His Conundrums

Chapter 38

That Girl Who Went Missing

Sirius and Joe arrived at the Hallray High School where this girl, Venice Lampt, was studying. They are carrying a list of students who’s been in contact with Venice for the last few months and some pictures to identify these students.

“Excuse me, do you know Miss Xyra Dollis?” Joe asked a guy who passed by.

“No, I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay, thank you.”

“Ask that girl wearing a blue polo shirt,” Sirius told him.

“Okay—wait. Why am I the only one who’s asking around? Why are you prettily sitting there?” Joe asked him.

“I have my task,” Sirius told him, showing some papers on his hands.

“As if you read them,” Joe mumbled while he was on his way, asking that girl wearing a blue polo shirt.

“Hey, excuse me. Do you know this girl?” he asked, showing the girl a picture of Xyra.

“Oh yes,” she said.

“Can you tell me where is she?” Joe asked her.

“May I know—“

“Oh, I’m with the police. I’m Joe King, and that is my partner. He’s a detective, Mr. Sirius Welsch,” he introduced. Sirius caught Joe waving his hand to come near them, and so he did.

“Well, if you’ll go asking around, almost everybody knows this girl.” Joe listened to her carefully.

“She’s with Gauntler and his friends,” she said.

“She’s a friend with them?” Sirius asked her.

“Uhm, no.” she was a bit hesitant to say something, but she told them everything she knows.

“Well, Gauntler is kind of bully, and that girl became their target. She was a freshman, and she has no other choice but to obey her seniors.”

“Did anyone tell the teachers about this bullying?” Joe asked her.

“Yeah, a few tried to report it, and he’ll get suspended for a week, then when he comes back, he’ll do it again. He’s a son of the Ander Company, so nobody wants to get on his bad side, including the teachers,” she told them.

“That’s dirty play,” Joe remarked.

“Can you please hide my identity as an informant?” the girl asked them.

“Sure, honey. Thank you for giving us some details,” Joe told her and went off.

“Can we talk with this Mr. Rich Boy?” Joe asked Sirius.

“No. Not yet. If we go to him directly, he’ll keep his mouth shut,” Sirius told him.

“Let’s meet this Xyra girl first,” Sirius said.

“Do you know where she is right now?” Joe asked the girl.

“She’s in the library at this hour,” she said.

They said their thanks and headed to the library. There are not that many students who spent time at the library. Most of them have cellphones and internet to use. It’s not that hard to find a girl who became a bullying subject at the library.

She had her headphones on her ears, probably listening to her favorite music while piling books. Sirius went near her.

“Are you—“ Xyra gasped in shock and pulled out her headphones when she knew someone stood behind her. Sirius didn’t finish his words and looked at a poor girl who can’t even look at them in the eyes.

“Can I help you?” she asked in a soft voice. Her eyes are restless, but she chose to look at their shoes.

“Are you Xyra Dollis?” Joe asked her.

She nodded her head.

“I’m Detective Sirius Welsch. Can I ask you some questions regarding Miss Lampts disappearance?” Sirius asked her.

She looked them in the eyes.

-0-0-0-

Sirius and Joe decided to wait for Xyra to finish her classes so they could ask her questions as long as they want to. They parked the car across from the school and watched students as they went home or went into their dorm rooms. The dormitory was built right next to it. It was placed outside but close enough so they could easily monitor the students.

A couple of minutes had passed, but no sign of Xyra.

“Does she have to work on the library again?” Joe asked Sirius but more as he asked himself.

Sirius was quietly watching every student going out.

“That was Luna Kim, isn’t she?” Joe asked him when they saw a girl carrying a flashy pink customized bag from a well-known designer.

She stood on the sidewalk, and a car immediately stopped in front of her.

“I heard she’s really a neat freak. She doesn’t want her things to get dirty. That’s one of her reasons why she didn’t get a dorm and chose to stay night time on their fancy castle,” Joe made fun of his last few words.

“I really hate rich kids. They think they own the world where in fact, they only live by their parent’s wealth,” Joe stated.

Sirius looked at him but immediately looked away and stayed quiet.

“I’m not referring to you, okay. You’re not a kid anymore, and you live with your own money,” Joe defended his statement.

“It’s okay. I was once a boy you called rich kid,” Sirius said.

Joe nodded his head but felt guilty about it. He really needs to know how to make his mouth shut.

They waited for almost an hour until no students are walking outside. The sun is setting out, too.

“Where the hell is she?” Joe asked himself.

“There are a few more students I never saw walking out,” Sirius told him.

Joe sighed, saying, “That Anderman boy and his friends.”

“Come on, let’s get moving.”

They decided to look for her inside the campus. If their hunches are right, she could probably with these guys.

“I’ll go left,” Sirius told him.

“Okay, I’ll go right,” he said.

Joe looked around and ended up passing through the Music Club Club Room. He stopped and read some posts on their bulletin board placed beside their door. He sighed, thinking some good memories he had thirteen years ago.

“Joe!” he looked behind her and saw a girl he knew that owns the sweetest smile, but then became a memory of his past.

He smiled, realizing it was just an afterimage in his memory.

“Joe?” someone called him.

“Oh, stop, please?” he said, rolling his eyes.

But he saw a true form of human when he faced it, a woman in the flesh.

“What? Did someone bother you?” she asked.

He couldn’t find the words to say when he saw someone familiar.

“Kirstie?” he asked.