Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

33. More Questions than Answers

Tim spent the weekend either doing school work, or thinking over the case. Tim felt like there was a simple answer for the whole thing, but it kept escaping him. He didn't have enough information. Going over what to do for the situation, he knew he could try re-interviewing the victims, but he didn't think that would be much help. He was pretty sure they'd told him all they could, and he'd asked them to let him know if they thought of anything else. There wasn't any new information he could go on to take back to them and see if they could remember something about that. The only thing that seemed left to do, was wait for a break in the case.

On Monday morning, Tim was passing through the section of hallway on the third floor where three lockers had been hit, when he bumped into Jane coming out of her locker. The items in her hands fell to the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was my fault."

It had been; he'd been looking at the lockers that hung open and empty after the thefts, almost wishing they could talk to him and tell him who or what had done the crime. Tim bent down to help her pick up her books, and his hand landed on a necklace. The chain looked silvery, and it had what looked like amethysts set in it. Tim froze.

"Where… where did you get this?" He asked, trying to keep his voice mild.

"In… in the field where we're parking the cars right now, while the parking lots are repaired. I found it." Jane replied, eyes wide. She looked suddenly frightened. "I… I got out of my car this morning after parking, and something was sparkling on the ground. I picked it up… I was going to take it to the admin's office as soon as I could! I know some things have been stolen lately… I'm not taking anything, though! I know this isn't mine, so I was going to return it!"

Tim looked at her. Mind working rapidly, he tried to determine whether or not to believe her, and realized that he wasn't sure.

"Alright, then. Why don't we both go to return it?" he suggested evenly. "I'm looking into the thefts as well, and the administrator will definitely need to know. Why don't we both take this down and you'll only have to tell your full story once?"

Jane, looking more afraid than ever, nodded. "O-okay… I swear I was going to take it down. I'm not a thief!"

"Let's just bring it to the office first."

Jane was no less nervous at the administrator's office. Her hand actually shook as she held out the necklace.

"Excuse me, but I'm here to turn in something… I, I parked in the field area this morning since the parking lots are still being repaired, and when I got out of my car, I saw something sparkling on the ground. I picked it up to see what it was, and realized that it was this necklace… it looks very nice, so I thought someone might be missing it. I, I'm not sure if it's one of the stolen things, but I wanted to try to get it back to its rightful owner."

The woman- the nameplate on her desk read Lauren Vandanar- gave the necklace a close look.

"Good heavens." She muttered. "Yes, that does match the description of one of the stolen items. Give that here, please."

Jane hastily dropped it into the woman's outstretched hand as it holding it any longer would burn her.

"I'm going to need you to show me exactly where you found this." Lauren said, and Tim spoke up.

"Actually ma'am, if you don't mind."

Lauren looked over, startled. "Oh, you're… Tim Goodman, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've been looking into the thefts a bit, at the request of a couple of the students that have been stolen from, and I just want to clarify a couple things with Jane while we're here."

Well, it wasn't a whole truth, but it wasn't a total lie either, since more than one of the students he'd talked to had asked him to tell him what he found out. So he supposed he could use that as an excuse.

"I appreciate that, Tim, but it's really something that should be school business."

"Yes, I know you wouldn't want me meddling in it. I just mean that I've talked to the students who have been stolen from. All I want to do here is determine for sure if Jane might have taken anything. That's the first question that's bound to come up once it gets out that she had the necklace- and I'm not saying that I would spread that around." Tim added hurriedly. "But her stuff all fell to the floor in the hall. There were people watching. I just want to ask a couple questions myself to see if there's a way to prove Jane's innocence, or not, before people draw their own conclusions."

Tim heard Jane draw in a frightened breath.

"I see. I suppose it would be best to get that out of the way before there's an uproar."

The woman gave Jane an appraising glance. "Hang on. Now that I think of it… You submitted a research project along with your application to the programs, right? I remember seeing the submission sent in for consideration. Didn't you do that project on picking locks and ways for preventing and discouraging that?"

Jane flushed, a look on her face that Tim would consider to be pretty guilty.

"I… I did, yes. My mother and father are both locksmiths. I'd like to be a lawyer, but I thought the report would increase my chances of getting in. I promise, I've never picked a lock in my life! I spent a lot of time in my room with my Pokemon watching videos, but I've never gone into anyone's locker, I promise!" the girl looked near tears.

"Then we need something that will prove your innocence. And fast, because I won't lie to you: this doesn't look good." Tim told her.

A couple of tears trailed down her face. She opened her mouth a couple of times, then closed it, before finally saying, "What did you have in mind?"

Tim ripped a fresh piece of paper out of his notebook and, after checking the dates and time frames of the five stolen items, wrote them down and gave it to Jane.

"Can you tell me exactly where you were during those times on those days? That's when the thefts took place. If you have an alibi, for any of them, now's the time to say it."

Jane looked over the paper.

"Umm… between 10 and three this day, I was in a couple classes." She said, pointing at the time period that Melissa's necklace- the one she had turned in- had gone missing.

"Ok. Were you in one classroom the entire time?"

"No… I had to change classes three times in that time frame."

"Ok, and was there anyone with you during each class change?"

"Only during one of them… I walked to my other two classes myself."

"Then we need a different alibi. You could have done it between class changes."

Jane flinched. "But I didn't!"

"Yes, and I'm sorry to say it that way. But you could have, so we need something else to prove your innocence."

"Ok, um… this one won't help either, then, because I was late to class that day…" Jane pointed at the date and time that Tiffany's hair brush went missing. "But… these ones! I was in class during all of those times! I was in an extra help class with my Civil Procedure's teacher during this time period, and when these two were both taken I was in Law Enforcement!"

Tim checked the time and realized that it was, in fact, during their Law Enforcement class… and he remembered seeing her in her seat two rows down and a few to the left of his own, now that he was thinking of it. She always sat in the same place for that class, and he didn't remember any days that desk had been empty. He knew no one had left the class before the end, either… everyone tended to notice if someone left early, given that it disturbed things a little.

"Oh, that's perfect, then. In fact, I remember seeing you there, now that you've mentioned it; we have the same class. So you do have an alibi for some of the thefts. That's good. That means we can rule you out. Nothing to worry about." Tim smiled at her. Part of him was a little relieved- she hadn't seemed like the type to steal other's things, although he knew that "not seeming the type" didn't make a person innocent, and part of him was a little frustrated- if it wasn't her, who was it? This was the longest case he'd worked to date except for his father's disappearance and the related R disasters.

"Alright, that's good. So we know it's not Jane and we have proof." Lauren said. "Now Jane, dear, I'm going to need you to show me where you found that, and Tim, I think it's best for you to get back to class. Here." Lauren reached into a drawer and handed him a tardy pass- the bell had rung shortly before they had walked into the office, so Tim would need to show it to his teacher to avoid a mark on his attendance record. He took it.

"Thank you." Tim told her, and went to his class without any further argument, showing the pass to his professor as he went in. He wished he could get a message to Absol to ask him to watch the two and see where Jane said she'd found the necklace, but perhaps he could simply speak to him at lunch, instead. They might still be able to find Jane's car later to take a look at the area.

The area around Jane's car, which Tim and Absol searched after his classes (with the help of Dustin, who now seemed to like Tim just as much as Tyler disliked him), yielded nothing. However hard they searched, there was no indication of anything. Tim ended up having to conclude that pretty much anyone could have dropped something there, and that there wasn't anything else that had been "just dropped" there either except for a few candy bar wrappers and empty coffee cups. Tim ended up collecting those anyway, to throw out, but nothing Tim could use turned up.

Nothing Tim could use turned up for a couple of weeks after that, either. Nothing else happened. Tim knew people were paranoid of leaving valuables in their locker now; that could have something to do with it. So could other reasons, like the thief backing off now that people were aware of what they were doing. Or, any other reason that Tim just didn't know at this point.

The month of October drew to a close. Tim attended some of the fundraising events, noting that plenty of people were there on the days after GNN's piece on it was featured.

And the morning after the last event, the announcement was made that $18,430 had been raised. It would be kept aside in a safe place for about a week to allow for any late donations to come in, then presented to the administrators of the Graphic Design program. Nothing was out of place.

A few days later, however, chaos erupted.

Thursday, in his first class, they were interrupted by the Laura the administrator coming into the classroom, looking frantic. She and Tim's teacher spoke in hushed tones that Tim couldn't quite hear, despite sitting near the front. Then his teacher looked up.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I'm going to have to put the lesson on pause for a few minutes. I'll be back soon. Don't walk out on me before I get back now." The man gave them a tense looking smile before heading out the door at a run.

The class sat in stunned silence for a moment before whispers erupted. Tim sat quietly, wondering what could have happened, and hoping they would be given answers soon.

A few minutes turned into ten, and then twenty before Terry came back. He looked disheveled, but stood back at the classroom, apologized to the class, and made to continue the lesson.

Tim, however, still wanted answers.

"Mr. Rhodes, please, what happened?" he asked, ignoring (as he did every time) the fact that the man had requested they call him Terry (calling the man that just felt strange to Tim, at least out loud in a classroom setting). "What's going on? It looks like there's a problem of some kind?"

The man hesitated, eyes flickering around the room, before he sighed.

"Alright. Listen, this stays in this room, alright? No one speaks about it, we don't want any panic. But the money raised for the Graphic Design program has gone missing."

Collective gasps echoed around the room, as well as a few whispers about the school thief striking again.

Tim grit his teeth. He hadn't caught them yet, and look what had happened! This time, something really big had gone missing. This had to be the final straw; whatever it took, Tim had to find them before they took anything else!

"Now, don't anyone worry. I'm going to look into this. That's why Laura came to me. I'm one of the teachers here with the best skill at this sort of thing, so I'm going to look into the details and find the one responsible. Nobody here has to worry. Now! Right now, let's get back to our class. I've got a free period right after this, so that's when I'll start investigating, but my first job is a teacher! That's the important thing right now. If you'll turn your eyes back to the screen, everyone…"

Tim tuned out the rest of the class, thinking more about the missing money and how he could help. If his teacher had a free period after this class, Tim could use the few minutes between class to ask him some questions. If he was going to be in charge of finding the person who stole the money, he would know all the details. That would be Tim's first step.

As soon as Tim could, he cornered Terrance Rhodes. He had to follow the man out of the room and to the staff room, since the man packed up and shot over there as soon as he could, but once Tim caught up to him, he called his name and got his attention immediately.

When the man faced him, he gave Tim a tense smile. "Hey… now's not really the time to ask me any questions if you're stuck on anything, Tim. Sorry, but-"

"I'm not stuck on anything." Tim interrupted. "I want to help catch the thief. I've been looking into the school thief for weeks now, but haven't gotten close yet. And this is the biggest thing that's gone missing. I want to look into this case, so that I can catch the thief and get everything back to its rightful owner, and I definitely want to help find that missing money. I can help you. Please, let me look into this."

The man hesitated, then smiled. "Well, with your track record for solving cases, Tim, it sure would be a weight off my mind if you were helping. I'll tell you what. Let me look into things for a bit first and get all of the information I can. At the end of the day today, I'll meet up with you. My last class ends at four, what about you?"

"I'm done at five."

"I'll wait here for you, then. Anything you need to solve the case, I'll give it to you then. And I'll bring Laura too, to let her know I've brought you in on this. She might not be too pleased, but I'll take the heat for it and get her on board. Meet you here at five?"

"I'll be here as soon as I'm out." Tim promised, pleased. At last, he was going to get the information that the administrators and teachers knew. The day would be an agonizing wait, but he was going to get to the bottom of this.

The day did, indeed, crawl by. Tim filled Absol in at lunch, and slogged through his classes, not really able to pay attention. Thankfully, he still recorded his classes, so it wasn't as much of a problem as it might have been, but there was a part of Tim that was still bothered. He wanted to pay attention in his classes; he wanted this issue solved.

When his last class ended, Tim hurriedly packed his things and took off, racing to the staff room on the second floor. Both Terrance and Laura were waiting in there for him, as promised. The room was empty otherwise.

"Alright, we might as well jump right into it." Terrance said. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me everything you can about the missing money. Where was it being stored, when exactly did it go missing, every detail you can think of. Just tell me what you know, and I'll ask any questions I need to." Tim pulled out his notebook and a pen.

"Alright. The money from the fundraising was going to go to the Graphics Design program, as you know. They've been in desperate need of new computers for a few years now, the ones we've got for the program are pretty outdated. The money raised was stored here in the staff room, actually. We have a locked safe at the back where we keep it. Laura checks on it three times a day; when she gets in in the morning, at her lunch hour, and at the end of the day. At the end of each day, any late donations that arrived are added, the entire amount is counted, and it's locked back up. Overnight, there's a camera in the room that keeps tabs on things. It's turned off during the day, though, because there's just about always some staff in here."

"I see. And you came in to the class first period… I assume the money went missing this morning, then?" Tim asked Laura.

"Yes. Everything was there when I checked last night, and I activated the camera. The camera was on all night, and it shows nothing at all getting in the room. When I arrived this morning, which was at about seven, I turned the camera off, but I wasn't able to check the money right away. I did that around nine. When I opened the safe, it was empty. That was when I went looking for Terry. He's more skilled at this kind of thing than most of the other teachers."

"Have you reported the incident yet?"

"I did speak to the police, yes. We don't want to alarm anyone just yet, so we're going to leave the area of the room with the safe exactly the way it is and police will take a look at it over the weekend."

Tim noted everything down, but thought it a little odd. Why wouldn't they come right away? Almost twenty thousand dollars had gone missing!

He made a note of that question, too, but something kept him from asking it. There was something unusual here. He could feel it tugging at him the same way the feeling that he was just missing the answer on all the other thefts had been.

"So you believe it went missing between seven and nine then?"

"Yes. It must have."

"And do you have any idea who was around at that time? Who might have been in this room?"

"No… but I can get you a list of the teacher's schedules, if you'd like. That will tell you at least which teachers were in class and which weren't, although it won't help if it was a student that snuck in here."

"That would be very helpful, thank you! So, when you came in to open the safe and check on the money, did you see anything that might have been strange or out of place?"

"Not at all. I came in, everything was in the same place as usual. I got to the safe, and I unlocked it- both locks, the combination and the key- and when I opened it, it was just… empty."

Tim looked up from his notebook. "Wait, you unlocked it? It was still locked and everything? No damage that you saw?"

"No, nothing like that. It looked completely untouched."

Tim frowned. "Sounds pretty different from the other thefts, out of the lockers. Those were scratched up- the locks, at least. Could I take a look at it before I go? I won't touch anything."

"Yes, of course." Terry put in before Laura could answer.

"Thank you." Tim answered quickly, afraid that Laura would try to reverse that answer. "Now, is there anyone you can think of that you know was in here this morning, or even anyone that might have been here last night? I know you said that the camera showed nothing suspicious, but is there maybe a janitor that comes in to clean after everyone leaves?"

"No, no one comes in afterward. The janitorial staff are done by the time I leave the building." Laura told him. "But as for this morning… Ms. Honeytree and Mr. Williams arrived at the school shortly after I did. I don't know if they came in here beforehand, though. I'm not sure beyond that who came when."

"I was in the room this morning around… I guess it was eight-thirty." Terry mused. "Mr. Turecki and Mr. Dornbur were in here as well."

Tim wrote down the names, planning to check everything again on the schedules. "And did you see anything strange?"

"No. I'm afraid it was a typical Thursday morning. Nothing unusual. From my standpoint, it looks like a ghost came in, took the money, and made off. Of course, more investigation is needed, but… it doesn't seem like anything odd happened. The money is just gone."

"Alright. In that case, I'd like to take a look at the safe?"

"By all means. Just remember we have to leave it just like it is."

"Right."

The two showed Tim to the safe, which hung open. As the administrator had said, there were two locking mechanisms- a combination, and a keyhole. The safe, a black, microwave sized box sitting on the back counter, was empty. As Tim had been told, nothing looked out of place. Nothing was damaged. It was just empty, like someone had walked in, used the key, punched in the number, taken what was inside, and left, apparently locking up afterward. Plain and simple.

"Who has the combination to this lock? And the key- where is it kept, and is there more than one copy?" Tim asked.

"There's only one key- that we know of, anyway. But it hangs on the rack in the teacher's supply room. The keys aren't labeled, but there's a system to them, so anyone could take it, really, if they knew what it was. And the teachers all know the combination, in case they need to use it, but we hire only outstanding people. I can't imagine any of them would do such a thing."

"Hmm…" Tim noted it down. "It's starting to look that way, though… but then, there are other ways too. I'll look into everything. And speaking of everything, I'd like to know what you know about the thefts from the lockers."

Both adult's expressions changed a little and they glanced at each other, but seemed to relent. Tim asked them the same questions he'd asked the people whom the lockers had belonged to, but got no more information from the teachers than he had the students. Laura offered to give him the names of the students, and was shocked when he already knew. But when Tim ran out of questions, he knew nothing new about the locker thefts.

"Any more questions?" Laura asked.

"No, I don't think so. I'll come find one of you if I do. If I could just get those schedules, then? And by any chance, is there a schedule for what goes on in each room? If you have anything like that, I'd like to get that as well."

"Of… of course. If you'll follow me to my office?"

"Right."

As he followed Laura to her office on the first floor, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this one. It was nothing like the other thefts. The other thefts had had damage left behind and half of them made little to no sense, like random kelptomania. This one was different. Was something else going on? Were the other thefts practice? That didn't make much sense to Tim either, so he doubted it, but he'd keep it at the back of his mind until there was proof that that wasn't the case.

He'd been hoping to get real, solid evidence to determine what was going on. He felt however, like he had more questions.

A/N: A stolen item turned up... Jane seemed guilty, but had an alibi for at least some of the thefts. Still no answers... and then, disaster struck. A BIG theft... and this one seems weird.

If anyone is getting bored of the school theft case... it won't be too much longer. XD