His Conundrums

Chapter 39

An Encounter

“Kirstie?”

“Yes. I thought you have forgotten about me. You look like you couldn’t recognize your junior,” she said.

“How could I forget you? Wow, you look amazing. Are you working here?” he asked.

“Yeah, Dad doesn’t want another daughter to go abroad,” she made a face, and Joe laughed at her.

“Being the youngest really sucks,” she added.

“Since when she went abroad?” Joe asked her.

“Oh right, you really like Lori before, don’t you? I guess you still like her until now,” she teased him.

“Uhh, no. I just want to ask if she’s doing well,” he said and scratched the back of his head, unaware of the attack she gave him.

“She’s doing great in London. She's still obsessed with violin,” Kirstie told him.

Joe nodded his head.

“You’re going home?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just finished doing the exams of my class, and I think I deserve being rewarded with a nice hot bath, am I?”

“Of course, you did well.”

“Why are you here, by the way?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m looking for a student, Xyra Dollis. Have you seen her?” Joe asked her.

“I think she’s in my math class, but I put them in a study session earlier since I was preparing for their exam. I really don’t know, I’m sorry,” she said.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Is it the Lampt’s girl case?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“I hope you’ll find her as soon as possible. His parents are pinning down the school and pointing out random students so they could have someone to blame. It’s really annoying.” She sighed.

“I’m not a police officer, actually,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“What?”

“I think I became a police by estoppels,” he joked, but Kirstie didn’t seem to catch the joke.

“I think I should get going,” he said.

“Yeah. Anyway, keep up the good work,” she said.

“So, see you around?”

“See you around.”

-0-0-0-

“You’re not done yet?” A boy was sitting on an armchair with two of his friends, Klio and Kristoff, and his younger brother, Thompson.

“N-not yet,” she said, shivering in fear.

“It’s getting dark. You know science is our first period tomorrow, so I should have that assignment today,” Gauntler grunts, totally pissed.

She didn’t utter a single word but continued answering his homework. He smacked the table beside her making her pencil broke. He sighed.

“I bet your pencil is as weak as you,” he laughed.

Suddenly Joe came out from nowhere.

“Hey kids, if you badly need that homework first thing in the morning tomorrow, you should do it yourself,” he said.

Joe snatched the paper Xyra was writing and threw it in the air. He grabbed Xyra by her hands and dragged her along outside.

“You shouldn’t let anyone do that to you,” Joe told her.

“I-I have no choice,” she said, crying.

Joe gave her a handkerchief. He texted Sirius that he found Xyra and met them at their car. Not long after, they saw Gauntler and his friends on their way to the boy’s dormitory. Sirius went out after them.

“I found her answering that stupid boy’s homework,” Joe told Sirius when he went inside the car.

Sirius looked at her and saw her sniffing her own nose.

“Is that my handkerchief?” Sirius asked Joe.

Xyra stopped midway from using it to blow her nose. Joe smiled at him.

“We should buy her dinner before returning her to their dorm,” Joe said.

Sirius was driving, and he decided to take Xyra to Mr. Lauve’s coffee shop.

“Why here? What do you want to feed this kid for dinner? Coffee-nudo?” Joe asked Sirius.

“Don’t get me started. First, I bought her here because this is the only place where we could ask her things peacefully. Second, Mr. Lauve texted me to eat dinner at his place and told him we bought a kid with us, and he’s okay with it. Lastly, if we eat in a fancy restaurant, we would order some nasty food like before. So suit yourself. It’s not like you pay every time we go out,” Sirius told him.

“Y-you…” Joe pointed out his finger, but Sirius walked ahead completely ignored him. Xyra followed Sirius inside the coffee shop, leaving him alone outside.

“…you hurt my weak heart and poor soul, Sirius. How could you?” he said while faking his sobs.

-0-0-0-

It was almost 7 pm when they’re done eating their dinner. Xyra calmed down and seemed to enjoy their company. Aside from solving the disappearance of the Lampt’s girl, they want to help this girl who got bullied at school.

“Don’t you know how to use your fist?” Joe asked him.

“Asked the guy who only knows how to pickpocket,” Sirius said.

“I’m not the Joe from before. This is the new me, okay?” Joe told him.

“You look really close,” Xyra smiled.

“We’re not,” they said in unison.

“They are, aren’t they?” Mr. Lauve asked her from one corner holding his mop.

“Give me that, old man. Leave this to me and take a rest upstairs,” Joe snatched away the mop from Mr. Lauve and softly pushed him away.

“Who do you think I am?” Mr. Lauve protested.

“Yeah, yeah,” Joe said nonchalantly.

“So, we were told that you saw Venice Lampt talking to Gauntler Anderman, two hours before she was last seen,” Sirius started.

Xyra nodded her head.

“Can you tell me what is the relationship between these two?” Sirius asked her.

A girl who’s always been with the bad guy not because they were friends rather a silently growing conflict can use everything she saw and hear against him. If anyone could ask honestly about the guy they were targeting, it would be her. A girl who became a bullying subject can be their strongest weapon and the key to solving the case.

She sighed, and her fear went ahead of her. She was trembling.

“Venice…” she started.

Joe and Sirius were patiently waiting for her to say something they might use as a clue.

“…and Gauntler. They’re in a secret relationship, and Luna doesn’t know about it,” she said.