His Conundrums

Chapter 37

The Hallray High School Case

They parked the car and went inside the police station. They saw a lot of people outside, hunger for untold stories and information to hear.

“Mister, are you a detective?”

“Can you please tell us about the Hallray High School Case?”

“Do you have any clue where Miss Venice is?”

“Someone told us it’s related to her father’s business, is it true?”

“Sirius!” Alex called him out when he saw Sirius entered the station.

“What’s this all about, Alex?” he asked.

“Come inside,” Alex told him.

Alex led him to his office, and Joe followed them.

“Two days ago, Hallray High School was celebrating their last day of school festival when something happened,” Alex started.

“You’re an alumnus, so you know how they celebrate their last day, do you?” he asked Sirius.

Sirius didn’t seem to catch up due to his current state, but Alex immediately covered the situation.

“Oh, sorry.”

“No, just continue,” Sirius told him.

“Clubs who got the highest profit are awarded with money from their income and allowed to celebrate on their own within the campus area.”

“Ooh, I remember my days,” Joe smiled.

“Venice Lampt was reported missing yesterday, and some witnesses said that the last time they saw her was during their club’s end party,” Audrey started to put down some pictures.

“This is her dorm’s room. According to her roommate, Elle Buen, who just arrived yesterday while we were searching for any clues, she went back to their province during their school festival and stayed there for a week, so she doesn’t have any idea where Miss Lampt went,” Alex explained.

 “You know Hallray just became a City yesterday, thanks to the Lampts who played a big role, and now they’re making a scene that their daughter was kidn*pped or worse, got killed,” Audrey sighed.

“Research Club, one among the clubs who made it to the top, led by Gauntler Anderman, a son of the Ander Company in Willis, held his birthday together with their club’s celebration,” she continued.

“A rich boy celebrating his birthday at school? I bet it’s too grand, isn’t it?” Joe asked them.

Audrey nodded her head.

“This girl, Xyra, saw him talking with Venice behind their club room two hours before she was last seen in front of the Science Lab,” she added.

“Then, there’s Luna Kim, the Kim’s youngest. She’s currently Gauntler’s girlfriend, and she’s also a cheerleader in Hallray, just like Venice. You know the feud between these two families, Kims, and Lampts can be considered part of the Hallray’s history. People think that Kim’s are also part of this.”

“You know where this case is going, don’t you?” Alex asked him.

“It’s not just a high school girl who went missing. It’s a case that involves big personalities in Hallray. We have to investigate it carefully. We need your help, Sirius,” Alex added.

-0-0-0-

Yesterday they enjoyed the sun while having a trip in Rook City, and now they’re back at Hallray with a hard case at hand and a rainy day to watch.

“How was the bagel?” Mr. Lauve asked them while serving them their coffees.

“Hell,” Joe whispered.

“What?” Mr. Lauve seemed to hear him a bit.

“It was really delicious, Mr. Lauve. I suggest you should put it on your menu,” Joe smiled as wide as he could.

“Is it?” the old man was so excited to hear their comments.

“Indeed,” Sirius agreed while sipping his coffee.

“Well, I think I missed something in that recipe after I ate the loaves of bread you gave me yesterday. I think their donuts are really something,” Mr. Lauve said while heading to his kitchen.

“So I baked some bread for you to eat because I really need some comment from you,” he said, smiling while carrying a bunch of freshly baked bread like bagel and pretzels from his kitchen.

Joe was in awe, seeing he has to eat them again after taking a break. He blew some of his bangs, saying, “So am I going to eat these pieces of bread for a week?”

Sirius shrugged his shoulder and went back from reading some papers.

-0-0-0-

“There was no sign of her leaving,” Joe mumbled a lot of times, eating some pretzels.

“If she really went missing, where should we start? If she was kidn*pped, we should wait for her kidnappers to call. But if she went in hiding, what are her reasons?” Joe complained.

“Hiding…” Sirius said.

“We should start asking some of her friends and colleagues,” Sirius added.

“Have some bread before you leave so you could eat something while you’re investigating,” Mr. Lauve gave each of them a bag of bread.

They said their thanks before leaving Mr. Lauve’s coffee shop. Sirius watched the sky. Dark clouds slowly moving East.

“Is it going to rain?” Joe asked.

“Maybe,” he said.

-0-0-0-

The mysterious man once showed himself in this series of events. As usual, he was sitting alone in his library reading some good books. He’s doing his research about what book he should start writing again. He heard a knock and closed the book he was reading. He put it above his table while waiting for one of his men to bring him some news.

“Sir, we received a report that police are on the move searching for Mr. Lampts daughter, Miss Venice Lampt,” a man wearing a suit entered his library.

“Good, let’s see how this is going,” he smiled.

“Also, Mr. Kim wants to see you and asking for your time,” the man added,

He put his hand under his chin while leaning his lower body on his table.

“Now, what could Mr. Kim want from me?” he laughed.

“These people are really something,” he went to fetch a glass of red wine from one corner.

“Cheers to Hallray for its second day as a City,” he smiled.

“Tell him I’ll meet him this evening, and I want sushi for dinner,” he said.

The man wearing suit bowed his head and left him alone, enjoying his own time drinking red wine.