go to the hardware store to pick up some supplies," Jack gave his play by play.
"So, you picked up Jen at 12:45," Mitch repeated and Jack nodded.
"I think so..." Jack said.
"What time did you get to the park?"
"Um, I don't know. It was, like, 1:35-ish."
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"Now, let's cut to the chase, shall we? My boat was quietly removed from the storage warehouse behind the yacht club sometime between 12:30 P.M. And 5:15. Records indicate that you are one of the only two seniors who had access to that particular warehouse."
Pacey rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Let's emphasize one of two and just what records might those be? And who is this other student?"
"I'll be asking the questions, Mr. Witter. Ok." Green said asserting himself. He had on his best face of authority. Pacey rose his hands in surrender.
"All right, I'll talk. But I gotta warn you, it's gonna be deathly boring," he quipped matching Green's stare down.
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"So what were you doing before you went to get Dawson?" Mitch asked Scarlett and she opened up her bag. She pulled out a notebook and opened to a specific page. She handed over the notebook.
"What is this?" Green asked looking down.
"My alibi," she said pointing to the taped receipt. It was label "Grapada" at the top.
"What's a Grapada?" Green asked.
"A spa," Mitch answered.
"I wanted a little break from life so I went for a few hours. Here's my start and end time," Scarlet said referring to the receipt content.
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Principal Green sat down.
"So, at 12:00, you were still at the Arthur Brooks estate?"
Dawson nodded.
"Yes, I was. By 12:30, I was more than ready to get out of there. Scarlett picked me up. She took me home."
"Was anyone home?" Green asked.
"Uh Drue Valentine was there."
"Why was Drue at the house?" Mitch asked.
"I ran into him at the movies last night so we just watched together. Had a burger after and he drove me home but I left your keys in his car. I was so relieved because I couldn't find them anywhere."
"Wait, Drue had my keys?" Mitch questioned.
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"So me and my brother went to check up on a lost dog. It was absolutely riveting," Pacey disclosed finishing his story.
"So what you're telling me is that you were looking for the very same dog that you're suspected of having taken?" Mitch questioned.
"Mitch, you are a sane and reasonable man, and it is obvious that I'm not responsible for this whole fiasco, so why are we still here? "
"We're still here because a certain fresh detail has come to light which suggests that we must, at the least, account for all of your whereabouts yesterday" Green shoot in.
Pacey chuckled, "You discussed my ninth-grade pact with Dawson."
"Oh, you remember the agreement, too, I see" Green spat.
"Well, of course I remember it. It was my idea. But did it ever occur to you that my not-so-close acquaintance-slash- former best friend has hinted or possibly even implicated yours truly only to divert suspicion from himself?"
"Mr. Witter, justice is blind. If Dawson is responsible, we'll nail him... Just as we'll nail you," Principle Green said with conviction
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"How is it possible that we're still doing this?" Dawson ranted.
"I'll tell you how. Capeside high, a facility to which you have had intimate access, must've been trespassed upon sometime after 5:30 P.M. When the cleaning crew went home. There were no signs of forced entry, which implies an inside job."
"Dad, I was home last night. You saw me," Dawson pleaded.
Mitch shook.
"At 10:00. Uh, just tell us about the prior 5 hours- afternoon and evening, where you were, who you were with- and I promise you we'll be done with this."
"We'll be done with this when I've got my man," Green added.
"I went back to Brook's against my better judgement. That's where I was. Then I came home."
Both men looked at each other as if in deliberation.
"You can leave now Dawson," Green invited.
Dawson headed for the door but turned around for a moment.
"Pacey might be cocky, but he's not an idiot. I mean, there's no way he would jeopardize his academic foothold for what was hardly the prank to end all pranks," Dawson confessed to Mitch and Green before heading out.
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Principal Green sat next to Jack.
"Well, you can go."
Jack looked at him with wide eyes, "I can?"
"Mm-hmm. Just as soon as you tell us where you were between 5:30 last night and 8:00 this morning. Let's just stick to last night after 5:30."
"Once again, as I've already told you, we had a game. It was our first playoff game."
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"W-wait a second. You couldn't find the dog, so your brother made you get in the back of the car? I'm confused," Principle Green said puzzled.
"I was confused, too. It seemed so blatantly hostile, even for Dougie. Frankly, when he went in, I considered making a break for it," Pacey went on.
"It was a little after 9:00 when we got the call, and Doug and I headed out to the boat yard," Pacey recalled.
"We found Drue Valentine. His mom had got a call about a stolen boat and sent him to the docks. He called the cops. After that was sort out Drue gave me a ride home. And that was it."
"And where did you go?" Green inquired.
"Well, I wanted to grab a bite to eat. He said he was busy. He dropped me off at home. Within 25 minutes, I was sleeping like a baby," Pacey ended.
Principal Green sighed once more.
"All right, Pacey. You can go. Thanks for your help. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Pacey got wide eyes, "Seriously? You're not just messing with me?"
"Get out of here, pace, before he changes his mind."
Pacey stood up but hesitated.
"Something else, Mr. Witter?" Green questioned.
"Well, yeah, I was just thinking, honestly, I don't think Dawson did it, either."
"Why's that?"
Pacey shrugged, "That guy's way too respectable to pull off that type of crime. At least not without my coaxing, you know? Just not that type of guy."
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Joey walked into the Leery house. After Drue had stopped her and told her to get a message to "the boys" she knew they had something to do with the prank business. They had pinned this whole thing on Drue.
"Is Dawson here?" she asked Mitch and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not sure. You can check in his room if you'd like."
"Thanks."
"Hey, Joey. If he is up there, tell him I know... And congrats."
She felt a smirk grace her face as she went upstairs and entered the room of Dawson Leery. She gawked in surprise at the sight before her. Both Pacey and Dawson were filling a trash bag with remains and obviously evidence.
"Ok, explanation time."
They both looked up and thought of what to say.
Someone else was climbing through the window.
Jack came through the window.
"It is a bitch gettin' up here without a ladder," he said scrambling to his feet when he saw Joey.
"Ahh." Joey stated.
"Joey. What's she doing here, guys? I thought that we were supposed to be doing this alone."
"I knew it. The three of you. You did it, didn't you? You guys put the boat in the pool. You did it!"
Pacey held up his hands.
"Just calm down for a second. There's no reason to jump to silly conclusions. We didn't- we didn't-we didn't pull the prank off."
"We-we have airtight alibis," Dawson declared.
Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Besides, we all know Drue did it."
Dawson started taking a step forward.
"On the other hand, if we had wanted to pull off the prank, the three of us, that is... "
"Jack would have went to the Peskins' after he met up with Drue at the hardware store," Scarlett interrupted as she came through the door and everyone looked at her. She sat on Dawson's bed.
"He would have had time to leave the paint and the dog somewhere waiting for the next participant," she continued.
"I'm assuming that when Drue was waiting here at the house Pacey was doing his thing at the storage facility. But then it had to be before Dawson went back to Brooks so I was his alibi. But the thing is for a period of time I wasn't because he made a run to the store to get some snacks. So I'm guessing that he took the boat back to your meet up place. Pacey picked up both Jack's and Dawson's deliveries after Drue took him home when he was supposedly asleep. He then proceeded to tie it with a bow right in the middle of the gym's pool. Hypothetically speaking I mean," Scarlett finished and both the boys and Joey were silent.
"How the-what-I…" Dawson stuttered confused.
"I may have gotten curious and eavesdropped on your perspective interviews. You know I love a good mystery Dawson," Scarlett defended with a not even a smidge of guilty face.
"I swear you-you-"
"Am quite a whiz when it comes to puzzles? Yeah I know," she got in smiling.
"Now go along boys and get rid of your evidence before you get caught," Scarlett urged them. The boys rounded up all of their things and headed out the window. Scarlett pressed her back against the wall as she curled up on the looked over at her. It was bittersweet because of course Joey didn't like her, but she was just so….
"Is it hard being so perfect," Joey said more as a statement than a question.
Scarlett looked up at her with, first, a blank face.
"Perfect is a subjective term. Depends on how you define it," she finally replied.
"Come on Scarlett don't act like you don't know what I mean. You-"
"I definitely wouldn't define myself as perfect, but I am perfectly content with who I am in this moment. That's as close to perfect as I'm going to get."
They were both silent for a while until Joey gave a small laugh.
"Gosh you are perfect," she said turning to leave.
"Joey," Scarlett called and she turned.
"I'm not perfect. You just don't know me. You should give it try some time," she suggested. Joey seemed to think about it for a moment before exiting the room.
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The sound of dirt shoveling surrounded both Dawson and Pacey. Dawson chuckled lightly and Pacey took a glimpse.
"What are you thinking?" Pacey asked and Dawson shrugged.
"I was thinkin' we pulled it off."
"Hmm I was just thinking that something that hasn't been right for a long, long time has been tonight. I just keep on forgetting why we're not still friends."
Dawson paused his shoveling and looked up.
"You know it's not that simple."
Pacey nodded, his words steeped in misfortune, "Course not. It's just that…"
"I know," Dawson finished as they both took a moment of silence.
"Let me tell you, Dawson, when you told me you'd never be able to trust me again, that was probably amongst the top 5 worst moments of my life," Pacey admitted which made Dawson flinch.
"When I walked out on my back porch and saw you and Joey, that was my worst. Number one with a bullet."
Pacey didn't really know what to say. All he knew was he missed his best friend who had always been there. He missed hanging out and getting both of them into stupid situations. He missed his brother.
"Do you think it's possible that someday I could convince you that maybe I'm the type of person that you could trust again?" he dared to asked. Hope was alive in his heart and he didn't want to snuff it out.
Dawson sighed. "I would like to believe that it is."
"I gotta try. I'm not ready to give up on you," Pacey got out with a smile of rekindled encouragement.
Dawson returned the smile slightly.
"Well, if it doesn't work out, we can always just kill each other," he suggested making Pacey give a light heartened laugh.
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K Bye.
