WHODUNITS

Short whodunit :

by Charles Charrier and Louison Levrard

Chapter I:

It had been the same day again, with a lot of tests and lessons … Spring High School was the best High School in Scotland, but its teachers were rather boring. Oh, sorry! I have not introduced myself. My name is Adrian, I’m fifteen years old. I come from Canterbury, a tiny village in the area of the Highlands, in the middle of nowhere to sum up. There are about five hundred inhabitants, a church in ruins, a pub closed all year long and just one road which crosses the village. Well, I was going to forget the main element: the average age is about sixty five. You can’t find a quieter place than Canterbury, so for teenagers it’s not very stimulating.

Hopefully, the Spring High School brings some life and money to this awful landscape.

Spring HG looks like a castle straight out of children’s stories with its four towers, its walls made of stones that the vegetation has conquered centuries after centuries. The entrance, or rather the drawbridge dates back to the Middle Ages and is not very welcoming, especially when you have to go to school.

In spite of this weird appearance which creates a stifling atmosphere, Spring High School is famous for their unbelievable results, with one hundred percent success at the final exams. Mostly aristocratic families from Scotland enroll their children at Spring HG because they are sure their career will be ensured. This is why I’m one of this kind of people. While I haven’t got bright marks but I’m not a stupid guy…

My brain is just trained to create the worst stupidities that can exist.

For example with my best friends Bradley and Katherine we changed the traditional morning ring bell for the shouts of a deer in need of love. The atmosphere was totally mad, especially for the Counselor.

Oh, I haven’t told you that Spring HG was a boarding school too.

You can trust me waking up early every day is not easy, having eight hours of classes and being in trouble with supervisors thus we don’t see life trough pink glasses all the time.

Fortunately, my best friends share the same bedroom as me.

I have known them since I integrated Spring HG. We were in the same form, and nowadays we are still together.

Bradley seems like a cool dude with his ginger hair that highlights his brown eyes. He is a real

Don Juan!

Katherine is Bradley’s opposite. She doesn’t look very pretty but she is the cleverest lady I’ve known since I was born. She is a very precious help during the tests.

Without them, I wouldn’t be able to endure life in this place cut off from whole world …

Chapter II:

One day in autumn, while we were enjoying the sunny weather in the park, I noticed that several school friends were missing. Peter, a pupil in my form, had been ill for two weeks. When I asked a supervisor about his health, he answered me Peter had gone back home because he was dying. I didn’t know that a cold could kill someone… I began to figure out it was a bit weird.

Two weeks later, it was Manon’s turn. This time, the supervisor just answered me: “It’s not your business! Go back to your homework, little weasel!”

The same day, in the evening, I decided to call Katherine and Bradley to discuss those mysterious missings. I explained to them that I had noticed several pupils had disappeared day after day. That is why I would like to investigate to find answers to all the questions which had occurred to me. Consequently, I counted on the help of my friends but their reactions were not good so far.

Katherine was the most opposed to this idea: “You’re totally stupid Adrian! We could get expelled from school and we don’t even know if it’s true…”

I had anticipated her reactions and I had prepared my arguments to convince her.

After fifteen minutes of a fierce debate, Katherine was OK. Accordingly, we had to imagine plans but we figured out it was not useful, it would have been wrong in any way, so we were ready to start right now.

Ten o’clock was the perfect time to sneak out of our rooms. Bradley was so noisy that a supervisor woke up and went to check. Hopefully he didn’t light on our dormitory, maybe he thought it was just mice scratching a wall.

The heavy atmosphere, the rising stress and the fear to get caught were terrifying and thrilling too. It reminded me of the books “The Famous Five” even if we were only three, without a dog.

I took the lead, Katherine and Bradley following me. I decided to go to the second floor, reserved to the teachers and the Headmaster.

Unlike what we had thought, it was deserted and only silence reigned. Then, we walked along the hallways. The light was fading little by little and the wind was rushing from the broken windows inside the buildings. Suddenly, while we were near the cafeteria, I felt my steps sink in some mud.

I turned on my flashlight. I was able to note there were footprints on the floor.

We decided to follow them until we heard some voices. They were coming from the wall. We looked at one other. Katherine, desperate, leaned against the wall as with Bradley, we were scanning for any clue which could help us to find the entrance to this unknown room. All at once, we heard a thud right where Bradley was standing. We heard it again when Bradley stepped forward. We found a trap! It merged with the tiles of the floor.

I lifted it and we discovered spiral staircases with noises coming from it. We heard supervisors talking to a student. We went down the stairs, following a dim light. While we were approaching our aim, shouts and cries resounded. I recognized Manon’s voice, as a result my blood froze in my veins.

Soon after, we reached a small room where our school friend was sitting on a chair.

The supervisor gave her a cigarette and asked her to smoke it. No sooner had she started to smoke than she began to cry and cough up blood. Half a minute later, her head fell on her shoulder. She was dead…

“Good idea to make them smoke poison” murmured the supervisor to his colleague.

“Yes I know! There is nothing better than a mix of arsenic and opium in a cigarette!”

They laughed. We were so scared that we wanted to go back to our rooms but behind us stood the principal!

“Hello guys! Am I disturbing you?”

We weren’t able to answer. Our mouths were closed by fear. I just heard the supervisor say “It’s your turn now, little crabs…”

Chapter III:

Hi! My name is James. I have been a pupil at Spring High School for three years. My parents live in Edimburgh, in a flat near the castle. They decided for my future to enrol me in this school.

I had noticed Adrian and his friends Katherine and Bradley had been missing since Sunday so I decided to ask questions to a supervisor. This one just answered: “They’re sick because they have caught the flu. Now, go back to your homework!”

The supervisor’s behavior was suspicious. I felt he was hiding some secrets…